One Fight Night 17: chef Lessei confident he can serve up a win on debut, looking to ‘knockout’ Nattawut
- Luke Lessei faces Jo Nattawut in his first start for the promotion at ONE Fight Night 17 on Saturday
- The American is famous for his teep, a move that involves kicking opponents in the face or chest with the sole of the foot
Anyone who has trained in Muay Thai will tell you that being on the receiving end of a ‘teep’ can be a humiliating experience.
Fighters will thrust the sole of their foot into the body or face and if executed correctly an opponent will be knocked off their feet.
Luke Lessei, who competes at ONE Fight Night 17 on Saturday, is such a renowned exponent of the technique that he it gave him his moniker, ‘the chef’.
“I was 18, working as a cook in a hospital and we went to this tournament and I just started teeping people in the face,” the American said. “All of a sudden, my best friend Jack, was like ‘damn, we’re going to start calling you ‘the Chef’ you’ve been serving up those teeps’.”
The nickname stuck and when Lessei walks out to the Lumpinee Stadium ring to face Jo Nattawut this weekend he is sure to be announced that way. If the ring is going to be a kitchen then his Thai opponent, a veteran of around 100 fights, definitely knows the way around it.
Nattawut spent years training and fighting in the US and Lessei said he had been following his opponent’s career for a long time.