“In my opinion, my setbacks are something that can happen to any athlete. But my heart is still fighting. My body is still able to do it. Let me say it again: this fight is not going to be my last fight.”

In Nong-O’s defence, his losses have come at the hands of the two most exciting young prospects in the division. Haggerty, 27, holds the belt and is very much in his prime while Carrillo, 25, is the top-ranked contender at bantamweight.

Nong-O looked close to finishing Carrillo with low kicks at ONE Friday Fights 46 before succumbing to a second-round elbow.

Nong-O is not just trying to prove he can still compete at the elite level. He wants to clear out the division one last time and recapture the title that Haggerty snatched from him at ONE Fight Night 9 in April.

“My goal before retiring is to become the world champion again,” he said.

Nong-O is still ranked at No 3 despite the recent losses and is determined to wear that belt one more time.

“I was a champion before and I lost my belt, and I will say that I thought about coming back to take my belt back as soon as I lost to Jonathan Haggerty. Now, I’m trying to earn a title shot, and I believe that I’ll come back greater than ever.”

That would be quite the accomplishment given how great Nong-O’s career to date has been.

Before signing with ONE Championship he had held Lumpinee Stadium titles in four different divisions and won numerous “fighter of the year” awards in Thailand.

He won his first 10 ONE Championship fights, becoming the bantamweight champion in the process.

Nong-O’s age has clearly accentuated the negativity surrounding his recent results. He was finished in the opening round by Haggerty while Carrillo put him away him in the second stanza. Before that he had not been stopped since 2010.

Nong-O admits the negativity has affected him but he has lost plenty of fights in the past and feels psychologically equipped to deal with these setbacks.

“Anyone feels bad when they lose, but I try not to dwell on negative feelings too much,” he said.

There have been setbacks but with over 300 wins on his Muay Thai record, Nong-O has had plenty to celebrate too. He once lost six fights in succession so this isn’t even the worst run of results he has experienced.

Nong-O’s opponent at ONE Friday Fights 58 – set to be one of the promotion’s biggest of the year at Lumpinee Stadium – is coming off three first-round-stoppage wins and was also a star at the Bangkok stadiums before signing for ONE Championship.

Kulabdam is only 25 and, like Nong-O, has won “fighter of the year” awards and Lumpinee titles. Nong-O speaks highly of his younger opponent but warns that he will not be in for an easy ride.

“I give Kulabdam 10 out of 10. This man is in top form right now but he doesn’t dare think that he’s going to beat me easily.”

He promises to take the fight to Kulabdam and put in the type of performance fans at Lumpinee Stadium pay to see.

“This fight going to be explosive. I’m ready to go toe-to-toe with him, and I’ll never back down.”