MMA threatens to knock out Thailand's national sport

[Boycie]

[Freakin Musashi]

Oh well, western boxing isn't faring too well neither.

[bermondburi]

Yawn

[pgrahmm]

Muay Thai has an art to it....MMA is like a version of human cock fighting....

Thug sport.....

[starky]

Sorry mate NOTHING (yelling it out in big fat letters for you) will ever replace Muay Thai in the kingdom. Not now, not ever, end of.

[NickJ]

The Culture Ministry went as far as to ban MMA here a few years back. It didnt work. Muay Thai will always be around.

As to MMA being a thug sport. I dont think thats the case at all. It gave a platform for real wrestlers, judo practioners and other combat sports. It is the fastest growing sport worldwide for a reason.

[bark]

It is part of Thai Culture. Never be replaced ! Smarten up !

[tropo]

The Culture Ministry went as far as to ban MMA here a few years back. It didnt work. Muay Thai will always be around.

As to MMA being a thug sport. I dont think thats the case at all. It gave a platform for real wrestlers, judo practioners and other combat sports. It is the fastest growing sport worldwide for a reason.

MMA is an evolutionary sport. It combines the best from the different fighting styles and makes a better one. Muay Thai is already in the mix.

[Baerboxer]

Never! MMA hasn't replaced boxing, doesn't attract the media attention or fans that boxing does. One or two big names draw attention but not that many fights. No unified body so world championships don't mean zilch. Even though boxing has several bodies it's still streets ahead,

Here, MMA is in it's infancy and no matter how it grows, will never replace Muay Thai.

From a sports martial arts perspective, which is what MMA is, it has to go a long way to catch Taekowndo in popularity in Thailand.

[ggt]

Time to think outside the box...try hooking up with the UFC so that Thailand becomes the the number 1 training facility for young MMA fighters outside the US and Brazil...

Host huge UFC events in BKK...

Ride the wave up...or be left behind...

[Bob12345]

Muay Thai has an art to it....MMA is like a version of human cock fighting....

Thug sport.....

Thug sport, human cock fighting...

That was true in the early days when fighters from different backgrounds stepped into the ring without really understanding what could happen. Head-butts were allowed, and rounds could last as long as needed (till someone was KO'ed).

Nowadays MMA is as much as a sports as muay thai, wrestling, or boxing. Fighters train specifically for MMA instead of focusing only on their "native" sports and several Olympic game (gold) medalists have entered the sport (from judo, wrestling, etc).

Not sure what you mean with "muay thai has an art to it". It sounds like you prefer to give arguments but can't find one and therefore you wrote that.

p.s. I have a background in muay thai (10+ years) plus several fights in Thailand. The main reason for my first visit to Thailand was to train muay thai. I am in no way trying to discredit muay thai but I am able to see what is happening around me and how the sport is losing support.

[Bob12345]

...

Sorry mate NOTHING (yelling it out in big fat letters for you) will ever replace Muay Thai in the kingdom. Not now, not ever, end of.

It might not replace muay thai, but you cannot deny the popularity of muay thai is declining.

There are less fighters, there is less of an audience in the stadiums, Thai youth prefer to watch MMA over muay thai on televion, etc.

In the past muay thai was the only way for poor boys in poor regions to have a shot to the big money. Going to the gym and training was a way for them to provide for their family. Nowadays there are other, and better, opportunities. Fewer fighters are going into the sport. The only groups of people increasing are the foreigners who come to Thailand to train and females who use it as a form of cardio training.

[connda]

Muay Thai has an art to it....MMA is like a version of human cock fighting....

Thug sport.....

Lol

[D3030]

Sorry mate NOTHING (yelling it out in big fat letters for you) will ever replace Muay Thai in the kingdom. Not now, not ever, end of.

Unless a Thai become UFC champion...

So, you maybe correct..

[starky]

...

Sorry mate NOTHING (yelling it out in big fat letters for you) will ever replace Muay Thai in the kingdom. Not now, not ever, end of.

It might not replace muay thai, but you cannot deny the popularity of muay thai is declining.

There are less fighters, there is less of an audience in the stadiums, Thai youth prefer to watch MMA over muay thai on televion, etc.

In the past muay thai was the only way for poor boys in poor regions to have a shot to the big money. Going to the gym and training was a way for them to provide for their family. Nowadays there are other, and better, opportunities. Fewer fighters are going into the sport. The only groups of people increasing are the foreigners who come to Thailand to train and females who use it as a form of cardio training.

