“Motivation isn’t there all the time” – ONE debutant Luke Lessei on finding the inspiration to push through hard training

The world of combat sports creates new household names every once in a while and rising star Luke Lessei has one of the biggest opportunities to do just that in the world of Muay Thai.

'The Chef' is set to take on Thai monster 'Smokin' Jo Nattawut at ONE Fight Night 17 on December 8 after his original opponent, Niclas Larsen, bowed out of their contest due to injury.

Lessei, 27, will have the advantage in height thanks to his 6-foot-1 frame, which will allow him to keep Nattawut at bay and pepper him with shots from just outside his range.

The Dubuque, Iowa native has been training since the age of 4 and admitted in an interview with ONE Championship that he did suffer from a lack of motivation every now and again, but has since found a new reason to fight:

“Because I’ve been doing it for so long, motivation, obviously, isn’t there all the time. I guess I didn’t have motivation for a while. And it just came back because I had my daughter. And then I had my son.”

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What a victory would mean for Luke Lessei

ONE Championship fans who have seen Nattawut's handiwork know all too well that the featherweight monster is no joke as he uses his crisp footwork to close the distance when fighting lankier opponents.

'Smokin' has victories against the likes of Samy Sana, George Mann and Sasha Moisa under the ONE Championship umbrella.

Lessei admitted in the same interview that he started developing "man strength" in his teenage years, something that he will be banking on when he faces Nattawut.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action of ONE Fight Night 17: Kryklia vs. Roberts on Prime Video live and for free in U.S. primetime on December 8.