M U A Y T H A I F E V E R Muay Thai Gym, Chiang Mai, Thailand
It's 2023 and things are looking good for the future of Muay Thai. The Amateur rules version of Muay Thai is now an Olympic Sport and is pushing hard for a slot in the actual Olympic Games. Below is a look at some of the bigger and more successful Professional Muay Thai Promotions.
One Championship
Arguably the best quality promotion around at the time of writing (Spring 2023). Certainly the highest prizemoney.
The brainchild of Mr. Chatri Sityodtong and supported by an ESPN executive The One Championship was born in 2011 and based in Singapore.
Whilst it is not exclusively Muay Thai it has been embraced by the Muay Thai world due to its successful and exciting format, matchmaking and large amounts of prizemoney.
Initially fights were in a cage but as the promotion grew it has began hosting fights out of Bangkok's major stadiums in a ring.
Rajadamnern World Series
In an attempt to exploit Muay Thai's growing international popularity, and recognising that the sport is now less attractive to Thai people, Raja introduced The RWS.
They promise to match the best Thai's against the best foreigners and hold weekly events. The RWS is separate to the Raja Championship belt and stadium rankings.
WBC Muay Thai
I was lucky enough to be training at Rangsit Stadium when Don king and other WBC delegates came to Thailand to discuss the possibility of organising a Muay Thai WBC Championship belt.
The idea fermented for a while as The WBC were determined not to sell themselves short and now the green belt has become a highly respected World Title to acquire, unlike the hundreds of other organisations who didn't do enough to police the quality of their championship matches.
Lumpinee Stadium
The Iconic venue moved to the outskirts of Bangkok in 2014 to bigger and more modern premises. Initially it struggled and attendances were in freefall but recently it has bounced back and we are now seeing some terrific fights come out of the stadium that has always been a mecca for high standard Muay Thai.
Thai Fight
The THAI Fight franchise showed so much promise when it started in 2009. Filling the gap between the gambling fuelled Bangkok Stadium Muay Thai and the worlds thirst to see international match ups.
The format was exciting. They ditched the first two "Gamblers rounds," and refs were instructed to break up the clinch when inactive. They introduced flashy ring entrances and gave the whole show a lot of razzmatazz.
However, sadly, in recent years it has become a spectacle where High quality Thai's are matched against lower standard foreigners to enable them to perform flashy and eye catching techniques. The Thai audience loves to see their countrymen winning easily with such panache but it is not fooling the international community.
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Max Muay Thai
Max Muay Thai is run out of The Max Muay Thai stadium in Pattaya. It continues to try and develop an evolution in Muay Thai. It wants make the sport more appealing to the Non Thai spectator and followed the Thai fight format of 3 rounds, less clinch and bling ring walks etc.
It is a steady performer producing some well matched and exciting fights but it doesn't seem to attract the big names.
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Channel 7 Stadium
Channel 7 Muay Thai (Chong Jet) is effectivly a Sunday afternoon TV show run out of a TV studio near Mo Chit main Bus terminal in Bangkok.
However, despite the fact that it is just a once a week TV show it has consistently been the highest quality Muay Thai in the country for the last 20 years. They run regional competitions for less known fighters to get the chance to fight on the show and the format, although normal Thai Rules in every way, is more exciting. Fighters are told before they fight that if they don't fight hard and in an exciting way they will not be allowed back.
The major downfall that Channel 7 has though is that they wont allow foreign fighters on their shows.
