ONE Championship: Joseph Lasiri to ‘Focus on Imposing a Super-High Rhythm’ to Make Prajanchai PK.Saenchai ‘Quit’ at ONE 157

Joseph “The Hurricane” Lasiri is enjoying his healthiest run of form since joining ONE Championship in 2018.

The Italian-Moroccan striker has won his last two fights in the promotion, and he’ll be looking to extend that streak at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on Friday, 20 May, when he takes on ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Prajanchai PK.Saenchai in the evening’s co-main event.

Lasiri had a rough start to his tenure at The Home of Martial Arts, but since dropping down to a lower weight class, he has put in a couple of career-defining displays to earn his title shot.

Reflecting on how far he has come, “The Hurricane” sees his early struggles inside the Circle as fuel for his later success.

“It is not just my physical power, but the new division helped me a lot from the mental point of view,” Lasiri said.

“Having the opportunity to compete in a heavier division against elite athletes and champions gave me an incredible mental confidence to fight in the new division.”

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“It was an incredible opportunity to get moved to my [more natural] weight division, and I took the chance and exploited it with two wins.”

The 30-year-old took home a split decision victory over Australia’s Rocky Ogden in his return in late 2020, and he went on to knock out Japanese star Asahi Shinagawa in his most recent outing last December.

Prajanchai will be a different challenge altogether, however.

Joseph Lasiri believes volume is the key to winning ONE Championship gold

The PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym representative owns a jaw-dropping 338-51-3 record, and his impressive boxing skills prove that he’ll be more than ready for Lasiri’s stand-up arsenal.

“The Hurricane” feels his aggressive style and never-say-die attitude could cause problems for the reigning champion, though, and he promises to let it show when ONE 157 gets underway.

“I want to bring a real toe-to-toe fight. My intention is to impose a really high rhythm to the match. I want to pull him out of his comfort zone. That will be my main goal for this title bout,” Lasiri asserted.

“My focus will be to make Prajanchai quit, mentally. I will not focus on his boxing skills, but I will focus on imposing a super-high rhythm that even a champion like Prajanchai cannot bear.”

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