Seksan stupefied by Karim Bennoui’s tough-as-nails persona: “He got kneed, and kicked, but he was still standing”

At ONE Fight Night 16, ONE Championship fans were excited to watch the main roster debut of a legend of Muay Thai, Seksan.

The 34-year old veteran had, at one point, considered walking away from the sport for good before finding his way to his new home.

With an incredible six-fight win streak on the ONE Friday Fights series in 2023 alone, there was no denying that he deserved a full contract with ONE Championship.

The next box to tick off was to have him compete on a Fight Night card alongside some of the best competitors in the world from Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA, and submission grappling.

Standing across from him inside the Circle this past weekend was Algerian competitor Karim Bennoui.

While Bennoui may have built up a solid reputation competing in Europe, he couldn’t have asked for a harder task on his ONE debut.

Stepping inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, to try and end the incredible win streak that Seksan has built up since his arrival, the 35-year old wasn’t able to pull off the shock upset off.

He did, however, demonstrate incredible heart and toughness to make it through the contest and hear the final bell.

During his press conference after the event, Seksan gave credit to his opponent and was surprised by how he was able to stay in the fight after taking that much damage:

“Yes, I was surprised. He’s an incredible fighter, he got kneed, and kicked, but he was still standing.”

Watch the full post-fight press conference below:

Though he may have come up short on his ONE Championship debut, there’s no shame in losing that kind of fight and Bennoui certainly proved what he is made of with a gutsy display on the biggest stage.

North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 16 via the free event replay.