Nathan ‘Carnage’ Corbett battles France’s Emmanuel Payet at Evolution 16.
Duane Ludwig Versus Malaipet
•July 19, 2009 • Leave a CommentDuane Ludwig Versus Malaipet Sitrapom for the ISKA super welter weight Muay Thai title. Some notes: Yes Malaipet is only 5’7″ and Ludwig is 6′. Also it is not the USKA title. The announcer gets that wrong it is for the ISKA title.
Lastly, please understand this was a Denver broadcast and highly skewed towards Ludwig who would later accuse Malaipet of not getting KOed due to smelling salts he alleges Malaipet of using.
Contender for Credibility Part 2
•July 19, 2009 • 25 CommentsBy Fatsoking
Muay Thai is about the fight and has always been about the fight and always will be about the fight. Muay Thai gained a lot of its attention by taking on fighters from other styles and beating them. In the ring Muay Thai declared its dominance for all to hear. But there has always been a second battle Muay Thai has had to fight in the 21st century, the fight for significance and for integrity. Muay Thai’s fight for credible international sanction continues outside the ring.
In Part 1 of the article series Contender for Credibility we examined how the World Muay Thai Council has failed to deliver on the promise of maintaining integrity through it’s involvement in the reality TV show Contender Asia. Though the series was modestly received in the United States it was enough of a hit elsewhere that plans were quickly made to continue with a second season.
The 2nd season was to allegedly have their participants not hand selected by Stephen Fox but instead fight in qualifying tournaments throughout the world (many of Contender Asia season one participants were picked from the WMC’s own training camp in Koh Samui, Thailand). Further on in this article you will discover why I said “allegedly”. This new method of entry into the Contender Asia series held much promise. It seemed no longer would show contestants be handpicked based on preference. Instead the merits of their fights would get them on. Now it seemed mismatches would no longer occur. Another effect this had is the WMC was able to keep a busy schedule of sanctioning fight events throughout the world. Suddenly the WMC’s profile globally grew tremendously.
The WMC staged qualifiers in Hong Kong, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, Spain, Australia, Russia, Switzerland, and South Africa. Promoters internationally were kept busy and they could use the added feature that the winner of their qualifiers would get a chance to showcase their skills on a broadcasted television show that would reach a much bigger audience. This audience would be far bigger than any individually promoted fight events could ever reach. Of the countries participating once again Holland notably was off the list. Holland was to be a part of the Contender Asia qualifications. But it seemed the Dutch fighters couldn’t participate for the most part because they were signed to contracts keeping them busy fighting meaningful fights already. As most of you probably may know that included Slamm!! Slamm!! Events have made their name deservedly from pitting some of Holland’s best Muay Thai fighters against some of Thailand’s best fighters. In my opinion Slamm!! pretty much nullified the need to be on a reality TV show to have a high profile meaningful fight.
Mike Miles, WMC Arm for Canada
During these qualifiers things once again go awry. The Canadian Contender qualifiers begin under Mike Miles watch as WMC Canadian arm and trainer of many of the fighters that appear in the tournament. Once can easily see Miles’ association with the WMC and as coach may bring a conflict of interest. But let me invoke the tagline one hears in Ginsu knife ads – Wait there’s more! The Calgary Amateur Kickboxing and Muay Thai Association (CAKMA) would be promoting the event with Mike Miles the creator of CAKMA. The bouts would be sanctioned by the WMC shared with the Calgary Combative Sports Commission (CSCC). The Calgary Sports Commission is led by Candy Schacter a friend of Mike Miles as chairman. Now we have a true mess of conflict of interest. It would seems Mike Miles has his fingers in many different organizational pots all of which are at cross purposes least of which is why a self-titled amateur association is promoting a professional card.
Still the qualifier happened with some questionable results the qualifier reached a final and Alex Ricci of Toronto would fight Mike Miles’ student and son Jesse Miles. Ricci knocked Jesse Miles out right at the end of the last round. Mike Miles protested the call because of an error with the timekeeper which made the round longer than it should have been. Because of it, Mike Miles had the knockout reviewed supposedly with the video evidence. Since then the decision was reversed and Jesse Miles was declared the winner despite Ricci in essence doing nothing wrong. Canada’s representative for the Contender Asia was Jesse Miles as a direct result of getting knocked out by Alex Ricci. No action was taken against the Canadian WMC arm for their error with the time keeping or with any of the other errors made by officials. Instead it would seem Alex Ricci would suffer the consequences of someone else’s incompetence. This would seem to leave it in Calgary’s hands to resolve with CCSC.
