Pad Thai is street food. Its cheap and quick to make. Street side food stalls sell it everywhere in Bangkok. In the U.S the dish is considered a bit more classy. Its like having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a fine dining restaurant. All the same Eric Luna and I still ordered the Pad Thai when we sat down for an interview. Luna just represented the American Team in the IMFA amateur competitions held in Bangkok this past December. Luna came back with the gold and some good stories.

Lucas: How did you get into Muay Thai

Luna: I was always a fan of MMA. In 2006 my pop’s and I went to UFC 57, I think. Chuck Liddell was headlining and on the undercard was this guy Paul Buentello. He was on the UFC and he came back recently. He trains at AKA. I was always fans of the guys from there because they were from San Jose as well. Paul destroyed this guy. I told myself  when I got back home I would try out the gym. I went to the AKA and checked out the classes. I signed up right away. I started taking the group classes all the time. I knew I wanted to fight but I didn’t know if I wanted to do boxing or Muay Thai or MMA. I knew that I wanted to do something competitive. My instructor gave a recommendation to Derek Yuen. “Hey I got a guy who is really hungry and wants to be involved.”  That was it.

Lucas: There’s a big contingent of MMA guys at AKA correct?

Luna: Yeah, there is. There’s a lot of professional fighters down here. There was a pro boxer for a little while. His name was RicardoCortez. He was a top ranker in middleweight or supermiddleweight for a while. He had a couple kids so he’s not as involved. All the non-professional fighters are part of the amateur Muay Thai team. There was a lot of diversity when I first came to the gym. There were boxers, kickboxers, mma guys, but now its mostly mma guys.

Lucas: What appealed to you about doing Muay Thai versus MMA?

Luna: I like that Muay Thai is all stand up. You can punch, kick, knee, elbow, you don’t have to worry about going to the ground or submissions like in jiu jitsu. You can go toe to toe, which is more exciting.

Lucas: Do you cross train at all?

Luna: Not really. For a little while the amateur team was doing jiu jitsu once a week, just as a break from regular training for fun.

Lucas: What is your training like?

Luna: Everyone meets at the gym at 6:30 pm. You have to be ready and warmed up then. We do warm ups, shadow boxing, or working the bags. Derek will hold thai pads for the fighters, for about five rounds. People who have fights coming up will get priority. Everyone rotates through. We do drills as well.

I train about six days a week. We spar on Sundays. Mondays are the hardest days. Its the most difficult pad work day and has the most strenuous drills. On Tuesdays the training is more technical as we also do cross fit and or lift weights. Thursday is a cardio day. We all go running together. Friday is our day off. Derek wants us to have one full day off. He doesn’t want us to do even an easy jog.

We do hard sparring twice a  week. We do Muay Thai on sundays and boxing on wednesdays. All the other days we do really light drills. Its a lot like tag. When we do that we work on feinting and combinations. We knee spar about three days a week.

Lucas: How many people are on your amateur team?

Luna: Its pretty big. We have three or four new people. There is about a dozen of us. We have two girls that are about 110, another guy at about 125. There’s a couple guys about my size 135, and then there’s two guys at 155

Lucas: What do you do for a living?

Luna: I’m a medical courier. I drive around delivering blood samples, and medications to medical labs, doctor offices, and hospitals. Its a full time job. I actually got the job a month before I went to Thailand. I told them that I was going to be leaving for about three weeks. I thought they were going to say that I wouldn’t have a job when I got back but my boss was really cool about it. I hadn’t been at the job for that long. My boss just told me good luck and that I would be put to work when I got back.

Before that I worked at a body shop. I also did a stint at a moving company. I worked as a clerk at an auto parts center, when I first started at the gym.

Lucas: What made you want to start fighting?

Luna: I felt like it was good angry management for me. I have a really bad temper. Sometimes I would want to hit something but wouldn’t want to do it because I shouldn’t. I would instead break stuff that I could.

I love the sport and the competition. I don’t have a problem hitting someone. I don’t enjoy it but I don’t have that barrier that other people have. I don’t like fighting in the streets, I’ve been hurt really bad and hurt other people too. Its not really healthy. In the ring the fighters know what’s going to happen. Before and after the fight though its all respect. I try to be friendly with the guys at weigh in. After the fight I’ll tell him good fight and try to buy them a beer.

Lucas: That’s good sportsmanship.

Luna: Even though we’re amateurs I try to be professional.

Lucas: What is your record?

Luna: 7-0 before Thailand. Now its 11 and 0. I fight at 135lbs.

Lucas: How do you think fighting has impacted your life?

Luna: Its been really positive for me. Its given me a lot of discipline. When I was younger I used to mouth off a lot, now I have a lot of self discipline and control. I’ve learned about respect. I try to stay humble and to not have an ego.

Lucas: How did you get onto the USA amateur Muay Thai team?

Luna: I was invited on to it after my fight on the Fairtex War of the Heroes 4 which was in August of 2009. The fight was a qualifier to get on the team. It was funny Derek asked me if I had my passport. I told him no and he told me to get one.

“For what,” I asked.

“For Thailand,” he replied.

“Oh for next year,” I said. The amateur team had a plan to go over to fight and train for a little while.

