ONE Championship Friday Fights 3: Shannon Wiratchai wins comeback fight, Petsukumvit out-duels Chorfah in headliner
- Thai MMA star Wiratchai defeats Poriya Golpour by first-round TKO in his first fight since August, 2020 – good for a US$10,000 bonus
- Petsukumvit defeats fellow Thai Chorfah Tor. Sangtiennoi by decision in the card’s thrilling flyweight Muay Thai headliner
Shannon Wiratchai showed no signs of ring rust at ONE Championship Friday Fights 3 in Bangkok, when he ended a hiatus of nearly three years for a featherweight MMA clash with Iran’s Poriya Golpour.
The Thai star defeated his foe in the final minute of round one, first hurting the Iranian with a knee, then dropping him with a punch and finishing him with ground strikes.
His win, the first since he defeated Fabio Pinca by split-decision in August 2020, drove the fans in the packed Lumpinee Stadium into a frenzy of excitement.
“I’m so happy to fight in Lumpinee,” Wiratchai said, addressing the crowd in the hallowed Muay Thai arena during his post-fight interview. “I’m not a Muay Thai fighter, I’ve never had a Muay Thai fight, but Muay Thai played a big part in my career.”
Wiratchai’s win was impressive, but it was not without controversy.
Before he finished Golpour, the Thai denied two takedown attempts with his arm laced through the ropes of the ring, and was handed a yellow card by the referee as a result.
He admitted he “deserved” the warning in his post-fight interview, but any disappointment he felt was surely diminished by the US$10,000 bonus he then received from ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
