ONE Fight Night 45 Main Event: Luke Lessei Cooks Up Statement Win Over Mohamed Younes Rabah

Luke “The Chef” Lessei delivered the most calculated performance of his career, as he defeated “The Eagle” Mohamed Younes Rabah by unanimous decision in the main event of ONE Fight Night 45, which aired live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium this past Friday, July 17.

The win could not have come at a better time for the American.

With a shot at the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title potentially on the line, the Iowa native needed to prove he belonged among the division’s elite – and he did exactly that.

The opening stanza was a tactical affair.

Lessei caught body kicks and countered with low kicks, and he also utilized teeps to control the range. Midway through the frame, Rabah shifted the momentum with a high kick that set up punishing body hooks, rattling the 30-year-old American’s ribs and taking the round.

“The Chef” reset himself in the second, opening with a body kick to recapture the 29-year-old Algerian’s attention. Rabah switched to inside low kicks and used them to set up one-twos upstairs, and the clinch exchanges were dead even. On separation, though, Lessei landed a punch that put him in control for the first time in the round, and he ran with it. Punches came in bunches, Rabah was shaken, and the American pulled ahead.

The body kicks came in hard again in the third and final round, and a left hand stunned Rabah.

Lessei looked fluid and smooth, his confidence was visibly growing. “The Eagle” pressed forward to make it a war in the waning moments of the featherweight Muay Thai showdown, and both men traded hard and fast until the bell. The judges saw enough from the American standout across three rounds to hand him the nod.

It was a crucial victory for Lessei, who lost a thrilling battle with future ONE Interim Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Nico “King of the North” Carrillo last November. The decision got him back into the win column, moved him to 9-3, and put him back on the path toward World Title gold.