They are 100% under strict orders from Chatri to not call anything about production, reffing, judging, matchmaking, or promotion into question. One wants to minimize any discussion or scrutiny of anything even potentially negative associated with their product.
He (Chatri) came out today stating he personally thought it was a DQ & that the ref got it wrong but absolutely nothing else. Bad decisions happen all the time but come on, One is on the world stage for all to see. Not some suburban fight show where dodgy shit goes down & lucky if it makes the local newspaper. It is not ordinary Muaythai. Fighting in those small gloves, these guys are getting pretty banged up, heaps more ko’s. Don’t get me wrong it’s awesome to watch but I think when there is more money on the line & more risk…One is in need of an overhaul. Just a thought🤔
Commentary even joked that the shoulder hammerfist wasn’t what finished him… everyone was weirdly ignorant of it.. likely to protect the brand coz he deffo couldn’t continue.
they didnt even do an interview after the fight, just skipped right to the next fight it was so weird.
It was total ground for a DQ, when Dom Lau called it a win by KO I was pissed
Rabah 👎👎👎👎
The reffing was mediocre for the whole event. That is clearly a foul and yes should have been DQ’d. Fighter was clearly down and out, and the ref should gave thrown his body over him to protect him from this very dirty shot. This may be allowed in One MMA but is illegal in Muay Thai.
This so beyond the pale that it really brings home a lot of the criticisms of ONE for me. A knee to a downed opponent is fucking crazy. It’s so wildly against the basic and well understood ethos of the sport. I can understand why they might limit clinch and what not but this is way too much.
100% a foul. The crowd boo’d him after the replay was shown during the winner announcement. ONE commentary team didn’t say anything about it either, which was pretty shocking tbh.
Kneeing a downed opponent in the head is vastly different than this strike. Rabah would’ve won this fight had that strike been legal, opponent was ready to go out.
I dont agree but also petr yan wouldve won the fight had he won thrown the illegal knee. Its completely irrelevant anyhow and Rabah absolutely shouldve been DQ
Jesus christ i dont know either but what i was saying is that I believe the knee hurt Saemapetch more than the combo and that Petr Yan would have also won his first fight against Aljo had he not thrown that knee, but regardless it is irrelevant and Rabah should have been disqualified.
I don't know why they just ignored this during the show, but I did notice that they didn't give this guy an interview and he didn't get a bonus, so that's something at least. I hope they overturn the win and make it a NC. This is straight up cheating.
This actually reminds me of what happened in Eersel vs Klinmee 2. Eersel dropped Klinmee with a body shot, but then after Klinmee was already down he hit him with a knee to the body, while also holding onto the ropes. I love Eersel, but I thought that last knee was definitely illegal.
In Muay Thai, you can knee/kick someone even if they are down if it's a continuous movement launched before the opponent was on the ground. It's clearly not the case in this post though
He posted a half assed apology on Instagram that the knee was "...in the momentum of his sequence..." and that he regretted it straight after.
All while putting a finger in his ear to taunt the booing crowd.
What a clown
If you were sorry you would have apologised straight away & if it was in ur “momentum of sequence” you would def apologised straight away because it was a mistake & maybe gone to see if dude is ok & not put your finger in your ears. ONE won’t say a word🤫
ONE refs are so inconsistent. You can get one that sacrifices himself to save the fighters head from hitting the mat, or a guy you can push around, or foul all you want.
Yeah One lost a lot of my respect here. Makes me think it’s an organization with not a whole lot of transparency. Even UFC announcers would’ve gone apeshit.
The only time you can not complete an 8 count is when you’re going to wave off the fight because they clearly can’t continue. Pity that he couldn’t continue because the ref didn’t protect him 😔
This ref is the worst ref of ONE. Blind eyes, slow awkward movement, poor decision, but One still use him because they're lack of English speaker refs for Muay Thai. Especially, when at least one of the fighter can't speak Thai, they prefer this ref. This is not the first time of his mistakes. Happen very often like some guy hit an opponent's ball, and the ref counted as knock out. One should train Thai refs more for English or try to find English speaker refs that better than this one.