Mate I love MMA but its a rudiculous topic Muay Thai will always be king in Thailand. Could be generations, or never, before there are mma gyms up in the NE and there wil always be poor and disadvantaged kids worldwide trying to make their way as journeyman fighters. Dont know where you live but up my way im yet to see hordes of youth crowding around to watch the mma i do however see them stopping everything 3 times a week to crowd around a tv to watch muay thai. Been training in Muay Thai here since 1998 and dont see the same decline you do. Rural gyms are still turning out the best fighters and I still train and spar with plenty of young hungry Aussies, Kiwis, Dutch, German and French fighters who definitely dont travel all the way here to improve their cardio output

[Stokakrishna]

Muay thai has been undermined for years , by thais sending their kids for tae-kwon-do lessons and other sports,

muay thai is considered a sport for the poor. looked down upon my nany thais unaware or ignorant about their heritage

[starky]

Sorry mate NOTHING (yelling it out in big fat letters for you) will ever replace Muay Thai in the kingdom. Not now, not ever, end of.

Unless a Thai become UFC champion...

So, you maybe correct..

I hope there will be a Thai champion but this is a circular debate generally started by people who think MMA is the ultimate ring sport. There will always be purists who prefer boxing or muay thai, just as there will always be those that practice judo, wrestling, tae kwon do, escrima and all the other arts who may enjoy the mma but are proud exponents of thier own style.

[mike324]

After the closure of Lumphini Statidum on Rama 4, I feel like there is a slight decline in popularity, simply because such an iconic stadium close down and that it is harder for people to reach the new one in Don Mueang. But I notice interest in Muay Thai has increased exponentially as a hobby / work out routine. Many young folks have taken up Muay Thai as a form of exercise, but thats as far as it goes, it doesn't really do much for the professional part of the sport.

[mikiea]

Muay Thai has an art to it....MMA is like a version of human cock fighting....

Thug sport.....

YEA RIGHT A ART ............hahaha hahaha haha artsy fartsy ...old farts call sport people thugs ................a art to it ? hahahaha

[Bob12345]

...

Sorry mate NOTHING (yelling it out in big fat letters for you) will ever replace Muay Thai in the kingdom. Not now, not ever, end of.

It might not replace muay thai, but you cannot deny the popularity of muay thai is declining.

There are less fighters, there is less of an audience in the stadiums, Thai youth prefer to watch MMA over muay thai on televion, etc.

In the past muay thai was the only way for poor boys in poor regions to have a shot to the big money. Going to the gym and training was a way for them to provide for their family. Nowadays there are other, and better, opportunities. Fewer fighters are going into the sport. The only groups of people increasing are the foreigners who come to Thailand to train and females who use it as a form of cardio training.

Mate I love MMA but its a rudiculous topic Muay Thai will always be king in Thailand. Could be generations, or never, before there are mma gyms up in the NE and there wil always be poor and disadvantaged kids worldwide trying to make their way as journeyman fighters. Dont know where you live but up my way im yet to see hordes of youth crowding around to watch the mma i do however see them stopping everything 3 times a week to crowd around a tv to watch muay thai. Been training in Muay Thai here since 1998 and dont see the same decline you do. Rural gyms are still turning out the best fighters and I still train and spar with plenty of young hungry Aussies, Kiwis, Dutch, German and French fighters who definitely dont travel all the way here to improve their cardio output

Muay thai might always be king, but the popularity is going down.

My father-in-law likes to watch muay thai, but younger generations prefer more international sports to watch.

If you watch muay thai on TV you will also notice that the commercials are always the same, not just the same brands as 20 years ago, even the exact same commercial. It sounds strange to me that these relatively small companies are the ones who are able to lock in these "highly popular" commercial slots while none of the new and modern companies, who have many times more budget, are able to buy 30 seconds of air time. Maybe its because no other companies have interest in advertising during the breaks between rounds... Maybe its because the viewer numbers are declining and mostly the same old people watch the fights?

You might see many youngsters watching fights, but is that everywhere you look or only in the gym where you train?

I barely see youngsters watching, its mostly the older generations who like to have the TV on at the background.

I am currently living in Phuket and there are tons of MMA and muay thai gyms here. Every big brand of muay thai gym has started offering MMA in the past 5-10 years. Same for Bangkok. In the north east it will be different because they cater to the extremely young professional muay thai fighters where they train them in 30 year old boxing rings with ex-fighters who would otherwise do farming jobs (as a figure of speech). The locals have no MMA, grapling, or ground-work skills so how can they open a MMA gym? They would need new trainers, new equipment, new rings, etc. And who will train there? Many of the youngsters have no interest in actually training MMA and there are not many foreigners going to the north-east when they can have similar to better camps in tropical paradises like Samui and Phuket, or in plain old Bangkok.

You mention you train with many nationalities. Why you think Thai gyms nowadays allow so many foreigners to train in their gym? Its for the money because it gets harder and harder to get rich from having a group of fighters winning prize money.

And I have been to a camp in Samui where I have seen plenty of foreign girls coming to train to lose weight, they have never trained this sport at home. And I have a relatively successful gym in BKK where i used to train and they even have separate girls-classes (of which none fights, or will ever fight; the girls who will fight train with the guys). And many of my female Thai friends post pics and clips of them training muay thai on Facebook; for them its just a way to lose weight and improve their cardio.