Jadambaa Reveals How He Made It Back To The Top

Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa has become a legend of mixed martial arts thanks to his explosive and inspiring performances in ONE Championship.

He became the third ONE Featherweight World Champion in 2014, which cemented his hero status in his native Mongolia and established him as one of the sport’s elite athletes on the global stage.

When Jadambaa lost the belt, he did not hang his head. He has always looked to evolve as a competitor and win his way back to the top. Now, armed with everything he has learned in the last few years, he is ready to showcase his abilities at the highest level again.

“Tungaa” will take on Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen for the ONE Featherweight World Title at ONE: ROOTS OF HONOR in Manila, Philippines on Friday, 12 April, and he believes he is equipped to bring the belt home again.

Ahead of his contest at the Mall Of Asia Arena, Jadambaa takes a look back at his standout victories on his road back to the World Title.

Getting Back On The Winning Track

“Tungaa” met a fellow former ONE World Champion in Kotetsu “No Face” Boku at ONE: ASCENT TO POWER in May 2016.

Both men are dynamic strikers, but the man from Erdenet City, Mongolia opted to use his veteran experience to make some shrewd decisions in ONE.

“When I was fighting hard against him in close range, I thought that I had to grapple with him to win,” he explains.

Jadambaa landed powerful strikes in the first two rounds – he even sent the durable Japanese star to the canvas with a spinning heel kick – but he also mixed things up with some big takedowns and ground control.

“Tungaa’s” relentless pace wore on his Japanese rival, and a single-leg takedown in round three signaled the beginning of the end. “No Face” held on to his opponent’s head, which was a fatal error.

Jadambaa drove his right shoulder into Boku’s neck and stepped up onto his toes to maximize the pressure. His muscular frame smothered his foe with the shoulder choke and quickly rendered his rival unconscious.

Only four men had finished Boku before in almost 15 years as a professional, and the significance of the win was not lost on Jadambaa.

“He is a former World Champion in ONE Championship,” explains the 43-year-old.

“Beating a famous and strong fighter like him was important for my mixed martial arts career.”

Proving His Power

Jadambaa faced Eric “The Natural” Kelly at ONE: DYNASTY OF CHAMPIONS (HEFEI) just a few months after his important win over Boku, and he was full of confidence.

He had hurt the iron-chinned Japanese warrior with his hard punches, so when he came up against an opponent that could not boast the same kind of granite jaw, he knew a finish was in the offing. The Filipino was wary of his opponent’s power and tried to stay clear, but when “Tungaa” closed the distance, the stoppage came quickly.

“I finished him before I could know him well,” explains the Team Tungaa athlete.

He learned just enough about his foe to land the decisive strike, however. Kelly took aim with a lead hook that Jadambaa evaded, but he saw a gap to strike the next time.

Kelly again threw the left hook, but this time “Tungaa” worked inside its trajectory with a crushing straight right hand that brought about an emphatic KO win.

“This was an important and great fight for me,” he recalls. “I learned from this that if I landed my punch, I could knock out any opponent.”

A Triumphant Return 

Between November 2016 and last June, “Tungaa” was out of action, so he needed an impressive performance in his return against Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly. Just like so many times before in his career, he delivered when the pressure was on.

Jadambaa explained how he had never stopped working to evolve while he was away from the ONE arena, and came out of the blocks like a new man.

“I won by attacking and showing my wrestling techniques,” he says.

He threw his opponent to the canvas and dominated him with ground and pound in the first round, and operated a similar strategy in the second.

He came close to finishing with a north-south choke, and then attacked the back, but for the finishing sequence, he abandoned the submission attacks for strikes.

“Tungaa” pummeled away on his Filipino adversary, eventually getting to his back and flattening him out before unleashing a final salvo of powerful punches to get the TKO.

“This was also an important fight for me, as it brought back my confidence,” says Jadambaa. 

Now he is ready to take on Nguyen, and try to win a historic second ONE Featherweight World Title.