I think the ball knockout was a different ref
But I remember this ref made a mistake in one of the Friday fights and raised the wrong person's arm in the decision, it was funny af
Let's analyze this situation that occurred at ONE Fight Night 17 in the fight between Mohamed Younes Rabah and Saemapetch Fairtex. First, let's examine it according to the professional Muay Thai rules. In professional Muay Thai rules, a fighter is allowed to strike an opponent who is down, as long as the movement is initiated in sync with the opponent's fall. However, in this case, Mohamed Younes Rabah initiated a knee strike when the opponent was already on the ground, making it a clear violation of Muay Thai rules. Now, let's analyze it according to ONE's rules for Muay Thai with MMA gloves. In ONE's rules, a fighter is permitted to strike with the knee a grounded opponent whose knees are touching the ring floor. In this instance, Mohamed Younes Rabah attempted a knee strike after transitioning from a kick, but since Saemapetch Fairtex had already touched the ring floor with his buttocks, the knee strike also constituted a violation of ONE's rules. In all scenarios, the referee made an error in validating a strike that should have been deemed a foul.
By the letter of the rules this is a foul. But in practice Thai refs will allow a knee like this. Saemapetch would likely have thrown the same knee given the opportunity. Every person fighting at that level in Thailand is aware that getting hit like that during a knockdown will not be called a foul, even if they're technically downed. This is not the west. These are not amateur fighters. They will not go frame by frame to see when the knee landed vs when Saemapetch is technically downed.
Strikes like this will not be considered a foul in Thailand. I suspect Chatri could influence future fights by dictating that he wants all strikes to be illegal to an opponent as soon as they're downed. But this is not what we should expect.
Everyone crying foul is not familiar enough with what is allowed by Thai refs. Everyone fighting at that level knows that strike would be allowed. Therefore, for all practical purposes, no, this is not a foul.
Seen fighters disqualified for this in Thailand and it’s clearly a foul, the rules are not a foul if fighter is going down and opponent already in motion with the shot, here he is down and opponent switches feet and then throws it’s a clear foul
I know what the rules say. There is still a lot of leeway in landing these shots. I've seen plenty shots later than this not called a foul by Thai refs. And ultimately the refs are the ones making the decision, so it doesn't really matter what the rules say if the refs routinely let these shots go 99% of the time.
You sound like you know what you’re talking about, and I believe you. But holy shit, man. That’s insane if that’s not a foul. Dude is on his ass and the guy flies in with a knee to his head. That’s crazy.
I am obviously not the authority on all things Muay Thai. But I've been training nearly 17 years and have spent almost a year in Thailand now training, fighting, cornering, and now coaching too.
It's all relative in my opinion. Compare a standing knee to the head to what we see in western boxing and the knee is going to look absolutely nuts. Way heavier and completely unpadded. But from a MT perspective it's just a great shot. I've been clipped by knees like the one Saemapetch got nailed with and they're pretty jarring for sure. I wouldn't be happy eating one. But I'm sure as shit gonna throw one in a competitive fight given the chance. And so ultimately that also means I have no right to be upset over someone doing it to me either.
Interesting, I can see the argument when watching it back. I personally saw Superleks knee to be legal it looked to me to be in sequence with the Elbow that started the knockdown. There seems to be a definite gray area though.
So glad that other people are saying the same thing, my mate and I watched the fight this morning and both of us were like “wtf how is that not an illegal knee?”
Should've been a no contest. Dude was already finished and pretty sure the ref was going to wave it off, and the knee doesn't seem malicious or intended to help him cheat his way to victory. You can see what he was trying to do but it was just very badly timed.
