Luke Lessei outlines strategy that brought victory at ONE Fight Night 45: ‘It just brought me more confidence’

Four months ago, Luke Lessei was picking himself up off the canvas. On Friday, he was picking apart an opponent’s game plan piece by piece.

Lessei delivered a unanimous decision win over Mohamed Younes Rabah in the featherweight Muay Thai main event of ONE Fight Night 45. The bout aired live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, July 17.

The win answered a painful TKO loss to now-ONE Interim Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Nico Carrillo last November. That defeat had raised questions about where Lessei stood among the division’s elite.

“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 found his rhythm through adversity

Luke Lessei didn’t have things his own way early on. Rabah found his range quickly in round one, seizing the advantage with clean, punishing combinations.

A crucial corner adjustment turned the tide. Lessei’s coach urged him to trust his boxing and double up his hands, sparking a shift in momentum that carried through the rest of the fight.

Lessei took full control from there, his shots landing with greater frequency and force as the rounds progressed. A thunderous hook in the final round rocked Rabah badly, briefly buckling the Algerian’s knees before his toughness kept him upright.

“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 said.

“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.”