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ONLY Thai people can be the best Muay Thai fighters!
I'm amazed at how many people who call themselves fans of the sport don't understand this, or choose to ignore it. There are plenty of reasons why this true. First of all, history has backed this up completely. Occasionally good Thais will lose a fight to someone not from Thailand, and this apparently means the foreign fighter is world class. Wrong. No fighter from any country other than Thailand has ever been able to consistently beat other top fighters for an extended period of time. A fighter isn't world class from getting a lone win. A win that is often a gift, and these fights aren't really taken seriously anyways. Fighting a few times a year against mostly random competition doesn't cut it. When someone is fighting the best 7-10 times a year and winning a bunch of those fights, that's when they're regarded as a very good fighter.
The training. This is what separates Thais from the rest of the world. There are exceptions, but the general rule is a good Thai usually starts at 8-12 and fights 20+ times per year until they are teenagers. They are professional fighters. Early on they may train at home with their fathers, but eventually they go to a real gym and have consistent training all the way through with knowledgable instructors. This does not exist anywhere else in the world, at least not on a mass scale. The story around the world is usually someone starts as a teen or early twenty and they "go" to the gym at the strip mall. This makes it all but impossible to fight like a Thai. That person can learn to kick fast, punch, and do all that, but they can never fight with the composure, rhythm, balance and advanced technique of the better Thais. Take any high level fight from Thailand and try and find an example of where two foreigners were able to produce anything at all like it. Hasn't happened, or is very rare. It's hard to fight that way, and someone pretty much has to be in it from the beginning to do it.
Thailand has more serious participants than perhaps the entire rest of the world. Be it fighters, trainers, or anyone with knowledge in the sport. The place with the most participants, by FAR, is going to be the best. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the same. It's Brazil's sport, they have the most participants, the best practitioners, and it's accepted they are the best without question and these athletes are given credit by name, thanks to its association with MMA. Nobody gives competitive Muay Thai fighters any kind of credit. It's largely the fighters from everywhere else that are known. Relatively poor and mediocre fighters are peddled as greats and legends. The BJJ dude from Denmark, or wherever is never seen as the pinnacle. The ones who actually prove themselves are acknowledged in BJJ, regardless of location. They get it right! Compare that to Muay Thai.
If you're a fight journalist, analyst or run some kind of blog, please have common sense when looking at Muay Thai. Sergio Wielzen is not top-class. The world hasn't surpassed Thailand. Kiatmuu9 trainers are not inept because they don't teach to fight like MMA strikers. Just stop.
Bonus rant
MMA has really done a disservice to Muay Thai. Nobody in that world bothers to seriously learn about it, while the other supposedly significant parts of MMA are more freely talked about. They've (commentators, journalists, bloggers etc...) cheapened Muay Thai to its fans to the point where it's seen as second rate, even with the fact that no serious Muay Thai competitor has ever fought in the UFC. Where the description of technique is reduced to only silly clichés. Where if someone is aggressive and kicks legs they are the representative of Muay Thai. Where one of the top coaches in the sport doesn't have much of a background, yet is called "Master" and hands out Muay Thai black belts. This would NEVER be accepted if it was BJJ, wrestling or boxing. That person would be brought down and ruined very quickly. But nobody in MMA gives a fuck if Muay Thai snake oil is sold. It's lauded and viewed as greatness.
I'm amazed at how many people who call themselves fans of the sport don't understand this, or choose to ignore it. There are plenty of reasons why this true. First of all, history has backed this up completely. Occasionally good Thais will lose a fight to someone not from Thailand, and this apparently means the foreign fighter is world class. Wrong. No fighter from any country other than Thailand has ever been able to consistently beat other top fighters for an extended period of time. A fighter isn't world class from getting a lone win. A win that is often a gift, and these fights aren't really taken seriously anyways. Fighting a few times a year against mostly random competition doesn't cut it. When someone is fighting the best 7-10 times a year and winning a bunch of those fights, that's when they're regarded as a very good fighter.
The training. This is what separates Thais from the rest of the world. There are exceptions, but the general rule is a good Thai usually starts at 8-12 and fights 20+ times per year until they are teenagers. They are professional fighters. Early on they may train at home with their fathers, but eventually they go to a real gym and have consistent training all the way through with knowledgable instructors. This does not exist anywhere else in the world, at least not on a mass scale. The story around the world is usually someone starts as a teen or early twenty and they "go" to the gym at the strip mall. This makes it all but impossible to fight like a Thai. That person can learn to kick fast, punch, and do all that, but they can never fight with the composure, rhythm, balance and advanced technique of the better Thais. Take any high level fight from Thailand and try and find an example of where two foreigners were able to produce anything at all like it. Hasn't happened, or is very rare. It's hard to fight that way, and someone pretty much has to be in it from the beginning to do it.
Thailand has more serious participants than perhaps the entire rest of the world. Be it fighters, trainers, or anyone with knowledge in the sport. The place with the most participants, by FAR, is going to be the best. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the same. It's Brazil's sport, they have the most participants, the best practitioners, and it's accepted they are the best without question and these athletes are given credit by name, thanks to its association with MMA. Nobody gives competitive Muay Thai fighters any kind of credit. It's largely the fighters from everywhere else that are known. Relatively poor and mediocre fighters are peddled as greats and legends. The BJJ dude from Denmark, or wherever is never seen as the pinnacle. The ones who actually prove themselves are acknowledged in BJJ, regardless of location. They get it right! Compare that to Muay Thai.
If you're a fight journalist, analyst or run some kind of blog, please have common sense when looking at Muay Thai. Sergio Wielzen is not top-class. The world hasn't surpassed Thailand. Kiatmuu9 trainers are not inept because they don't teach to fight like MMA strikers. Just stop.
Bonus rant
MMA has really done a disservice to Muay Thai. Nobody in that world bothers to seriously learn about it, while the other supposedly significant parts of MMA are more freely talked about. They've (commentators, journalists, bloggers etc...) cheapened Muay Thai to its fans to the point where it's seen as second rate, even with the fact that no serious Muay Thai competitor has ever fought in the UFC. Where the description of technique is reduced to only silly clichés. Where if someone is aggressive and kicks legs they are the representative of Muay Thai. Where one of the top coaches in the sport doesn't have much of a background, yet is called "Master" and hands out Muay Thai black belts. This would NEVER be accepted if it was BJJ, wrestling or boxing. That person would be brought down and ruined very quickly. But nobody in MMA gives a fuck if Muay Thai snake oil is sold. It's lauded and viewed as greatness.
