“I can’t see his weaknesses right now” – Saemapetch struggling to find any flaws in Mohamed Younes Rabah’s game

Thai fighter Saemapetch Fairtex says he and his team found it difficult to break down the game of upcoming opponent Mohamed Younes Rabah, but they are nonetheless confident of putting up a tough challenge in their scheduled fight this week.

The two bantamweight Muay Thai fighters collide in a rematch at ONE Fight Night 19 on Prime Video on February 16 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

It is a do-over of their engaging catchweight showdown back in December, when Saemapetch lost by knockout in the opening round. It was rendered controversial, however, as Rabah threw a knee to the face in the tailend while the Thai fighter was down on the canvas and left the latter unable to continue after.

Rabah went on to claim the KO win, although some quarters felt the final blow should have been ruled illegal.

Heading into the rematch, Saemapetch shared the difficulties they had in preparing, including breaking down his opponent’s game since the first fight did not give them enough to take cue from since it all went down fast.

He told ONE Championship in an interview:

“His strengths are his elbows and knees. But I can’t see his weaknesses right now, because the last fight ended too early.”

Despite the difficulty, Saemapetch said he is confident of running it over again against Rabah and seeing his payback push through.

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Saemapetch unfazed by Mohamed Younes Rabah’s height advantage

Saemapetch Fairtex is surrendering a considerable height disadvantage to Mohamed Younes Rabah in their scheduled rematch this week but he remains unfazed by it, believing there are other ways to compensate for it.

The 29-year-old Fairtex Training Center standout re-engages with Algerian Rabah at ONE Fight Night 19 on Prime Video on February 16 in Bangkok, Thailand.

There, Saemapetch will try to redeem himself after being knocked out, albeit controversially, in the opening round of their first encounter in December.

Having to deal with the height issue once again in the rematch, Saemapetch said he is not going to let it consume him too much and instead will just find ways to work around it and win.

He told ONE Championship in an interview:

“The biggest difference is that Mohamed is much taller than me. I’m ready to fight with anyone… So I’m at a disadvantage in many aspects…”

ONE Fight Night 19 will air live in US primetime, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.