Thai legend Saemapetch Fairtex is excited about the opportunity to make things right when he runs it back with Mohamed Younes Raban at ONE Fight Night 19 this Friday night.
Saemapetch first stepped inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium with Rabah in December 2023 at ONE Fight Night 17. Things were immediately intense between the two, with both fighters firing on all cylinders. With roughly 30 seconds to go in the opening round, Rabah caught the Thai with a barrage of strikes in the corner, sending Saemapetch crashing to the canvas.
As he was clearly on the mat, Rabah delivered a blatantly illegal knee to the chin of his opponent, which ultimately spelled the end of the contest.
Since then, Saempatch has been chomping at the bit to run it back and extract some revenge. He’ll get that opportunity when they return to the scene of the crime on February 16. Speaking with ONE Championship ahead of their highly anticipated rematch, the Muay Thai superstar told the promotion:
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“I’m really excited. Because I want revenge for what he did to me in the last fight. That fight ended too soon. I feel really frustrated about that knee to my face. So I want to rematch with him.”
Mohamed Younes Rabah predicts another KO against Saemapetch in a rematch
Mohamed Younes Rabah was quick to apologize for the accidental knee he delivered in his ONE Championship debut against Saemapetch, but he remains steadfast that their rematch will end the same way their first meeting did — with the Thai fan favorite laid out on the canvas.
“It won’t be any different from the last fight,” Rabah told ONE Championship. “I’ll just remove that last knee, but other than that, the KO is inevitable. It’s going to be a first-round KO.”
Will Saemapetch exact his revenge and return to the win column, or will Rabah keep his undefeated streak alive and go two-up on the Thai warrior at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium?
Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 19: Haggerty vs. Lobo live and for free in US primetime on February 16.