ONE Fight Night 17: Jo Nattawut Surveys Firefight With Luke Lessei, Wants Tawanchai Rematch

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If there's one fight being discussed by the masses after ONE Fight Night 17's all-Muay Thai card, it's the featherweight battle between "Smokin" Jo Nattawut and Luke Lessei in the co-main event.

Nattawut managed to leave with the unanimous decision after a three-round war with his American adversary on Saturday, 9 December, inside Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. And the victory was even more pivotal, given he was the only Thai to score a win on the night.

The pair went hell for leather, dropping one another along the way as the crowd cheered them on. Reflecting on the bout, Nattawut places the contest as one of the toughest of his 83-fight catalog.

"I feel just a little bit [of pain] when he landed his shots. But that's normal. It happens in every fight, not just a big fight," the striking veteran said.

"I would say [it was] one of them. It was really tough. He's taller; his push kicks, elbows were really well thrown. So I try to stop that sometimes. The fans were crazy, too. It's fun to hear everybody shout."

Before defeating Lessei this past weekend, "Smokin" had been on a run of misfortune. He narrowly missed out on victories against Jamal Yusupov, Chingiz Allazov, and, most recently, ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai in kickboxing action.

Nattawut's shortcoming in his last fight wasn't the fate worse than death many felt it could've been, as he earned plenty of praise for pushing his fellow Thai to the limit at ONE Fight Night 15 in October.

Tawanchai himself said he was surprised by how well-prepared his compatriot was for the brawl, given the short amount of time he had to prepare. That showcase has provided Nattawut with plenty of motivation.

The performance is certainly fresh in many fans' eyes, especially given the impressive showing he put in this past weekend. So it begs the question of how well Nattawut could do against Tawanchai with a full camp behind him, and he's eager to find out. "That's the dream," Nattawut said. "He's up there. I just need to go up to him."