Thailand Government Bans MMA

be prepared...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAv4-_XBBHg&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ79kpTdffE[/ame]


he was a better thai fighter

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxoxECM0nog[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI32QQ9T3os&feature=related[/ame]

 

This is yodsanan sityodtong (who has a background in western boxing):

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XI1vI7gC6g[/ame]

 

Rambaa Vs Ulysses Gomez was a good fight, but shows the Thai is more a 115lber, straw, which will not be in the big leagues (Western anyway) for a while yet Has such good kicks and hands though. I'd say Mighty Mouse still looks small at 125 though, so as I said earlier, even though he's old I'd still love to see the Thai in the UFC's 125lb division.

And Yaca, had never seen him as Nak Muay before, thanks :good

 

Awful. MMA is a proven sport and not overly brutal. It has also brought a hell of alot of fanfare to Muay Thai.

 

I'm not shocked by this...

Most of the Muay Thai guys I've trained with hate MMA and claim it is not very good because of the lack of respect and discipline...

This makes me sad as I love Muay Thai and MMA... this will only hurt Thailand.

Lynchburg

 

It is also illegal to make porn in Thailand but prostitution is legal. It makes
as much sense as banning MMA but OK to have Muay Thai matches. It's all about greasing the right palms in Thailand. Their supreme court even encourages bribe. The Muay Thai organization over there is fearful of losing money to MMA. They bribed the right official(s) and no MMA.

 

[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]We know Thailand is rife with and operates around corruption but I sense you are generalizing based on hear say not experience. As you know Thailand so well you'll know things are banned almost on a weekly basis, but enforcement tends to be limited and hence rulings get reversed quite easily and often.

Who in Thailand representing all the widly varied vested intersets in Thai Muay Thai greased who's palm concerning MMA?

How is MMA a threat to the national sport considering most Thais don't watch particpate or find it interesting?

MMA in Thailand is basically about forigners training in MT and they are still allowed to train there anyway. Thailand has never been a great important hub of MMA fights. The biggest long term threat to Muay Thai in Thailand is probably the regional Asian development and popularity of football/soccer.

How exactly does their supreme court encorage bribes by the way? Do they advertise?

Just for the record prostitution is not legal in Thailand.

 

Yes I know Thailand very well, I've lived there for 5 years. I vacation there every other year now. My best friend married a girl from Thailand. I stay at there place in Chiang Mai when I go. You are correct that prostitution is illegal but it is never enforced instead it is practice openly and regulated.

As for the bribe, it was aimed at foreigners.I remember it making headline news when Thai official said bribing is a part of Thai culture and any foreign business doing business in Thailand should expect it.

Back on topic, the whole issue with MMA being banned is all about money. The promoter their makes Don King and Arum look like saints. They make tons of money from these matches (betting). You think any law maker there gives a rats ass about MMA? Hell no they don't but give them enough money and now it is to violent. Muay Thai itself is an extremely violent sport. Elbows, kicks, punches,knees, hold and kick/punch. Only thing you won't see is ground work. Yet MMA is to violent.

 

Uoghieee Uoghieee Uoghieee!!!!!! Somdete M16 original Muay Thai badass! If I woz a black guy I'g have to call him a G.

Thanks Yaca I really enjoyed these.:happy

I see what you mean Muay Thai suited him better but that's only to be expected as he's a Muay Thai machine.

In that 1st clip if Somdete had been allowed to use his knees it wouldn't have lasted too long 1st round KTFO. By the way I don't know much about MMA rules but why wasn't he allowed to knee, that's what I thought MMA was all about almost anything goes right?

The 2nd clip well I hope the Japanese guy sacked who ever devised the fight plan, don't they make DVDs in Japan anymore?! Didn't anyone see Somdete fight before?! How the **** do you stand in front of a guy from Thailand with 'M16' in his name and keep trying to walk him down when you seem to have no striking ability whatsoever and also the option to take him to the ground! F___ing insane!!!!atschatschatsch

The third clip well raw, isn't that what we all love about the power of Muay Thai...... I think they call that a double shin sandwich with all the trimmings and extra sauce to go!

That poor Japaense guy in he last clip he didn't have clue what he was in for, lamb to the slaughter or should I say fish to the sushi bar.

I really enjoyed those clips. Thanks again Yaca intersting stuff. I may become a casual watcher of lower weight MMA after seeing those clips. I can see the Thais will add some excitement and explosiveness to the lower weight MMA scene, they always come to fight and can draw on vast fighting experience.

 

Look mate I’m not here to give you a hard time and get in a pissing contest about Thailand we’re both here cos we both love the fight game, but 5 years and a few holidays doesn’t cut it with me interms of understanding a deeply divided and complicated mixed Asian culture. (And trust me you don’t want to compare resumes on Thainess with me).