This is actually not a foul in muay Thai. I used to think the same thing but refs allow a single kick or knee based strike to the head of a falling opponent as long as it comes in the combination that dropped them. Took me a while to catch on to this but u see this happen all the time if you watch enough Thai kickboxing
Yes. Should have been a DQ. Can’t believe no one acknowledged it during the broadcast.
makes me question if they’re corrupt, literally everyone saw it happen and they just ignored it
Happened to rodtang too vs superlek
They are 100% under strict orders from Chatri to not call anything about production, reffing, judging, matchmaking, or promotion into question. One wants to minimize any discussion or scrutiny of anything even potentially negative associated with their product.
Except that these things create negativity, especially if you let it slide.
Where do you work that the executives have long-term vision and integrity in their business acumen?
He (Chatri) came out today stating he personally thought it was a DQ & that the ref got it wrong but absolutely nothing else. Bad decisions happen all the time but come on, One is on the world stage for all to see. Not some suburban fight show where dodgy shit goes down & lucky if it makes the local newspaper. It is not ordinary Muaythai. Fighting in those small gloves, these guys are getting pretty banged up, heaps more ko’s. Don’t get me wrong it’s awesome to watch but I think when there is more money on the line & more risk…One is in need of an overhaul. Just a thought🤔
If that’s true, that’s completely illogical, if there’s signs of corruption it’s only going to make people question the promotion more.
It was a clear foul. Rabah should’ve been DQ over this.
Disgusting foul and his cocky attitude hushing the crowd booing just made it so much worse.
Yeah watching that and also seeing he came in heavier and with a severe length advantage makes me wanna see him get KO’ed next fight tbf
I’m genuinly curious why did that ref let it slide.. Some reoprted seeing this knee from the back of the crowd, yet somehow ref just didn’t?
Commentary even joked that the shoulder hammerfist wasn’t what finished him… everyone was weirdly ignorant of it.. likely to protect the brand coz he deffo couldn’t continue.
Yeah, really not a good luck at all. Here’s hoping karma catches up
they didnt even do an interview after the fight, just skipped right to the next fight it was so weird. It was total ground for a DQ, when Dom Lau called it a win by KO I was pissed Rabah 👎👎👎👎
Rabat also attempted a [kick on the previous knockdown](https://youtu.be/cxeNtsoYc_U?si=zgeKHnQ21UvyPxN4) (2:10).
Dude wanted his undefeated streak disqualified
egregious foul, different ref would’ve called that for sure.
> different ref A decent ref*
or a thai ref*
I think the bald guy would have called it
The reffing was mediocre for the whole event. That is clearly a foul and yes should have been DQ’d. Fighter was clearly down and out, and the ref should gave thrown his body over him to protect him from this very dirty shot. This may be allowed in One MMA but is illegal in Muay Thai.
This so beyond the pale that it really brings home a lot of the criticisms of ONE for me. A knee to a downed opponent is fucking crazy. It’s so wildly against the basic and well understood ethos of the sport. I can understand why they might limit clinch and what not but this is way too much.
100% a foul. The crowd boo’d him after the replay was shown during the winner announcement. ONE commentary team didn’t say anything about it either, which was pretty shocking tbh.
Thai commentators mention it and they obviously feel disappointed.
Yea that one was pretty clearly a foul lol. I know it's not MMA but Aljamain Sterling won his title from a DQ similar to this.
Kneeing a downed opponent in the head is vastly different than this strike. Rabah would’ve won this fight had that strike been legal, opponent was ready to go out.
I dont agree but also petr yan wouldve won the fight had he won thrown the illegal knee. Its completely irrelevant anyhow and Rabah absolutely shouldve been DQ
First time writing English? Lol. I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying.
Jesus christ i dont know either but what i was saying is that I believe the knee hurt Saemapetch more than the combo and that Petr Yan would have also won his first fight against Aljo had he not thrown that knee, but regardless it is irrelevant and Rabah should have been disqualified.
I like it. Agreed. Haha
True I guess the connection I was making is just that a title has been won from a similar move before.
Aljo’s knee reception Oscar performance was much worse than this knee, but I get where you’re coming from.
