A flash of gold.

I looked up at the ceiling: there it was…

A single piece of gold confetti, making its way down to the ground. A symbol of what was to come. Victory. Prestige. Money.

And, the One Championship Bantamweight Kickboxing Belt.

1 Day, 2 Stadiums, 3 Belts

So last week I spoke about the mental evolution of starting martial arts but this week we’re pausing that discussion, because, well.. I flew to Thailand 2 days ago!

Why, do you ask?

Is that even a question? You do realise this is a newsletter about Muay Thai right?

Feelin’ Fly

Despite the sarcasm above, the main reason I flew out is because Jonathan Haggerty was fighting Fabricio Andrade for the One Championship Bantamweight Kickboxing title.

I also wanted to watch Liam Nolan fight, since he is a southpaw (and I am too), but unfortunately Liam fell ill and had to pull out.

Together with Jonathan’s coach from the Knowlesy Academy, Chris Knowles; Lyndon Knowles; Ralph Beale, the owner of Lamai Muay Thai Camp in Koh Samui; and his family gym at Team Underground, I was lucky to have gotten to know a fair few of Jonathan’s team!

Chris, Jon and Ralph had all said I should come down and support… so, 11 hours later, with some jet lag and Bangkok traffic, I was there.

I'‘m not sure if they actually expected me to turn up but hey, you don’t play Muay Thai, and this is TNT after all.

We take things seriously.

Lumpinee Stadium

I was awake at 4:30am - I’d love to say it was excitement but it was mainly jetlag.

But, that had the added bonus of being able to turn up and get great seats.

I had been to Lumpinee before with Yokkao and had the privilege of sharing a corner with the Yokkao team (Saenchai included), so I had seen the stadium before.

But saying that, the vibe was very different as a One event - good different - and not necessarily better, just different.

Similar to the Evolve MMA gyms, the environment was a sort of fusion of elements of Muay Thai with western branding and promotion.

Comparing it to my last experience, there was no Sarama (the MT live music) and no Wai Kru, which was to be expected, especially given that the main event was for a Kickboxing title.

I wouldn’t say the differences were drastic, just the feeling and smaller details like being given One bracelets which lit up, similar to music concerts.

But the energy in the stadium was buzzing.

Even in the early hours, people were taking their seats and there was an air of genuine excitement.

The audience was also very mixed - both internationals and locals. And, during my last visit the gambling scene was prominent, but not this time.

Anyway, on to the fights (**Spoilers**)

“Witness Greatness”

That is exactly what I did.

Every fight was filled with heart, grit and beauty.

I really enjoyed myself and seeing such high level striking was a treat.

What was really cool was seeing a mixture of rule sets in the same event - you got a mixture of Kickboxing, MMA and Muay Thai, and of course a grappling fight too.

Some of my favourites were:

• (Fun fact, Dinamite was the first gym I visited on TNT!)

  It was tough and exciting and they both fought really well. But supporting Portugal in a whole row full of people shouting for China definitely made it even more exciting.

• Seksan v Karim Bennoui - I mean, it’s Seksan. Quality striking and great heart.

• Sinsamut v Mouhcine Chafi - brutal fight and amazing performance by Chafi, who has multiple WBC titles himself and was extremely tough, especially given that he took the fight on pretty short notice.

• Kang Ji Won v Ben Tynan - This was brutal. I’m not into watching grappling that much but Tynan was pretty flawless with his takedowns during this fight and was relentless with pressure.

Obviously, the Haggerty vs Andrade was the highlight of the event.

I’ll let you watch the fight and make up your mind, but in my opinion, Haggerty is one of those rare fighters that starts strong and keeps building on greatness.

I expected Andrade to come out with a more aggressive, MMA style armoury of strikes and basically be feral.

But once I saw (and heard, gad damn did they sound solid) Jonathan landing 1-2’s and punches… I knew it was a matter of time before Andrade wobbled.

Two absolute warriors. What a fight.

Rajadamnern Stadium

As if one whole day of legendary fights wasn’t enough, I was then invited to join the Lamai Muay Thai team and support Erdem “The Professor” Dincer.

I had also visited Rajadamnern Stadium before, with Petchmankong from Yokkao (at the time), but the RWS series is really looking spectacular.

Being with the Lamai team really took the experience to the next level because you could feel how much care and support the guys had for Erdem.

I’m not going to pretend and say I knew all about Erdem before the trip - I didn’t - but the fight went very smoothly from what I saw.

Landing a few elbows turned into a crashing tsunami of deadly slicing and stunning blows which ultimately stopped the fight.

My voice is now hoarse from all the shouting - but it was SUCH a ride!

Some of the other fights I really enjoyed (and which are worth checking out) are:

• Ruach Gordon v Leo Rosauro

• Petchkantat vs Akram Haddad

• Yothin vs Surasak

TNT Member of the Month 🎉 

A massive CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Darius Caple - the 100th subscriber to the 100 Club 🧨 

Darius is a 24 year old monster, training 4-5 times a week for 2-3 hours daily!

He’s been in the sport for 6 months and with that work ethic and work rate, I’m sure he’ll go far.

We’re sending him a pair of Twins handwraps and it sounds like they will definitely be put to good use.

Darius said:

I would absolutely love to feature TNT members over the coming months and hear more about what you are doing.

If you have any achievements or milestones - let me know by DM or respond to this email!

TNT Update: Giveaway 🥊 

By the way, we are over HALF way to sending out some sweet, sweet Twins lace-ups to our 500th subscriber!

Let’s GO!

I’m so blessed to have your support and it makes me happy to do something to give back.

And remember, we get 15% off anything from the Muay Thai Supply 

That’s a straight discount link, not an affiliate link, so I want you to save money!

What else would you like us to discuss? Respond to this email or shoot me a DM on Instagram.

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Let’s meet here next week for more Muay Thai goodness. I hope the start of your week is blessed.

TNT BABY 🧨