3 days ago
'Sorry, no revenge for your brother'
KUALA LUMPUR: The Moroccan fighter had wanted to get even with Ahmad Nor Iman Aliff Rakib for beating his brother last year.
But Aliff,who is of Thai-Malay descent, never let Morrocco's Elmehdi El Jamari have the pleasure.
Muay Thai fighter Aliff scored a unanimous-decision win over El Jamari in ONE Fight Night 32 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok today.
Aliff (60-9), who has an 8-centimetre height and 10-centimetre reach advantage over El Jamari (27-1), repeatedly landed powerful kicks to his opponent's body.
But El Jamari bore the bruises of those strikes on his ribs and landed heavy left hooks which Aliff absorbed without flinching.
Following his fourth consecutive win, Aliff revealed that he had been unwell going into the fight and was forced to change tactics.
"The way I fought was not what I had planned," said the 21-year-old in a post-fight interview.
Officials also announced today that Aliff's next fight could be against Thailand's reigning ONE strawweight world champion Prajanchai P.K. Saenchai.
"I have nothing much to say to Prajanchai because I know how good he is. My new goal is to take the belt from him. It would be my honour to face someone like him," said Aliff.
Prajanchai, who was at the Bangkok venue, responded: "First of all, I would like to congratulate Aliff and also send my support to El Jamari. If this match (against Aliff is destined to happen, it would be my honour."
Meanwhile in the flyweight division, Johan Ghazali Zulfikar, 18, suffered his second straight defeat in One Championships. The Malaysian-American, better known as Jojo, lost to American-Colombian Diego Paez on split-decision.