Candy Schacter, chairman of the CCSC
As an employee of the city of Calgary Candy sure is busy promoting Mike Miles’ events Site (retrieved as of 7-19-09):
http://www.tooks.net/blog . The thin veneer of impartial and unbiased judgment is just that a veneer of what a casual look at CAKMA, the WMC and Mike Miles will completely erode. I have never witnessed any regulatory sanction so involved in marketing of events. Why was a qualifier for the event held at 165lbs/75kgs when the show itself was to be held at 160lbs/72.5kgs? These are 2 more clear instances of at minimum a conflict of interest and at maximum a collusion of efforts to undermine the Contender Asia’s credibility. Alex Ricci would press on with his career by fighting in other opportunities.
The remainder of the international qualifiers went reportedly smoothly and without a hitch. The tournaments were closing and show contestants were being decided. There were however two more countries in addition to Holland that were remarkable by their omission: The USA and Thailand. The USA had yet to have a qualifying event and Thailand had the King’s Cup. It looked like Khem would be representing Thailand. At last a contestant who would arrive on the show on the basis of his fights. But Madsua and Singhsiri would be departing for casting as of June. Both never fought a qualifier but were managed by Stephen Fox, head of the WMC. This shows another clear conflict of interest with the WMC vice-president actually managing fighters.
Madsua with manager Stephen Fox
Now here comes the twist to all the qualifiers for the contender staged internationally: it didn’t matter. Khem was passed on as was Madsua and Singhsiri. The reason why was marketability concerns and none of the Thai contingent could speak English. Stephen Fox in a hastily composed defense letter goes to admit that while the WMC’s stated goal is to defend and uphold international Muay Thai’s integrity and credibility they could do nothing to correct what was in essence a producer’s choice. Fox also goes on to blame airport lockdown for the reversal of the King’s Cup as a qualifier for the Contender Asia show.
As for the Canadian qualifier? No one is going. No information regarding the decision to not send a Canadian candidate has never been released but one can probably easily and accurately guess at the WMC and Mark Burnett’s reasons for the exclusion.
Let us move on to the United States candidates for the show. As I stated earlier there was no qualifying bouts for the United States. Instead selected for the show were Colorado’s Duane Ludwig who has literally not fought even a modified Muay Thai rules match since 2003 after defeating Malaipet Sitrapom for the ISKA light middle weight title. The second show contestant would be Kit Cope noted for his MTV appearance in “I’m a Real Life Muay Thai Fighter”. Kit Cope has since gone on to a 0-4 record in MMA and also has not participated in Muay Thai in literally years.
A report from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) states that Kit Cope – competing in World Extreme Cagefighting main event against “Razor” Rob McCullough – has tested positive for the illegal substance Boldenone, which is an anabolic steroid.
Kit Cope NSAC drug tested and failed
A comment from NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer stated, “Although we have had only one MMA show this year (last Saturday’s WEC), we already have a positive drug test for 2007 as Kit Cope tested positive for Boldenone.” An anabolic steroid that is intended for use only by veterinarians, Boldenone is used specifically to help rehabilitate injured horses. It has several brand names for veterinary use, including Equigan, Equipoise, Ultragan, and Ganabol. It is on the banned substances list of all the major athletic commissions and sports leagues. Apparently none of this is an issue with the WMC.
As it is here are the current verified qualifiers:
Paulo Balicho ( Switzerland ),Bernard Radin (Malaysia), Rafi Zouhier ( Spain ), Wing Heung Pak ( Hong Kong ), Jordan Watson( U.K. ), Eli Madigan ( Australia ), Bakhulule Baai ( Africa ), Marcus Oberg ( Sweden ), Levin Artem ( Russia ), Marco Piqué ( Netherlands / Suriname ), Saro Presti ( Italy ), Cedric Muller ( France ), Faizal Ramli ( Malaysia ), Malaipet Sasiprapa ( Thailand )
The Final 2 contestants representing the USA:
Kit Cope (USA) and Duane Ludwig (USA).
