In April 2023, at ONE Fight Night 9, many expected that Saemapetch Fairtex was going to run through Felipe Lobo in their bantamweight Muay Thai match. However, Lobo defied the odds stacked against him and flipped the script.
The Brazilian scored an upset knockout against Saemapetch in the third round to barge his way into the division’s ranking and leap to the second spot. This excellent win by Lobo was reposted by ONE Championship on November 20, 2023, ahead of his rematch with the Thai star.
They captioned the post with:
“Were you expecting this? 🤯 Will Felipe Lobo score another knockout in his rematch with Saemapetch at ONE Fight Night 17 on Prime Video? @felipe_lobo_mt”
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Eight months after this first meeting, the two will run it back on December 8, 2023, at ONE Fight Night 17, inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, where their first bout also occurred.
The Tiger Muay Thai representative will have the chance to prove that his victory against the Fairtex Training Center fighter was no fluke and that he is a better fighter than him.
Meanwhile, Saemapetch will look to avenge his defeat at the hands of Lobo and even their head-to-head score with a victory. The ONE Championship veteran would also want to use him as a jumping board to move closer to a potential world title fight with Jonathan Haggerty.
Felipe Lobo seeks a world title shot against two-sport world champion Jonathan Haggerty
In the aftermath of Jonathan Haggerty’s victory against Fabricio Andrade in the main event of ONE Fight Night 16 on November 3, 2023, via second-round knockout, Felipe Lobo immediately confronted ‘The General’ inside the ring.
This sparked a potential showdown between the two, especially since Lobo was a former world title challenger himself and is a sparring partner and teammate of ‘Wonder Boy.’ If this fight materializes, the Brazilian will have another shot at gold and possibly have revenge for Andrade’s loss against ONE bantamweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion Haggerty.