Mehdi Zatout Is Targeting Another Muay Thai Title In ONE Super Series

Mehdi “Diamond Heart” Zatout returns to ONE Super Series on Saturday, 6 October looking to show the world his elite-level striking skills.

The 35-year-old WBC World Champion will face off against four-time Lumpinee Stadium World Champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao in a Muay Thai bantamweight contest at ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES.

The Thailand-based Frenchman has his sights set on victory in the biggest bout of his life.

Zatout’s career started as a 10-year-old back in Noisy-le-Sec, a suburb of Paris, France, where he found a Muay Thai gym through some of his school friends.

He was instantly hooked, and it became his dream to one day travel to Thailand to learn the iconic martial art in its birthplace. Thanks to a supportive mother, he was able to do just that as a teenager.

“My mom let me do what I loved,” he says.

“I never thought about college. I was already dreaming of Muay Thai. In France, I was working, but I was always training before work, and then during my breaks, I would go train in Muay Thai or go running.”

Zatout worked hard on his training while holding down a full-time job selling bathroom fixtures. But eventually, he changed tack.

“I sold all of what I had – my car, everything – and I opened my own boxing shop,” he reveals.

But when he received a call from one of his sponsors, martial arts equipment company Venum, his journey transformed for the better.

They were looking for a new trainer for their gym in Thailand, and asked if he would be interested in taking the job.

“My boss said they were having problems in their training facility, so I was able to move to Bangkok,” he explains.

Despite the dream move to Thailand, his job meant he had to shelve his own competitive career. Eventually, however, the call of the ring proved too loud for Zatout to ignore.

“I had to leave my passion for teaching to return to fighting,” he admits.

Zatout’s career in Muay Thai very nearly ended during his teenage years when, as a 16-year-old, he had to cope with the sudden death of his head coach.

He had already lost his father as a young child, and losing his coach could have been an insurmountable obstacle to his career.

“My first trainer died in 1998,” he recalls.

“My first trainer cared for me like a son. He was like my father.

“When he died, I was young, and I was shocked. I will never forget him. He taught me both life and Muay Thai.”

Fortunately for Zatout, another coach from the same gym took him under their wing and helped him through that difficult time in his young career.

His career saw him capture three French Muay Thai Titles, as well as a European Muay Thai Championship before he went international, travelling the globe in search of new promotions and new opponents.

He won an ISKA championship and a Victory Kickboxing championship, and avenged a previous loss to rival Singmanee Kaewsamrit to capture his most prestigious prize to date, the WBC Muay Thai World Championship, in 2013.

“I won the title in a rematch,” he remembers.

“Everybody came to watch – all the best Thai fighters and all the best French fighters.”

Now, Zatout has his sights set on another title – a ONE Super Series world – and he hopes to move a significant step closer to that goal at ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES when he takes on Muay Thai legend Nong-O.