Following the announcement of Sitthichai’s release from ONE Championship, his manager, Tristian Dharmajiva, spoke with Beyond Kickboxing about the next steps in his career.
Dharmajiva confirmed that negotiations are already underway with "quite a number of different promotions," indicating that Sitthichai’s time on the sidelines will be brief.
He explained that Sitthichai only competed under Muay Thai rules out of necessity, not by choice. Going forward, the former champion will compete exclusively in kickboxing.
"Upon entering into contract with ONE we were led to believe that Sitthichai would be fighting exclusively under kickboxing rules. The plan was not to fight under Muay Thai rules. But due to a lack of suitable opponents over time we had to accept fights under Muay rules in order to stay active. Sitthichai wishes to continue fighting but exclusively under kickboxing rules going forward."
During his tenure in ONE, Sitthichai collected notable wins over kickboxing top contenders Masaaki Noiri, Mohammed Boutasaa, and Tayfun Özcan, though his ventures into Muay Thai proved more difficult, with losses in his last three outings under that ruleset.
As for what’s next, GLORY’s return to the lightweight division remains uncertain, K-1’s renewed focus on its MAX division appears promising, while a comeback in China also remains a possibility.
