ONE featherweight Muay Thai contender Luke Lessei of the United States has built his career on answering adversity. His rebound performance at ONE Fight Night 45 followed that same script to perfection.
With vengeance in his mind after a painful TKO loss to now-interim champion Nico Carrillo, the 30-year-old needed to show that setback was a blip and not the start of a slide.
Lessei did exactly that, out-pointing ‘The Eagle’ Mohamed Younes Rabah of Algeria over three rounds in the featherweight Muay Thai main event on Friday, July 17, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.
The unanimous decision victory extended a personal streak Lessei takes genuine pride in, one that has quietly followed him through his entire ONE Championship tenure.
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‘The Chef’ told ONE Championship in his post-event interview:
“It felt great. I’m always happy to get a win. Fun fact, I’ve actually never lost two fights in a row. So I got that streak alive coming off a loss against a champion and a win against a top contender like Younes, who’s one of my friends.”
Luke Lessei credits his coach for turning the fight in his favor
The win did not come easily. Rabah found his rhythm early, landing clean combinations that put Lessei on the back foot before a crucial corner adjustment changed the entire complexion of the fight.
The Iowa native explained in the same ONE interview:
“My coach started telling me to trust my boxing and double up my hands a little bit more. I started to find my range with the jab, and it just brought me more confidence.”
He continued:
“I realized that the long straight shots were going to win me the rest of that fight, so I was just trusting in my actual reach, trusting in my coach.”
The full replay of ONE Fight Night 45 is available on demand for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Edited by Aziel Karthak
