Chatri Sityodtong provides update on Joseph Lasiri: “He’s willing to defend it against anybody”

ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion ‘The Hurricane’ Joseph Lasiri was unavailable to defend his gold, so ONE Championship crowned an interim strawweight Muay Thai titleholder last week.

Former Lasiri adversary Prajanchai PK Saenchai stepped up to the plate to defeat legendary compatriot Sam-A Gaiyanghadao at ONE Friday Fights 22 in Bangkok, Thailand on June 23. He was crowned the temporary king while ‘The Hurricane’ is out.

However, fans don’t really understand why Lasiri is out of action, as the situation is definitely more than a little muddy. Thankfully, ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong helped clear the confusion.

Sityodtong said he and Lasiri are in contact and the situation has been cleared up. In a recent interview with South China Morning Post, the millionaire businessman told reporters:

“[Joseph] Lasiri said to me on Instagram yesterday that he's willing to defend it against anybody. And we had a nice talk and cleared it out.”

Now, there’s a clear-cut world title unification on our hands, which always makes for compelling martial arts drama.

Lasiri fought Prajanchai at ONE 157 in May of 2022, scoring a third-round technical knockout to seize the vacant strawweight Muay Thai throne. Luckily, fans would not mind seeing a rematch between the two, especially given Prajanchai’s most recent performance, and now that the stakes are even greater with the unification.

Meanwhile, fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE Friday Fights 22 via replay on ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel and other digital platforms.