The 16-year-old Sarawakian teenager took only 16 seconds to knock out his 18-year-old Thai opponent Padetsuk Fairtex in their flyweight Muay Thai clash.

He downed his rival with a left hook-right overhand combo that caught him off-guard.

Johan, better known as “Jojo”, also bagged 350,000 Thai baht as a performance bonus.

“It is a dream come true for me to make my debut at a ONE Championship and also have an unexpected knockout victory,” he told Bernama.

Johan who represents Rentap Muay Thai Club said he went through a one-and-a-half month intensive training period to prepare for the ONE Championship fight.

“I always wanted to fight in a ONE Championship match. So, I trained hard to accomplish my goal. I trained about eight hours a day – four hours in the morning from 6am and another four hours in the afternoon from 4pm. My hard work clearly paid off.

“I would like to express special thanks to my coach Addy Singpayak who takes care of me. He is a very dedicated coach who ensured I trained consistently,” he said.

Last year, Johan won the 14-15 category (under 60kg) title at the 2022 IFMA World Youth Muay Thai Championship.