Back on topic, I really don’t want to labour the points coz I know it gets boring for the other guys on the forum but you still haven’t really answered my questions who bribed who and why? Why is it about money? I don’t understand who in Thailand will lose out financially other than the very people you say want to keep MMA banned? How does the gambling industry lose from having MMA bouts in Thailand? If anything it’ll just make more money for the bookies and the already well-established Thai fight scene promoters, kit makers, TV companies the Army who own Lumpinee the police and so it goes on and on and on. However, the truth is its small change to the Thai economy as a whole and most of it’ll never get to the fighters. They have had a whole slew of foreign boxers and MMA guys getting in trouble stabbings fights etc in the news over the last few years and to them it seems unsavoury so in typical unbalanced Thai style a politician makes a knee jerk decision that no one really listens to. Let’s face it Thailand haven’t been that bright since 2006 when it come encouraging foreign investment. I’m not saying I know why the ban has come but we’ve got to be logical about it.

The Thais honestly don’t give a **** about MMA. It’s not so much about the apparent brutality as it is refinement. To them it’s ugly, they don’t understand the ground work it looks barbaric to their eyes. However they view Muay Thai is a national treasure, a sophisticated fighting art that has evolved over many hundreds of years and has been used in defence of the nation countless times against the old enemies of Burma and Cambodia. When you hear Thai fight fans talk about Muay Thai, 5 beautiful rounds is a common theme that’s why fights start slowly. A boxer who gets too many 1st round KOs can find it hard to get regular fights and yes that’s down to the backward and forward thrust of betting.

Concerning promoters in Thailand I guess you didn’t read my postings on promoters in the Muay Thai ATG thread. The interview you mention you heard about the official stating that corruption is normal, well I’m not even going to go there. And finally, prostitution is regulated in Thailand WTF!!! Where did you get that from? And as you know well from your postings on this thread if palms don’t get greased people get busted well that happens a lot in the entertainment venues like Nana, Patpong and Cowboy so enforcement does occasionally happen.

All in good faith and spirit mate.

Does this post make me a troll?

 

In thailand, concerning prostitution the cops say

"whens its in you cant see it, and when its out its not in"

:deal

 

The Thai's made a huge mistake in not giving a hoot about expanding Muay Thai outside of Thailand.


The politics and competing interests is a complex scene as Boranbkk mentions - what form this ban takes will remain to be seen. IMO it will be minimal.

I find it sad and a little hypocritical that Thai's view MMA that way. Muay Boran, Bando and Khun Khmer all have "messy" techniques yet brutal in their efficiency. If it was good enough for the roots of the sport its good enough for the modern version. Some of those people might want to study history and realise what capital was sacked and occupied.

 

Not true, prostitution is illegal in Thailand. :yep

 

I kind of agree with you about the history thing. The Thais are fiercely nationalistic and are daily bombarded with their culture and history wherever they go, but it’s a very much with a selective memory. Try reminding a Thai that much of what is modern day Thailand was part of the Khmer empire for near 450 years they look at you like you’re a madman, but the same is true when you talk to a Cambodian about much of Modern day Cambodia and Lao post the 14th century being controlled by the Thais.

Even though the majority of Thais don’t really follow Muay Thai in any great way they do respect its historic significance and see it as one of their greatest gifts to the world. Movies, songs and TV soaps are continuously churned out retelling famous historical stories and battles where Muay Thai features heavily, Bang Rajan, Suriyothai, King Naurasuan, and the Ong Baks etc. One of their biggest historical heroes is the Thai boxer Nai Kannomtom form the 18th century who gave 10 Burmese Lethwei fighters the Buakaw treatment in front of the King of Ava, he still has his own national day on the 17th of March every year. This under a backdrop of yearly border conflicts with the old enemies of Burma and Cambodia an on-going insurgency in the South of Thailand you can see why the romantic ideas of Muay Thai survive and are embraced by the general public who is sceptical of the world’s new found interest with their National sport. It’s Thai, it ours, we do it best, please leave it alone! They over emphasis internally their place in the world bolstered by the fact they were never colonised like their neighbours, Lao, Cambodia, Burma and Malaysia is also a key piece of National martial pride that feeds their nationalism and attachment to a heroic fighting past linked to Muay Thai.

MMA Challenges the way they have always viewed fighting as a sport. I don’t think it’s the ”messiness” that they find unattractive rather the implied lack of control “anything goes in the ring” view of MMA held by people that don’t really watch it and the long periods of “rolling around” on the floor which to a Thai is just not beautiful in the way that they understand fighting, Muay Thai, boxing, Taekwondo, etc.

The city you spoke of that was sacked is Ayutthaya in the 18thC, the truth is yes it was sacked but only loosely held under Burmese control for a couple of months as the Burmese had the run home to defend themselves from the Chinese. The downfall of Ayutthaya one of the biggest and most prosperous Kingdoms the region has ever seen only happened due to years of infighting and competitive bull**** between Thai princes and crucially a drought in the region that made Burma’s timing perfect. The Thai’s got their revenge under king Thaksin. A similar situation led to the downfall of the Khmer with the Thai sacking of Angkor in the 14thC due to princely infighting and a drought.

 

:thumbsup

Your knowledge outweighs mine Boranbkk. I hope you stick around and post a lot more Thai knowledge. I have been lucky enough to hear both Thai and Khmer perspectives a bit.

I have a question you may have the answer for. I am trying to find out the first Westerner to fight Muay Thai. I have seen reference to two French traders in the 1770's having bouts in Thailand but cannot find which camp or location?