Contender 2 qualifiers
Yes, for Thailand Malaipet was selected. Malaipet who has not been a resident in Thailand for literally years. How does he qualify to be a member of the cast of Contender since he has not participated in any of the Contender Asia Thailand qualifiers? Nor lived in Thailand in over a decade?
Malaipet
Here are some more questions to ask yourself until part 3 of this series of articles:
Why does the WMC admittedly bow down to the requests of a television producers at the cost of Muay Thai’s integrity?
Why is the English speaking requirement now preventing fighters from appearing? After all they subtitled much of the non-English speakers’ dialogue last season. Why not do it again?
Why is there so many fighters represented by Stephen Fox’s management?
Why is Mike Miles a part of the movement of ‘One World, One Muay Thai’ when it seems Miles is more concerned with one promotion, one manager, and one coach?
Why is Kit Cope who has failed NSAC drug tests going to the Conetender?
Until the next in these series of articles consider these questions very carefully. Leave comments pro or con and thanks for reading.
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Quick update this is the new officially acknowledged roster via Contender Asia’s site.
Confirmed Contenders
Confirmed Contenders, with 2 undecided
Contender for Credibility Part 1
•July 18, 2009 • 10 CommentsBy Fatsoking
International Muay Thai has a problem. There it is I said it. I love Muay Thai but I don’t love it blindly.
An analogy I made to a friend once is that Muay Thai was like my old mother sometimes. She forgets what she’s doing sometimes and she falls occasionally. But I always want to help her and I love her no matter what anyone says. When I began this post I was cognizant of the issues plaguing international Muay Thai that many fans like myself have revisited themselves ad infinitum: the innumerable independent sanctions, the politics, the confusion in rules and the frank misrepresentation and lying. I normally wouldn’t speak of it and would wish to only focus on the positive aspects of the sport.
By no means do I have any desire to engage in witchhunting or overheated rhetoric resulting in empty rage and still no resolution. But some of the propaganda being put out is frankly misleading and telling by the information omitted. Therefore as one of you – a fan and one who loves the sport I felt something should be said.
Many promises have been made to remedy these multiple issues and chief among these independent sanctions with promises made is the World Muay Thai Council. The WMC has in the past made overtures to bringing Muay Thai around internationally, to bring meaningful rankings internationally and to overall ensure the integrity of Muay Thai internationally. The tagline of the WMC’s materials even read ‘One world, One Muay Thai’. Usually publicly spearheaded communiques from WMC arrive in the form of Stephen Fox, vice-president of the WMC.
Stephen Fox, Vice-President of the WMC
Without a doubt the biggest contributing factor to the WMC’s increased profile has been the show: Contender Asia. Contender Asia much like its international boxing counterpart was based on the premise of bringing the spotlight on to international Muay Thai’s contenders and through a series of tournament bouts determine who was the true contender. Here is where the foundations with this premise go awry. Unlike the international boxing Contender this show was very skewed in its casting choices. We have 3 Australians in John Wayne Parr, Soren Monkongton, and Bruce Macfie who all have participated internationally at a high level. Other notables of the cast includes from France Rafki Bakkouri, an A Class champion, and from United Arab Emirates, Dzhbar Askerov who defeated Jomhod Kiatdisak.
Then for the remainder we have David Pacquette from the United Kingdom, Jose Sans from Spain, Zidov Dominik from Croatia, Sean Wright from Scotland, Kim Khan Zaki from Singapore, and James Martinez from the USA. From Canada we had Alain Sylvestre and Trevor Smandych. Lastly the sole representative from Sweden was Joakim Karlsson. Notably missing is anyone from Holland or Japan, two extremely active and high level international Muay Thai nations. Why their omission? Certainly among these countries a worthy Muay Thai contender should exist for the international level. The only answer that makes sense was marketability. The Contender Asia television show was initially broadcast on AXN television.
