Even someone who hasn’t seen a second of Muay Thai before, will know that something went terribly wrong with this match-up.
Muay Thai legend Lerdsila PhuketTopTeam scored a highlight-reel knockout at Lion Fight 36 on Friday night.
He was dominant from the get-go, lighting up his opponent throughout the bout. Anyone watching the fight got the sense that the end was coming from the opening exchanges. Lerdsila was cool, confident and outclassing his opponent, who was really in over his head.
The finish was as quick as it was violent. Two powerful kicks found their mark, the first one, a teep to the gut, caused the pain and the follow-up to the dome sent the fighter crumbling to the canvas in a heap just 2:16 into the second round. Blood was flowing out of the defeated fighter’s mouth while medics tried to wake him up.
He eventually stood up and walked out of the ring on his own, but it was clear that it was more than just his ego that was hurting.
https://twitter.com/AXSTVFights/status/858167546704388096
The problem is, Jacob Hebeisen, the fighter who was brutally knocked out, wasn’t supposed to be fighting Lerdsila that night. He was a replacement for Sergio Wielzen, who had to pull out of his lightweight championship main event bout with Lerdsila just a few days before fight night due to injury.
To make matters worse, it was Hebeisen’s Muay Thai debut. The Legacy FC MMA fighter made a ballsy decision to take on a vastly more experienced fighter in the discipline in his first effort, and it was as one-sided as everyone had predicted it would be.
The terrible match-making was noted by UFC colour commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan, who felt obliged to put the promotion on blast for throwing a debutant in at the deepest end possible.
.@LionFight, I love you guys but please don't ever match up a guy who is 183-31-5 vs a guy with ZERO pro Muay Thai fights ever again. Thanks https://t.co/eb53Wgwf9P
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) April 29, 2017
Well said, Joe.
