Luke Lessei might have lost his ONE Championship debut but the American made some few fans. He dropped a decision to Jo Nattawut in what is being described as one of the best Muay Thai fights the stadium has seen this year.
That is quite the accolade when you consider how frequently ONE Championship has been putting on Muay Thai fights at Lumpinee Stadium. Lessei was virtually unknown coming into the bout with Nattawut but everyone knows who the American is now.
As Lessei made his way out of the ring at ONE Fight Night 16 the cameras were following and he told them that,
“I almost had him guys. Five rounds and I would have had it done.”
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Fight of the year
Lessei can consider himself a bit unlucky to have put on one of the best fights of the year on one of the most action packed cards in ONE Championship history. Incredibly, his was the only match that went the distance on Saturday morning with all the others ending in a Ko or TKO.
With such a wide variety of finishes to choose from it was no surprise that Chatri Sityodtong decided to overlook the one fight which went the distance when handing out bonuses. It was also a close contest with all three judges scoring it 29-28 in favour of Nattawut.
All three judges scored the first two rounds for Nattawut and the final round for Lessei. This might explain why the American believes he would have prevailed had the fight lasted a little longer.
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What a debut
Among the new fans that Lessei made with that performance is ONE Championship head honcho Chatri Sityodtong. He left a comment on Instagram and sounded extremely impressed,
“What a debut!”
The bad news for Lessei is that he narrowly missed out on the win bonus and the win. The good news is that the promotion’s CEO was very impressed with his performance and will surely have him back on a fight card in the near future.
Nattawut was unfortunate to drop a decision to Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym at ONE Fight Night 15. He might be hoping to secure another crack at the reigning featherweight Muay Thai champion.
Tawanchai will finally face Superbon Banchamek at ONE Friday Fights 46 this month. Who knows what might be in store for Nattawut and Lessei but after the fireworks their first bout produced fans would definitely tune in for a rematch.
