I wasn’t impressed by anything in Prajanchai’s debut - Joseph Lasiri is confident heading into title bid at ONE 157

Joseph Lasiri isn’t one to be in awe too easily, even if his next opponent has practically dominated a Muay Thai icon.

Lasiri will challenge Prajanchai PK.Saenchai for the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion in the co-main event of ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot. The event is set to be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 20.

The Italian-Moroccan star knows what Prajanchai did to Thai sporting legend Sam-A Gaiyanghadao to become the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion in July 2021. It was a dominant unanimous decision win for Prajanchai, but Lasiri wasn’t impressed one bit.

During ONE Championship’s virtual media day, Lasiri downplayed Prajanchai’s performance against Sam-A. Nonetheless, he’s excited to make his way back to the circle.

“I'm not impressed with anything in [Prajanchai's debut]. I'm ready for this fight. And I'm so excited to come back to ONE Championship and do the co-main event for the world title. I'm ready, this is the main event of my life.”

Prajanchai couldn’t have had a better debut in ONE Championship. The 27-year-old came into the promotion and immediately challenged Sam-A for the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world title. That fight alone catapulted him to the top of the division after he battered the Thai legend.

Lasiri, meanwhile, is an eight-fight veteran in the promotion and has two straight wins in his last two matches against Rocky Ogden and Asahi Shinagawa.

“Like always I'm working very hard and training very hard. So I’m coming into the arena and do my job like always,” said Joseph Lasiri.

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Joseph Lasiri recalls brief history with Prajanchai

They may be fighting each other for the first time, but Joseph Lasiri and Prajanchai aren’t total strangers to each other.

Lasiri trained briefly at PK.Saenchai Muay Thai Gym and it was there where he first met Prajanchai.

"I've been to PK.Saenchai for training. It is one of the best gyms in Thailand and I was honored to know Prajanchai before this fight. He is a very good fighter, he's a very good guy. But now I am in front of him and I see him as an opponent. So it doesn't mean anything to me. I will go there and do my job. I will put everything into this fight."

Prajanchai said that while he saw how Lasiri worked in the gym, he didn’t have a chance to train extensively with his title challenger.

“Yes, we've seen each other in the gym. We saw each other, we knew each other but we didn't train personally, train too much with each other.”

We'll find out if Lasiri can dethrone the champ this Friday at ONE 157.