Strawweight Muay Thai athlete Abdalla Ondash has had a remarkable start to his career under the ONE banner. On Friday, he'll be aiming for another achievement -- a coveted 3.5-million-baht contract with ONE Championship.
The Lebanese rising star's next test comes against experienced Thai fighter Suesat Manop Gym in the ONE Lumpinee 61 co-main event, which takes place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Friday.
Ondash comes from a fighting family in his native Lebanon. His older brother, Ahmad, is an IFMA gold medallist as well as a WKO and Arab champion in Muay Thai. His younger sibling, Ramadan, has also claimed gold at the IFMAs.
As a youngster, the now 22-year-old decided to follow his older brother into Muay Thai, and he even followed in his footsteps by winning WKO and Arab titles of his own.
While his siblings remain in Lebanon where they run their own gym, Ondash has made the move to pursue his Muay Thai career full time at the talent-laden Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket.
The leap of faith proved to be fruitful as he amassed a professional record of 16-1 before getting the attention of ONE Lumpinee matchmakers.
ONE's events are beamed into more than 190 countries worldwide, and Ondash has wasted no time showing off his talents to the world.
In his first appearance, he pulled off a stunning third-round knockout victory over Parnpet Sor Jor Lekmuangnon, netting a 350,000-baht performance bonus for his efforts.
After overcoming Palangboon Wor Santai by split decision just six weeks later, Ondash made sure to leave the judges well out of the equation when he folded Parnpet with a body shot at ONE Lumpinee 49 in their January rematch.
The performance earned him a second bonus from three starts and has him well and truly in calculations for a 3.5-million-baht ONE contract.
To take another step in that direction, however, he'll have to get past a veteran of 68 fights.
The ultra-aggressive Suesat hails from Chiang Mai, and he is a former Channel 7 Stadium champion. The 30-year-old will be desperate to atone for his unanimous decision defeat to Chockpreecha PK Saenchai in his ONE debut in February and spoil Ondash's surge.