{"id":588852,"date":"2026-04-07T21:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/588852\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T21:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T21:38:09","slug":"sam-a-banking-on-previous-wins-to-power-him-past-elmehdi-el-jamari-at-one-fight-night-42-really-boosted-my-morale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/588852\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam-A banking on previous wins to power him past Elmehdi El Jamari at ONE Fight Night 42: “Really boosted my morale”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao<\/a> refuses to act his age. At 42, the former two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion is riding a two-fight winning streak and setting his sights on one final championship run. His next step comes at ONE Fight Night 42 on Prime Video<\/a> on April 10, where he faces Moroccan knockout artist Elmehdi \u201cThe Sniper\u201d El Jamari in strawweight Muay Thai, live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.<\/p>\n

The path back has not been straight. A tough decision loss to Jonathan Di Bella in an interim title bout last year could have been the end. Instead, Sam-A responded with back-to-back wins, the most impressive coming at ONE Friday Fights 137 in December when he dropped and outpointed Jaosuayai Mor Krungthepthonburi across three rounds. He was patient in round one, waited for his opening in round two, and executed perfectly when it came.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a long-term game plan, didn\u2019t actually go in there looking for a knockdown, but it just happened in the moment. I spent the first round just feeling him out because I knew he had dangerous hands,\u201d Sam-A said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy round two, I knew he\u2019d press forward, so I waited for him to slip up. The knockdown came right as he was winding up for a hook. I pulled back, saw an opening, and just pierced him with that left hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those wins have done more than pad his record. They have rebuilt his belief that the best of him still exists at 42.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat win really boosted my morale. It changed the minds of people who thought I was too old. It proved to me that age doesn\u2019t matter as long as you\u2019re prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019m on a two-fight winning streak, I\u2019m feeling great about my body and my ability to hang with these younger guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao prepares to expose El Jamari\u2019s inexperience at ONE Fight Night 42<\/p>\n

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao has spent this camp at Evolve MMA\u2019s new Bangkok facility, balancing teaching and training in a daily rhythm that keeps him sharp on both ends. He has studied El Jamari carefully. The Moroccan made a violent impression in his ONE debut with a crushing left hook knockout, and followed it with a competitive decision loss that showed his rapid evolution.<\/p>\n

Sam-A sees the danger clearly. He also sees the experience gap even more clearly \u2014 and plans to exploit it with every tool the sport allows.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this camp, I\u2019m training at Evolve MMA\u2019s new branch here in Thailand. It\u2019s super convenient and feels like home since I worked with them before. I\u2019m balancing teaching and training. It keeps me sharp because I\u2019m constantly thinking about techniques to show my students, then applying them to my own game,\u201d Sam-A Gaiyanghadao said.<\/p>\n

\u201cElmehdi is dangerous. He\u2019s got heavy hands and a scary hook. I watched his fights, and he\u2019s definitely getting more comfortable. But my edge is experience. I\u2019ve seen it all. He\u2019s got the power, but I\u2019ve dealt with Jaosuayai\u2019s power already, so I\u2019m confident I can handle him. I plan to use every tool in Muay Thai to show him the beauty of the art.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dominant finish on April 10 would push Sam-A directly back into title contention \u2014 whether in Muay Thai or kickboxing. He is not here to compete. He is here to win gold one more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is clear. I want that belt back, whether it\u2019s Muay Thai or kickboxing. Winning three in a row would put me right back in title contention.<\/p>\n

\u201cAge is just a number, and I\u2019m going to go out there and prove it once again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam-A Gaiyanghadao refuses to act his age. At 42, the former two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion is riding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,1865,220481,224497,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-588852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-one-championship","13":"tag-one-fight-night-42","14":"tag-sam-a-gaiyanghadao","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}