One has to question the presence of some of these choices especially given the representatives from Thailand which were Yodsaenklai and Narupoel both from Fairtex both a margin better than most of the other competition and quite a bit better than Martinez, Zidov, an undersized Smandych, and a Krohn’s Disease stricken Sylvestre. I for one could see exactly how this was going to proceed.
Narupoel summarily dispatched Trevor Smandych with ease. At a point during the bout Narupoel is told to in essence not to harm Smandych severely and to carry him through his fight by his own corner. Next Sean Wright easily TKOs James Martinez who mounted no dangerous offense for his short efforts. Soren easily defeats Sylvestre who is shown being constantly sick and eating a very specific diet because of his Krohn’s disease. And Yodsaenklai of course easily defeated everyone put in front of him despite suffering an eye injury in his fight with Narupoel.
Yodsaenklai Fairtex, the most dominant middleweight Thaiboxer in the world.
The issues with credibility are already rife from the start some of these names weren’t even Contenders in their own nations. Pitting them against virtually anyone else in the tournament was guaranteed failure in producing a well matched fight and in even being fair. That said I am glad the boxers got a payday from it and I am glad the sport got more attention. I blame none of the boxers for taking part in it and the opportunity was good. With fights opportunities few and far between I cannot in good conscience blame any of the fighters for participating in a higher profile show and making a payday.
Predictably the show did well in Australia and Singapore markets. When the show was later broadcast to American audiences via the Versus channel it lasted some episodes before it was pulled from television broadcast. Low ratings were the direct cause.
The show itself served to undermine Muay Thai not only in the credibility department but via distraction. With some of the true international Muay Thai best pitted against virtual unknowns the outcome was predictable. Along the way we are treated to Dragon Boat races, ice chipping, relay races and the sort of activities that have nothing to do with Muay Thai. At times one is uncertain if this is a fight tournament or a game show. Wisely after the first season of the international boxing Contender virtually all these ‘challenges’ are no longer present.
Fine and well one may say, it is what it is. Why protest it so strongly? After all it is a reality TV show that Mark Burnett produced along with the international boxing Contender and of course the Survivor reality television show. Why am I being so demanding of a reality TV show for integrity? Because of the entity known as the WMC. From my outline above you can see where the WMC has fallen flat on their rhetoric and the reality of their actions. How does an independent sanction sort through their rankings to justify these match ups? For a start where are their rankings? I’ve never seen even one instance of a meaningful ranking by the WMC in weight class or level.
Without any clarity in rankings how do fights become meaningful in the WMC? That’s partially the function of any fight sport sanction is establishing clarity in rankings as well as rules and regulations. In the 2nd part of this opinion piece I will show further undermining by the WMC against their own Purpose statement of ‘One World, One Muay Thai’.
Mark Burnett, Reality TV Show Producer
While those questions are being sorted ask some more of yourself:
Why was the Contender population 3 among Australians but no more than 2 for every other participating country?
Why is the Vice President of the WMC participating as the mentor character? Is this an attempt to match UFC’s Ultimate Fighter where an organizational head has so much public face time? The UFC could actually be somewhat excused from the same level of responsibility as the WMC as the UFC is a promotion and nothing more. The WMC on the other hand is by their own definition a sanction specifically focused on guiding integrity and honesty in the sport of Muay Thai.
When was the last time you saw Jose Suliaman heading up a role in reality TV? And yet the WBC could be arguably the biggest and most solidly run independent sanction in combat sports.
These are some of the questions to consider between now and part 2 of this article.
As always thanks for reading and leave please comments pro or con on this article.
An Interview With Bilam Nesradine
•July 17, 2009 • 2 CommentsBy Fatsoking
Many of you may know of many greats of Muay Thai in America during the early 1990s. Some of them are still greatly celebrated today. One of them of this era was Bilam Nesradine. Bilam came to Thaiboxing originally in Belgium where he would win titles in Europe before continuing in the United States. In the states Bilam would enhance his boxing and continue his career first under Melchor Chavez and next under the late Bill Packer. Bilam in the USA would become known by his nick name as the ‘Smoking One Man Show’. Bilam was noted for slick precise combos as well as his willingness to take chances against former stadium champions of Thailand such as Bunkerd Fairtex and Muangfalek Kiatvichian. As a trainer Bilam is known for his patient demeanor and thorough explanation of some of the finer details.
