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American Muay Thai star Luke Lessei once again proved that he is one of the most exciting fighters in ONE Championship after a thrilling featherweight Muay Thai match against Eddie Abasolo at ONE Fight Night 19.
Lessei eked out a close split decision victory against Abasolo inside the hallowed ring of the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, last Friday, February 16, to tally his first victory under the world’s largest martial arts organization.
Both American sluggers displayed their A-game in the match and received their fair share of moments where they stunned each other with powerful strikes, but ‘The Chef’ was able to inflict more visible damage on ‘Silky Smooth', which swayed the judges to give him the win.
In his post-fight interview with ONE Championship, the Dubuque Martial Arts Group representative gave his flowers to Abasolo and took pride in the privilege of sharing the ring with him inside the legendary stadium by saying:
“It was an honor to fight him of course. Like I’ve mentioned, I’ve been following him for years, I’ve looked up to him. He’s played a good role in my maturity as a fighter.”
Additionally, Luke Lessei was more ecstatic about beating his hero growing up, whom he watched countless times, by adding:
“It’s crazy fighting a guy that like, if you asked me six years ago “Who’s your favorite Muay Thai fighter” I would’ve said Eddie Abasolo without even thinking, so it’s crazy to fight him. To get a win against him is even crazier.”
Luke Lessei retains his place in the top five rankings of featherweight Muay Thai division
With his inaugural triumph in ONE Championship, the 27-year-old American star has kept his place in the upper echelon of contenders in the featherweight Muay Thai division as the number five-rated challenger.
It also puts Luke Lessei in a position where he could face other ranked contenders and inch closer to the top, thus eventually fighting for the world title.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 19 via the free event replay.
