“I saw this was working for me” – Felipe Lobo says past hardships led him to shot at gold at ONE Fight Night 19

Felipe Lobo has been spending some time reflecting on his journey leading up to the biggest fight of his career.

Everything he has been working on and dedicating himself to all comes to a head at ONE Fight Night 19, where he faces Jonathan Haggerty for the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship.

Though his heart is now set on leaving the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, with the gold, title aspirations weren’t always on his mind when he first came to 'The Land of Smiles'.

Lobo told The AllStar in a recent interview about how his main priority was to support himself through fighting as often as possible:

“I come from Sao Paulo, from not a rich family, you know, and coming to Thailand, coming to Thailand, was a very big challenge, you know. I came to Thailand with not much money, I come with an objective, which was to to fight in Thailand, get the money, and become a very good fighter, so that's why the first year of my fighting career I fought like 18 times.”

Felipe Lobo then says that after putting in the work to make a living for himself, he started to realize his true potential to compete at the highest level:

“Every month, two to three fights, just to survive, you know. Then I could pass it and from there I could survive and then I saw that this was working for me. It was working very well.”

Watch the full interview below:

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All of that hard work will be crucial for Felipe Lobo at ONE Fight Night 19

Whether he intended this to be the case or not, all of the experience that Felipe Lobo racked up early on in his career is what has led him to this point.

The Brazilian was fighting and training out of necessity to support himself but he now finds himself in a position to change his life forever.

All of the constant dedication and hardships were already worth it to put a roof over his head and food on his table, but as a result of that, he now has a chance to secure greatness.

The challenger will now look to dethrone the world champion in Thailand to sit atop the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai division as the best in the weight class.

ONE Fight Night 19 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.