Bilam Nesradine celebrates a hard fought win
FatsoKing: How did you begin your career in fight sports and what made you want to start? And how old were you when you first started training?
Bilam: I started Karate when I was nine. I started because I was always being bullied. I was constantly getting my ass kicked. I received my first black belt around the age of 12 which was about the same time I started boxing and full contact.
Who was your toughest opponent?
Richard Sylla from France. (Author note: Richard Sylla was the 10 times French National champion and 5 time WKO champion and defeated Peter ‘Sugar Foot Cunningham)
I am often asked how you felt about Bunkerd Fairtex since he was a familiar opponent after fighting him 3 times. What is your opinion of Bunkerd?
I have a lot of respect for Bunkerd. He is a hard kicker and has good style in Muay Thai. He knows how to play with you mentally, but was ineffective with me. I was suppose to fight him for a 4th time in Hawaii for the World Championship in 2002, but I injured my Right foot and wasn’t able to compete.
What do you rate as the biggest differences between Thaiboxers in the USA and in Europe?
American Thai boxers are “clowns” I am not saying that some are not good fighters, but in general they are not as good of a fighter or as hard as those in Europe.
What is the most important thing for a beginner to know before they begin training in Muay Thai?
Muay Thai by itself is a great sport for those who already have experience in kick-boxing. It is a dangerous sport to learn if you don’t have a foundation to start with. I would suggest that a beginner start with karate -light contact to learn the different styles of kicking because you won’t learn it in Muay Thai. Most Champions come from Karate and boxing like myself, Ramon Dekkers, Badr Hari and Richard Sylla just to name few.
You came into Thaiboxing in an era where many kickboxers were from a Full Contact background. You had the unique opportunity to experience all eras in full contact kickboxing, leg-kick rules and in Muay Thai. What helped you make the transition from style to style?
Just like I said, if you have good foundation like kick-boxing or Karate to start with then making the transition and adding different kicks and styles is much easier.
Bilam Spin kicks an opponent
Which country in the west do you think is the best at Muay Thai?
United States and Canada
What qualities do you think are the most important things for a fighter to have?
A fighter needs to have brains, balls and a heart of steel. You need to have good strategy. Play your game and not theirs.
And what is the best way for them to train for them?
I don’t think there is anyway to train for them. I think you have it or you don’t. This is what differentiates a Champion from someone who just trains in the sport.
Bilam Nesradine Versus Muangfalek Kitvichian former Stadium Champion
Why does a country like France have so many good Thaiboxers?
The Savate is a style of kick boxing dominated by the French. This is practiced in schools in France. It is also known as French foot fighting and is very technical sport and Popular in Europe. It is not a surprise that they would have so many good Thai boxers.
How would you rate the current state of Muay Thai in the United States?
Without insulting anyone, I have seen many good fighters in America, but European fighters still dominate the sport.
Who do you think is the best Thaiboxer among heavy weights?
I don’t think that one person is the best. There are many great fighters and they all have different styles that make them unique to the sport, but I will say that Badr Hari and Andy Hug are spectacular and entertaining fighters.
What was your record of fights when you retired?
149 FIGHTS
106 WINS
68 KO’S
6 DRAWS
37 LOSS
This includes all the different styles of fights over a 21 year career
Titles: Boxing – Belgium Champion x2 , Full contact – Belgium Champion x 4, ISKA- European Champion x1, IKL- World Champion WKA x1, World Champion Full contact x2, USA Champion x3, ISKA North America Champion x2, ISKA Intercontinental Champion x2, 1988 Olympic Boxing -selected, WAKO World Championships- Bronze Metal x2
Have you become friends with any former opponents?
No, I don’t even know what my former opponents are doing. Bunkerd and myself did teach at the same place in Phoenix for about a year. He was teaching Muay Thai and I was teaching Kick-boxing.
You fought for and held titles in many different weight classes. What would you say was your best fighting weight?
Feather -Weight at 57Kg
What do you do now for sports after fighting?
