Luke Lessei sat down to speak with us about his journey through Muay Thai and reminisce about his path to the most significant stage for Muay Thai in the ONE Championship.
“The Chef” reminisced on his early career and winning titles in Mexico, where Luke would admit some of his most brutal battles took place south of the U.S. border.
“Some of the guys I fought in Mexico, like the five-rounder in Rosarito, Mexico, was one of the toughest fights I had against this Mexican fighter, Oscar Magallanes. He had the hardest head I’ve ever tried to hit.”
Luke Lessei also discussed how he initially felt about receiving the call-up from ONE Championship for his debut fight against former Lion Fight and WMC Muay Thai champion Jo Nattawut.
“I got the call to ONE Championship, and I was like, “Oh, heck yeah! It’s like my time to shine. Like this is what I always wanted.” And then thinking the generic route would be like they put me against someone who’s maybe it’s their first or second fight in ONE Championship out in Thailand, you know, first or second fight on the card. And then I get the email and it says Joe Nattawut. And of course, I’ve known who this guy was for a long time, and I was like, “Oh my gosh.” I was like sh*tting myself.”
The battle between the fighters would be one of the best fights of 2023 in ONE Championship, and Luke Lessei would only fight more brutal competition as he attempted to climb the ranks. Facing a murderer’s row and trading wins and losses until his most recent fight with Canadian Nak Muay, he won the Canadian edition of the Road to ONE tournament. An opponent whom Lessei would dispatch with relative ease, showing his improvements since stepping into the ONE Championship ring.
When asked how he feels about being the face of not just Midwest American Muay Thai but American Muay Thai as a whole, the Iowa native striker took a very humble and classy approach.
“When people tell me I’m the pioneer of Midwest Muay Thai, American Muay Thai, I’m definitely not the pioneer. Of course, like my father and the ones before me, that generation, those are the pioneers of Muay Thai, right? Um, but like saying I’m the face of American Muay Thai coming from the Midwest, it just—I don’t—it lands weird because, like, I’m such a—I swear—I’m such a regular dude.”
“It’s pretty cool being the one that made it out to, you know, the big stage from the Midwest. And I think there’s a lot of other dudes that kind of see that. And I’ve heard—I’ve got messages of people saying they literally started Muay Thai because of me. And it’s cool, man. The Midwest has always been looked over. It’s like the flyover state. We always flew under the radar.”
When asked about the path forward for Luke Lessei in 2025 and where he sees himself before the twilight of the year, the top contender said the following:
“Yeah. Um, so yeah, I’ve got like two more fights I’m looking for by the end of this year. Um, I was hoping to get on that Denver card, but they had rescheduled it because the main event had fallen through with Stamp and Denise. And then, um, so the next American card is going to be like next year. So, I’m just hoping to go out to Thailand for two more fights, sign the dotted line for whoever they want me to fight, and uh, you know, just put on a better performance every time.”
“The aura that I’ve created around myself and around the fights—luckily, I put on good performances—but I’m hoping for two more good fights, and then we start working our way towards the title in 2026.”
Luke Lessei is the best possible representation for American Muay Thai today.
The Midwestern striker Luke Lessei is truly one of the best faces for American striking today. Even amongst his peers, his story is truly fascinating. A young man who grew up fighting in the Americas, where the art of eight limbs was scarce, he quickly grew to be a notch above the competition, fighting to survive in barn burner fights against the greatest Muay Thai fighters in the world.
His American underdog style, combined with the Midwest’s strong work ethic and humility, makes him exciting to watch and easy to like as “The chef” carries himself as ever a gentleman outside the ring, interacting with fans and students alike.