"I'm glad they got to watch me perform" - Johan Ghazali relished first fight in front of American fans at ONE 168: Denver

Johan Ghazali wasn't just thrilled to attain another explosive knockout at ONE 168: Denver. The exciting prospect shared a similar sense of accomplishment for debuting in front of the American crowd inside the jam-packed Ball Arena on September 6.

The young star, accompanied by his mum, told Alex Wendling:

"It's my first time fighting in ONE Championship outside of Thailand. So it was a new experience. It was great. The crowd here was definitely different."

At the same time, the Rentap Muay Thai Gym star was pleased to tick off another goal on his bucket list — to allow his family from New Mexico to watch one of his fights live and in person.

Johan Ghazali continued:

"It's the first time for this side of my family to see me fight, and I'm glad they got to watch me perform."

The Sarawak-based talent sent Josue Cruz crashing to the canvas at the buzzer in the opening round of their 142-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest, landing a perfectly-timed left hook to return to winning ways.

With his victory in the 'Centennial State', 'Jojo' pushed his promotional record to 6-1. His fifth knockout under the ONE banner also earned him a US$50,000 performance bonus.

Watch Johan Ghazali's interview with Alex Wendling here:

---

Johan Ghazali was one of seven fighters who delivered highlight-reel moments in Denver

ONE 168: Denver, the promotion's second on-ground spectacle in North America, was filled with plenty of finishes and a pair of tightly contested MMA fights.

Apart from Johan Ghazali's bounce-back win over Cruz, Colombian Muay Thai standout Johan Estupinan secured a TKO win in round two against Sean Climaco. Meanwhile, Adrian Lee stayed perfect with a first-round submission of Nico Cornejo.

Seksan Or Kwanmuang, John Lineker, and ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 delivered big time in their respective Muay Thai fixtures, too.

Seksan saw off Liam Harrison in round two, 'Hands of Stone' got his Muay Thai debut off to a flyer with his trademark weapon, and 'The Kicking Machine' wrapped up the promotion's highly successful card with a cracking 49-second finish of Jonathan Haggerty to claim the bantamweight Muay Thai strap and become a two-sport ONE world champion.

Lastly, Shamil Erdogan halted Aung La N Sang's three-match winning streak with a ruthless ground-and-pound sequence at the midway point of the second canto.

The ONE 168: Denver replay is available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription for free.