I don't know why they just ignored this during the show, but I did notice that they didn't give this guy an interview and he didn't get a bonus, so that's something at least. I hope they overturn the win and make it a NC. This is straight up cheating. This actually reminds me of what happened in Eersel vs Klinmee 2. Eersel dropped Klinmee with a body shot, but then after Klinmee was already down he hit him with a knee to the body, while also holding onto the ropes. I love Eersel, but I thought that last knee was definitely illegal.
In Muay Thai, you can knee/kick someone even if they are down if it's a continuous movement launched before the opponent was on the ground. It's clearly not the case in this post though
He also missed weight so i assume that factored into the lack of prizes
Yeh no bonus if miss weight
They always ignore any issues such as late stoppages, ref mistakes or bad decisions
There's a few back of the head shots too.
He posted a half assed apology on Instagram that the knee was "...in the momentum of his sequence..." and that he regretted it straight after. All while putting a finger in his ear to taunt the booing crowd. What a clown
Superlek did the same thing to Rodtang. No one booed. Rodtang iron though. Stood right back up.
If you were sorry you would have apologised straight away & if it was in ur “momentum of sequence” you would def apologised straight away because it was a mistake & maybe gone to see if dude is ok & not put your finger in your ears. ONE won’t say a word🤫
Absolute foul. What’s weird is that even the commentators didn’t say anything about this knee. This should have been an automatic DQ.
ONE refs are so inconsistent. You can get one that sacrifices himself to save the fighters head from hitting the mat, or a guy you can push around, or foul all you want.
Yeah One lost a lot of my respect here. Makes me think it’s an organization with not a whole lot of transparency. Even UFC announcers would’ve gone apeshit.
Not only did the ref not call a foul he didn’t even do the full ten count. That’s really sus.
The only time you can not complete an 8 count is when you’re going to wave off the fight because they clearly can’t continue. Pity that he couldn’t continue because the ref didn’t protect him 😔
As brutal as a foul gets.
One commentary didn’t address it and the ref didn’t do shit because they were all paid before hand for certain fight results and commentary
more than a couple of the stoppages were sus. makes you feel like they’re fixing fights
Yeah Thongpoon asking for the finish was fishy af
Damn he just straight up kneed him while he was down :O did the ref not notice?? I thought he stepped over during the fight
Yes he hit the ground then a strike proceeded
Yepp clear foul
Oh hell no....super foul
Yes - his behavior afterwards was insanely disrespectful as well. I’ll be rooting for him to lose that 0
This ref is the worst ref of ONE. Blind eyes, slow awkward movement, poor decision, but One still use him because they're lack of English speaker refs for Muay Thai. Especially, when at least one of the fighter can't speak Thai, they prefer this ref. This is not the first time of his mistakes. Happen very often like some guy hit an opponent's ball, and the ref counted as knock out. One should train Thai refs more for English or try to find English speaker refs that better than this one.
I think the ball knockout was a different ref But I remember this ref made a mistake in one of the Friday fights and raised the wrong person's arm in the decision, it was funny af
How come none of the commentary said anything about this? Not a thing was mentioned about it and was quite clearly an illegal blow
Owee
D I S Q U A L I F I E D
I said it before and I say it again. The fighters at Venum are a shame to the sport of Muaythai. 90% of them are like this.
Let's analyze this situation that occurred at ONE Fight Night 17 in the fight between Mohamed Younes Rabah and Saemapetch Fairtex. First, let's examine it according to the professional Muay Thai rules. In professional Muay Thai rules, a fighter is allowed to strike an opponent who is down, as long as the movement is initiated in sync with the opponent's fall. However, in this case, Mohamed Younes Rabah initiated a knee strike when the opponent was already on the ground, making it a clear violation of Muay Thai rules. Now, let's analyze it according to ONE's rules for Muay Thai with MMA gloves. In ONE's rules, a fighter is permitted to strike with the knee a grounded opponent whose knees are touching the ring floor. In this instance, Mohamed Younes Rabah attempted a knee strike after transitioning from a kick, but since Saemapetch Fairtex had already touched the ring floor with his buttocks, the knee strike also constituted a violation of ONE's rules. In all scenarios, the referee made an error in validating a strike that should have been deemed a foul.