I train everyday by running to stay in shape. I am competing for the amateur triathlon and teaching kick-boxing.
As a trainer now what do you think is the most important thing you teach new students.
It’s very important to teach the basics. Develop a good technique and masters that skill before moving on to the next. Many instructors teach a lot of different moves without letting their students master the basic one first. I also emphasize maintaining a healthy life style and healthy eating.
Any final words for our readers?
Practice your sport and take it as far as you like, but do not sacrifice your education for it. You will not always be a competing fighter and It is important to have a good education when you done. Also, don’t use you skills as a weapon. Have respect for the sport and don’t use it for your own means just because you can. Learn by example, I was a street fighter and used it for my own means. I didn’t pursue a higher level of education and now find myself starting over in my 40’s.
The Scienceof8limbs.com thanks Bilam for his time granted for this interview.
You can check Bilam in action in these clips:
Yodsaenklai versus Shannon Foreman
•July 12, 2009 • Leave a CommentYodsaenklai fights Shannon Foreman at the KO World Series 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand. This was the fight Yodsaenklai would have enroute to the KO World Series title.
The Science of 8 Limbs 
Contender for Credibility Part 3
•July 21, 2009 • 6 CommentsBy fatsoking
Muay Thai has always been known for the indomitable fighters Thailand produces. Thaiboxers pay their dues in the camps of Bangkok with blood, sweat and tears to prove their mettle in the stadiums and in the rest of the world. By and large Muay Thai in Thailand has a clear ranking and fans know the pecking order of who’s who in Muay Thai. Even in the west we’re fortunate enough to have our guide via the internet with Rob Cox and his regularly updated ranking of Lumpini and Rajadamnen Stadiums and in Thailand.
But what about in the rest of the world outside of Thailand? How would one get a reasonably clear idea of the rankings internationally? It can be especially confusing with the countless independent sanctioning bodies with a new one spawning every day. In fact a suitable analogy a friend told me one day was that Muay Thai sanctioning bodies are like an 8-headed hydra from Greek mythology. When a head is lost another instantly springs to life in its place. Enter the World Muay Thai Council (WMC). In Part One and Part Two of this article series we began examining some of the issues I think the WMC has with credibility.
The WMC seems to never have had a clear picture of rankings, titleholders or even rules. In this article I will show you how and what I mean by that.
Case in point the Champions of Champions 2 event held in Jamaica.
Before I proceed one should be acquainted with the first Champions of Champions event also held in Jamaica one year before. To call the undertaking disastrous and woefully bad on basically every level would be a mild understatement. Once again, let me make it very clear that I blame no fighter for taking a fight and earning a payday. No fighter or their team could possibly have expected what was to come.
With Dennis Warner as promoter in tow a dream card of fighters was assembled in what was expected to be an event like no other for international Muay Thai. They had a dream location, a very experienced promoter and a card worthy of kings to be witnessed. There was only one problem.
The web Pay per View (PPV) the event organizers decided to host on their own web site failed miserably. May be it was that the volume of viewers was far more than what they anticipated, may be someone was incompetent at the helm, or may be an act of God caused it. In any scenario it failed and it failed badly mid-stream and in abhorrently low quality. Angry PPV purchasers emailed RISARC, the organizers and web hosts for the event justifiably demanding a refund on an incomplete or sub-par view. No emails were responded to and no one got a refund.
Dennis Warner, Muay Thai promoter
Wisely Dennis Warner parted ways never to work with RISARC again.
Now in 2009 RISARC was back and Champions of Champions 2 was to proceed again in Jamaica. This time though they needed a promoter and a new sanction. In the year prior Dennis Warner had coordinated between various sanctions including the IKF and WBC. In the Champions of Champions 2 show it’d be none other than the WMC at the helm to sanction all bouts with Clifton Brown promoting. To put it bluntly, bad things followed.
The first bad thing: the PPV product. In Australia and select markets there would be a normal televised PPV to purchase. For the rest of the world you had a web PPV via gofightlive.tv. Through no fault of gofightlive.tv and the broadcasters of the PPV it failed horribly once again. The issue was not that they couldn’t broadcast but that often there was nothing to broadcast. Intermittently in Jamaica the feed died altogether or had audio or video issues throughout. The other issues were the decision to wedge in a fashion show in the fights and the long delays between bouts. As a result Champions of Champions ran over time. RISARC had only purchased 3 hours of PPV time. So when the 3 hours ended some broadcast customers’ show ended too.
