Ilias Ennahachi says there's no controversy in Hiroki Akimoto's close loss to Wei Rui: "The judges saw it very good"

Former flyweight kickboxing world champion Ilias Ennahachi is set to make his return in a huge match-up at ONE Friday Fights 81.

It has been over a year and a half since fans last saw the former flyweight king in action at ONE Friday Fights 6.

On his return to action, he will face another former world champion under the ONE banner in Japan's Hiroki Akimoto.

Having made his own long-awaited return to action earlier this year, Akimoto's big comeback was spoiled by China's Wei Rui at ONE Fight Night 22.

Many contested the judges' scorecards following a close fight that some believed deserved to go Akimoto's way.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Ennahachi gave his thoughts on the fight and whether the judges called it correctly:

"I watched the fight. I thought Akimoto was coming back in the last round and the Chinese boy was very smart, he made his points - he didn't fight, he made his points in the first and second rounds and it was very smart. I think it was too late for Akimoto to come back because it's not five rounds of three minutes. So it's not lucky, the judges saw it very good."

Watch the full interview below:

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Ilias Ennahachi will take a lot from this fight

There's potentially a game plan that Ilias Ennahachi could take from the way that Wei Rui was able to defeat Hiroki Akimoto.

As he explained in his take on the fight, the Chinese fighter was able to fight smart and win the opening rounds, putting pressure on his opponent to turn the tide.

When it was too little, too late for Akimoto, there was nothing he could do, at least that's how Ennahachi views the fight.

Shutting his opponent down in the early stages of their high-stakes clash at Lumpinee Stadium on Sept. 27 will be something to keep an eye on.

ONE Friday Fights 81 will air live in Asian primetime via watch.onefc.com