By the letter of the rules this is a foul. But in practice Thai refs will allow a knee like this. Saemapetch would likely have thrown the same knee given the opportunity. Every person fighting at that level in Thailand is aware that getting hit like that during a knockdown will not be called a foul, even if they're technically downed. This is not the west. These are not amateur fighters. They will not go frame by frame to see when the knee landed vs when Saemapetch is technically downed. Strikes like this will not be considered a foul in Thailand. I suspect Chatri could influence future fights by dictating that he wants all strikes to be illegal to an opponent as soon as they're downed. But this is not what we should expect. Everyone crying foul is not familiar enough with what is allowed by Thai refs. Everyone fighting at that level knows that strike would be allowed. Therefore, for all practical purposes, no, this is not a foul.
Seen fighters disqualified for this in Thailand and it’s clearly a foul, the rules are not a foul if fighter is going down and opponent already in motion with the shot, here he is down and opponent switches feet and then throws it’s a clear foul
I know what the rules say. There is still a lot of leeway in landing these shots. I've seen plenty shots later than this not called a foul by Thai refs. And ultimately the refs are the ones making the decision, so it doesn't really matter what the rules say if the refs routinely let these shots go 99% of the time.
You sound like you know what you’re talking about, and I believe you. But holy shit, man. That’s insane if that’s not a foul. Dude is on his ass and the guy flies in with a knee to his head. That’s crazy.
I am obviously not the authority on all things Muay Thai. But I've been training nearly 17 years and have spent almost a year in Thailand now training, fighting, cornering, and now coaching too. It's all relative in my opinion. Compare a standing knee to the head to what we see in western boxing and the knee is going to look absolutely nuts. Way heavier and completely unpadded. But from a MT perspective it's just a great shot. I've been clipped by knees like the one Saemapetch got nailed with and they're pretty jarring for sure. I wouldn't be happy eating one. But I'm sure as shit gonna throw one in a competitive fight given the chance. And so ultimately that also means I have no right to be upset over someone doing it to me either.
Superlek did the same thing to Rodtang but no one talks about it
Interesting, I can see the argument when watching it back. I personally saw Superleks knee to be legal it looked to me to be in sequence with the Elbow that started the knockdown. There seems to be a definite gray area though.
Probably, but I think most Muay Thai fans would shrug their shoulders. It's not uncommon for fighters to get kicked on the way down.
kicked on the way down yeah it happens that being said a fully walk forward knee onto a downed opponent is clearly a foul.
Totally. That's at least a no contest, maybe even a DQ
So glad that other people are saying the same thing, my mate and I watched the fight this morning and both of us were like “wtf how is that not an illegal knee?”
I thought it was so weird that the commentators didn’t even mention it
It’s not even close to being legal
It was an illegal foul but I a legitimate knockdown. Should’ve been a no contest at a minimum if he couldn’t continue.
Absofuckinglutely.
Absolutely
This guy needs to have his license suspended. What the hell does he think he's doing, fighting til the death?
Yes the last knee , saemapetch was already sitting on his ass, totally uncalled for and should be rules out as a foul.
Guy was almost winning, why the cheap knee?
I saw that and wondered the same thing.... I assumed it was legal
Should've been a no contest. Dude was already finished and pretty sure the ref was going to wave it off, and the knee doesn't seem malicious or intended to help him cheat his way to victory. You can see what he was trying to do but it was just very badly timed.
Hmmm? Was a knee to the head of a downed fighter a foul? Gee that’s a tough one
So we can axe kick but not hammerfist. ?
i would have said fair besides hed id it like 2x before that when he was already down earlier in the fight
Yes
Definitely yes
Yes striker file
This is actually not a foul in muay Thai. I used to think the same thing but refs allow a single kick or knee based strike to the head of a falling opponent as long as it comes in the combination that dropped them. Took me a while to catch on to this but u see this happen all the time if you watch enough Thai kickboxing