Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Nong-O Hama both cleared weigh-ins and hydration testing on Thursday, November 12, which makes their ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix quarterfinal official for The Inner Circle 38 on Friday, November 13. ONE Championship confirmed it on X with a “GREEN LIGHT” post, and MiddleEasy reported both men passed their checks on schedule. The card runs out of Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok at 6:30 p.m. ICT, which is 6:30 a.m. ET for anyone in the States willing to set an alarm.
One point of clarity, because the bracket language has been floating around loosely. This is a quarterfinal. The winner moves into the semifinals against whoever comes out of Shimon Yoshinari vs. Ramadan Ondash, the other half of this side of the bracket. Yahoo Sports listed all four men as cleared. MiddleEasy added a wrinkle on Ondash, reporting that he passed testing but did it outside the scheduled window. That didn’t knock him off the card, but it’s the kind of detail I’d file away before betting the next round.
The fight that didn’t happen
These two were booked at ONE 173 in November 2025, and it fell apart on both ends. Nong-O laid it out to BJPenn.com this week: “The bout fell through because I failed my hydration test, while Rodtang suddenly fell ill with muscle cramps.” So the most relevant stat for this matchup, until Thursday, was zero for two on making it to fight night. Now they’ve cleared that bar.
View post on X
The résumés are absurd. BJPenn.com put the combined career win total at 542, which is a number you usually see on a calculator, not a fight poster. Rodtang “The Iron Man” is the former longtime ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion and sits No. 2 in the division rankings. Nong-O, a former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion who trains out of Evolve MMA and Superbon Training Camp, is ranked No. 3 and is 40 years old.
Nong-O isn’t promising a careful veteran performance. He told BJPenn.com he expects Rodtang to come out aggressive and press him because Rodtang is younger, and that he has no plans to give ground. “I’m fully prepared to bang with him,” he said, and he followed it with a public request to Rodtang: “let’s give the fans an absolute war.”
Not everybody is picking a side. Ubaid Hussain gave MiddleEasy a split read, laying out separate winning methods for each man, while admitting his friendship with Ondash, who could be waiting in the semis.
Quick take
I love a 40-year-old with that many wins who refuses to act his age. I also know what happens to most 40-year-olds who volunteer to stand in a phone booth with Rodtang. Nong-O’s best version of this fight is the patient one he described when he said he’d solve the puzzle as it unfolds, and his worst version is the one he keeps advertising. If he means the “bang with him” part, the path tilts hard toward the younger man pressing for five minutes a round. If he’s selling a slugfest and then fights smart, that’s where an underdog price would get interesting. Either way, the winner gets Yoshinari or Ondash, and after Thursday’s testing notes, I’d rather be the guy who weighed in on time.
