“I got my a** kicked every month” – Johan Ghazali recalls tough losing streak when he first moved to Thailand

Muay Thai phenom Johan Ghazali had a roller-coaster start to the “art of eight limbs” but when he got the breakthrough he needed he has not looked back since.

The 17-year-old Rentap Muaythai Gym athlete gained early success in Muay Thai in Malaysia. When he took his talents across the border to Thailand, however, he found the going tough, losing his first five fights.

In an interview with onefc.com, ‘Jojo’ recalled what he had to go through early in his Muay Thai journey and how he has steadily grown in it.

He said:

“I never lost in Malaysia, I am undefeated in Malaysia. But in my first fights in Thailand, I lost all of them. I got my a** kicked every month. People see the success now, but they didn’t see me crying back then, after every fight, that feeling of just being down after my fights.”

“So my first fight until my fifth fight in Thailand, I lost all of ‘em. I finally won my sixth in Thailand, and then after that COVID came, then I fought IFMA (International Federation Muaythai Associations), I lost that. And then after that I guess I’ve just been on a roll.”

Malaysian-American fighter Ghazali had the opportunity to showcase his wares in the ONE Friday Fights series earlier this year and did not waste it. He has won four straight and eventually secured a $100,000 contract to be part of the world’s largest martial arts organization.

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Johan Ghazali to take on Mexican Edgar Tabares at ONE Fight Night 17

Johan Ghazali’s ONE Championship campaign resumes on December 8 at ONE Fight Night 17 on Prime Video at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. He will take on Mexican slugger Edgar Tabares, 29, in a featured flyweight Muay Thai showdown.

It will be Ghazali’s first outing in the promotion’s main show after four outstanding performances and victories in the ONE Friday Fights series.

The latest victory of ‘Jojo’ came in October where he knocked out Russian Temirlan Bekmurzaev with a nasty body shot in the second round.

At ONE Fight Night 17, Johan Ghazali will face off with Tabares, who is a WBC Muay Thai international champion. He is out to get a breakthrough victory in ONE, after losing his first two matches in the promotion.

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 17 card live and for free in U.S. primetime.