Brazilian Muay Thai dynamo Julio Lobo believes his upcoming return at ONE Friday Fights 135 will show fans a version of him they haven’t seen in a long time. He meets surging Thai star Worapon Lukjaoporongtom in a bantamweight Muay Thai main event on Friday, November 28, live from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium in Asia primetime.

The Phuket Fight Club standout entered ONE Championship in 2023 with a reputation for world-class clinching skills and an all-action style. After a competitive debut loss to Superball TDed99 at ONE Friday Fights 36, he rebounded with a third-round knockout of Kaonar Sor Jor Thongprajin at ONE Friday Fights 42 later that year. But momentum slipped away again at ONE Friday Fights 52 in February 2024 when he was stopped by Thai icon Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai, marking the beginning of a stretch where his body simply wouldn’t cooperate.

“After I fought Kulabdam, I did one more fight, like one or two months later, but my body wasn’t feeling very well. It was hard for me to make weight. It was hard for me to recover and then I kept getting knocked out. So, I had to stop for a while. I stopped for like one year,” Lobo said.

The time away from competition forced him to rebuild from scratch. Lobo reset himself, got some good rest, and eventually returned to grassroots-level fights in southern Thailand to test whether he was physically capable of continuing at the highest level. To his relief, everything felt right again, reigniting the passion that made him fall in love with the sport.

“Then, I stopped at this time and then [when I felt better], I came back. [I started] from the bottom. I went to the local fights to see how my body felt, to see if I could do it again. For one moment, I thought I could not do anymore. But then after the rest, I felt like I missed it so much. Now, I feel like my body is way better than before,” Lobo said.

With a healthy body and a renewed sense of purpose, the 31-year-old now enters ONE Friday Fights 135 to show the world what he’s truly capable of. This time, the 92-fight veteran plans on leaving no doubt about his abilities.

“I want to knock him out because I feel like I need that. I need to show who Lobo Phuket Fight Club is in ONE Championship,” Lobo said.

Worapon has emerged as one of 2025’s most dangerous stars, pushing forward behind suffocating pressure, powerful kicks, and dominant clinch work. His four-fight winning streak — which includes a first-round TKO of Kongkula Jitmuangnon this past October — has positioned the Thai fighter as a force to be reckoned with in ONE’s stacked bantamweight Muay Thai division.

Yet for Lobo, Worapon’s all-action style offers the exact kind of fight he enjoys. The Brazilian is among the rare foreign fighters in Muay Thai who can truly dominate in the clinch — a skill developed through years of stadium fights against elite Thai opponents. Against Worapon, he believes that experience will give him a critical edge when they touch gloves.

“I have been watching him, and I think it’s going to be a good fight. He has the fighting style I like to fight against – the guys who always come forward, clinch, and then always pressure the opponent,” Lobo said. “We both try to pressure each other, so it’s going to be a really good fight.”

Lobo is aware of the perception that he’s past his best, yet he plans to flip that script the moment the bell rings at Lumpinee Stadium.

“People think I’m the underdog because I stopped for a while. I didn’t show a good performance in my last fight also, and I agree with them,” Lobo said. “I think Worapon is younger, and he’s coming up. So, of course, they’re going to think he’s going to beat me because I have been out for a while, but I’m ready to change their minds. When they see me in the ring, they’re going to change their minds.”

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