Have you guys ever heard about Jos Mendonça? He fought against Khanongsuk Chuattana (2012 i think) for the 154 lb belt but lost in points. Then, Later in 2013 he had another title shot, this time at 147lbs against Pechthongkhan Or. Sanitphan, winning the Rajadamnern belt!! He also has other titles: WPMF interin champion (147 lbs and 154lbs in 2011) and also 2014 at 160lbs Mendonça start training muay thai in Brazil at the age of 18, going to thailand in 2009 to train at Ingram Gym but only living there from 2011 onwards. Heres the video of his fight for the Rajadamnern belt in 2013.
Ya we know about him. Not sure how good the WW Raja scene is, but the one time he fought a name I recognized was Pakorn and he lost.
Im new to mt so i dont know how these championships work. I just crossed across an interview he did and saw some articles about him and how rajadamnern is one of the top stadiums there. Could you explain what are the best divisions and if what he achieved is really hard to get? I read he was one of the few outsiders that got a belt in thailand.
The real moral of the story is that if you're a non-thai fighter, there's always a chance you'll fight for a stadium title, regardless of whether you've done anything to deserve it.
The referee is so annoying. Waving his hand in front of the fighters every 3 seconds? Did they run out of referees for this weight class or what? I couldn't watch the fight because of that.
I never thought much of him, even as an outside (not from Thailand) fighter. Given title shots because nobody cares about the title and probably had the right promotion to back him so why not try and just give it to a foreigner. I mean, his title fights came AFTER the main events on shows that weren't even good. Obviously the Muay Thai public didn't regard him highly. He's the kind of fighter I dread going to MMA. He's not particularly good and could easily get KTFO or just bested on the feet for the duration of a fight and stupid people would use him to discredit Muay Thai. I predict this happens. In fact I was thinking about it yesterday.
Basically 105-135 lbs is elite, 140-160 is pretty good, and 160+ is very low level. Lumpinee stadium is the most prestigious, Raja is not far behind, and Omnoi and channel 7 are the other two high level stadiums. You have to understand though, winning titles isn't always the best indicator for skill. For example, JCS was a much better fighter at Raja than Mendonca and he never actually won a title. Its about beating the best and the one really high level guy Mondonca faced he lost to.
Man, he may not be the best but i gotta give him props for the belt and his other achievements. I dont think hes going to mma, he said he wanted to come back to Brazil and open a gym and hes 29-30 years old, kinda late for that. In mma everyone seems to be lacking, they focus on being okay in everything and dont go deep in anything. If elite fighters could make transitions when they are like 21 years old, they would dominate ufc at least when they are standing.
Thanks man, i see what you're saying. I hope some elite outsiders pop up cuz it would be cool to see if thais would still be the best. Brazillians were the best at bjj but nowadays some of the best ones (best brazillians) are training people outside Brazil, and there are some high level bjj fighters around the world already.
Titles only matter if the competition matters. Lots of good fighters never win major titles, but what signifies how good they are is by who they are matched with, and this means more than belts. To my knowledge Mendonca was never once matched with a good fighter in any of his stadium fights. It's a fact that he was never qualified to fight a serious fighter. No promoter could sell him against a legitimately good fighter. Im not trying to be mean, but that's how it is. The current 122 pound champion of Lumpini is in a similar spot. There are fighters in the division seen as so much better, that for them to fight the champion, it would be a mismatch and they don't even bother with it.
Everyone should look out for that one Brazilian kid that kicked Antuan Pinto and a few other guys behind the head. I like him, he plays for keeps. I see him winning a championship.
He is young and good but i dont think he is anything special. He said in an interview that he doesnt get along so well with his new trainers so he doesnt train alot for his fights. Maybe thats why he always lools tired at tge end of fights. There are plenty of fights of him if you search "Matheus Robim" on youtube.