Still none of this was WMC’s fault but should they have known better from the first Champions of Champions? In my opinion absolutely, undeniably yes.
So where is the WMC’s role in this? The second bad thing. Nathan ‘Carnage’ Corbett is right now a very popular Thaiboxer from Australia. Nathan is noted for his devastating elbows and tactically sharp Muay Thai that has earned victory after victory with most of them ending in a highlight reel collection of stoppages and Kos. There is no question about it ‘Carnage’ is the goods. So who could challenge Corbett for cruiserweight dominance in Muay Thai? Tyrone Spong a notable Dutch standout who also produced highlight reel Kos but had only fought Fully Muay Thai rules against his much smaller Thai opponent, Yod Chai Wor Petchpun. Needless to say Spong easily stopped his smaller Thai opponent. But here was the catch Spong wanted modified Muay Thai rules only. The WMC granted it and additionally made a title at stake for it. The title to be contested was the ever popular Muay Thai Against Drugs title. So here was the dream match under watered down rules for a title that really has no signifignace or rank importance being fought for under rules the WMC should logically have nothing to do with.
Nathan 'Carnage' Corbett
Tyrone Spong
I am reminded of the tagline the WMC uses ‘One World, One Muay Thai’. The reality of the WMC’s actions in this should read ‘One World, One Muay Thai unless a big enough name wants it otherwise’. As with the Contender Asia example the WMC acts first to make the fight and second to regulate. Why does the WMC now act as a promoter to make sure by any means a card can go on? Their negligence in this event was only beginning.
Here is the summary of the fight:
Predictably a melee nearly begins with both fighters’ corner rushing into the middle of the ring. It becomes so chaotic that one of the 2 biased fight commentators rises out of his chair and challenges Spong’s coach, former world champion Lucien Carbin to a fight at his gym.
During all this where is Fox to resolve all of this? Why he is table side with Michael Schiavello and Mark ‘The Hamma’ Castigni. Fox took no action, offered no help, and did nothing to resolve the situation. What Fox did do instead is announce that Duane Ludwig would be on the Contender and then mention that Thais are and I quote: ‘Flat-nosed small people’. These are hardly the actions of a Vice-President of the WMC seeking to preserve the integrity and honesty of his sport. It was the actions of man trying to shill his latest sponsored game show where he will star as the ‘mentor’.
Make no mistake independent sanctions are important. Having a true meaningful international ranking system for Muay Thai is important. Having a regulatory body making sure everyone plays safe and plays fair is also important. International Muay Thai cannot move forward without independent sanctioning.
But the actions of the WMC have led me to believe they are not fit for this course. They cannot do what must be done and have no interest in doing things correctly either. They have treated their own world titles as vanity belts with no rhyme or reason behind them. Title shots are granted at a whim whether it’s under full Muay Thai rules or aren’t. They cannot put their authority in place when they are easily vetoed by television producers. The WMC doesn’t respect the Thai culture or even the Thais.
For international Muay Thai the sanction leadership must be counted on to take action when it matters, when tough decisions need to be made and when reliable honesty and integrity is needed. The WMC has shown me that leadership is not them.
For a blue print on how to do it more correctly look at the WBC Muay Thai rankings. There is a clear delineation of who’s who and at what weight class. They have fight history and a lineage of when the titles changed hands. They make meaningful fights happen and they have yet to bow down to what any individual fighter wants to do to modify their rules. The WBC has yet to bend knee to a television producer’s demands.
Can the WMC change and become a meaningful sanction with integrity? Anything is possible but the strongest and most audible force in International Muay Thai is its fans. What do Muay Thai fans want? I hope its meaningful fights and a sanction worthy of being supported by them. Thanks for reading this opinion piece and as always leave comments either pro or con.
Posted in Commentary
Tags: Jamaica Muay Thai WMC Tyrone Spong Nathan Carnage Corbett