From Pop Star To Prizefighter, Wanchainoi Headlines A Loaded Night On August 14
Most fighters have one origin story. Wanchainoi Pongsuphan PK has lived through several.
The 25-year-old from Nakhon Phanom headlines The Inner Circle 26 against Lao striker Petnamkhong Sor Maneekhot in a strawweight Muay Thai main event, streaming live from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium this Friday, August 14. Long before either name meant anything on the weekly platform, Wanchainoi had already walked away from the sport entirely.
He left Muay Thai during COVID and reinvented himself as a pop star, releasing an album and building an online following through cover videos. When that chapter closed, he stepped away from music altogether to serve in the military before eventually finding his way back to the ring with fighting reaffirmed as his true priority.
That winding road has led to real results. Wanchainoi has strung together three consecutive wins at Lumpinee, including a bonus-winning first-round knockout of Dokmaipa Santiubon at ONE Friday Fights 160 that snapped his opponent’s four-fight winning streak.
Petnamkhong brings a far more traditional path but no less danger. The 22-year-old started with temple fights in Vientiane before a coach saw enough talent to send him across the border to Thailand, and he has been relentless ever since, riding his own three-fight winning streak into Friday’s main event.
His second-round TKO of Tonglampoon FA Group at ONE Friday Fights 149 announced him as a genuine threat in the division, and he arrives at Lumpinee on the best form of his career, dangerous in the clinch and lethal with knees and elbows.
Sharing the card is a bantamweight clash between PK Saenchai Muaythaigym technician Gingsanglek Wor Kumchamnarn, owner of one of the most venomous left body kicks in the division, and ONE newcomer Dmitri Ramos, an American southpaw looking to make an instant statement with his pressure-heavy style and dangerous straight left.
Three more Muay Thai matchups round out the August 14 lineup, including a lightweight clash between Petkhaokradong Lukjaomaesaithong and Vadzim Shapiatsiuk, plus two atomweight bouts pitting Bakjo Sitkhunma against Petsuphan Por Prajansi and Nongnuk Sor Dechapan against Saya Ito, giving Lumpinee Stadium a night packed with contrasting styles and rising stakes before the action shifts to ONE Fight Night 46 later that same evening.
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