“No for this year,” Derek said. “You got a spot on the US team. Anthony from Fairtex told me that you got a spot on the team.”

The way he said it was really understated. He has a reputation for doing things like that. He’ll be really nonchalant about really awesome news.

Lucas: Who did you fight for the spot on the team?

Luna: Rick Erlec, from Dan Black’s team. Our bout was a qualifier for the spot. Anthony Lin sent us an email telling us when they wanted us out there. Right when I got the information I got my passport expedited. It came just a little before I was due to leave. I hadn’t gotten my plane ticket though because I didn’t have any money. I had a fundraiser dinner which gave me just enough money for the plane ticket and a little spending money. It worked out. I was in Thailand for three and a half weeks.

When I first got out there I hung out with my sponsor. My girlfriend found this guy on facebook who has an energy drink company. He was interested in Muay Thai. My girlfriend marketed me out. He contacted me back and told me he wanted to help me out. My sponsor helped me with the training at Fairtex. I spent a couple days with him in Bangkok. He does an energy drink called 666. Its not out yet. It will be released in North America soon. He’s going to produce it in Thailand then sell it over here.  He wants to sell it in packets in the end. He’ll can it first though and sell that.

Lucas: How was staying at Fairtex?

Luna: It was really nice. It wasn’t a huge place but it had every thing you needed. It had 5 rings, bikes and treadmills and everything. I was at Fairtex in Bangplee for eleven or twelve days before the tournament.

I trained twice a day starting at 6:30 then I did whatever. I trained again around 4pm. There was no training on sundays.

Jongsanaan came out to the camp a few days before the fight. He was the coach for the team.

Lucas: What were the rules for the tournament?

Luna: It was full Muay Thai rules, so you could elbow, kick, knees to the face. We wore headgear, shin guards, a chest protector and elbow pads. The shin guards were thin, it was like wearing two pairs of socks. The elbow pads slipped around a lot too. They didn’t really do anything. In my first fight I walked right into a knee into the chest, it hurt. The chest protector didn’t do much. The gloves were 10 ounces I believe. The fights were four two minute rounds in the B class, which I participated in.

Lucas: How many fights did you have?

Luna: I had four fights over five days.

Lucas: Did you get banged up much from the fights?

Luna: One of my worst injuries, well I’m not sure I would call it an injury because I was able to continue, but the worst thing that happened to me was in my first fight. I fought a Korean who was a southpaw. It happened twice. We both decided to throw rear kicks at the same time and because he was southpaw we clashed knees both times. The first time didn’t hurt that much but the second time it nailed me right on the spot. I had a really deep bruise. It bugged me for a month and a half. I wasn’t able to knee at all with that leg. I felt the injury in almost every fight.

In my final fight for the gold medal. In the first round in the first minute. I hit the guy with some good punches. He was on the ropes and I turned to pivot to throw a hook and my knee popped. I pivoted so hard and fast. I thought I could knock him out. It was the last punch in the combination. I had to jab out. I was so disappointed because I thought I could have finished the fight early.

Lucas: Where were the fighters you fought from?

Luna: The preliminary fight was with a Korean. The second fighter was from Argentina. The winner of that went into the medal round. The third guy was from Spain and in the finals I fought a guy from Kazakhstan.

Anthony told us that there were powerhouses in the tournament and that Kazakhstan was one of them. The US team isn’t a powerhouse. We’re not at the bottom but are an upcoming team.

Lucas: I think the Kazakhstan gets a lot of funding.

Luna: Yeah, the government gives them money. I think its the same with the Ukrainians and Iraq. Its crazy.

Lucas: What were the fight results?

Luna: I won all the fights unanimously.

Lucas: Did you get a gold medal of some sort?

Luna: Yeah. I was excited because on the day of the finals we were doing the wai khru but they stopped us. Another weight class was going through the medals ceremony on a pedestal nearby. I was so excited to get on the pedestal and go through the ceremony. They stopped doing it. After the fight it was really anti climatic. I went up to the table and told them my name and the organizers gave me my gold medal. I was like “gee thanks.”

I left two days after the tournament.

Lucas: What was the rest of the U.S.A team like?

Luna: They were really nice. A lot guys were from here in the Bay Area. There was also Eric Utsch, who I’ve seen fight a couple of times. There were a couple people from Texas, at Saekson’s gym.

Lucas: Have you won any other medals, or titles?

Luna: I won a state title in December of 2008. It was against Sterling Seymour who is from Dan Black’s Team. It was for WCSC. I won the fight. I beat the guy up for five rounds. It was one of my best fights. I used all my tools. Performance wise I was really pleased.

After I won they put this belt on me for the photos but it was a loaner belt. The promoter didn’t have time to get the belts before the match. The belt he had on me was from a previous card that was all girls. I had a belt that said WCSC Female Fury Bantamweight champion. I have technically won a championship but don’t have the belt. I’ve seen the guy countless times and he always tells me that he has my belt in his office. He always says that he’s going to bring my belt down to me he still hasn’t given it to me and now I’ve given up on getting it.

Lucas: Sadly, I think promoters do that sort of thing all the time.

Luna: My stablemate Gabriel won a championship under the same promoter at kezar stadium. Gabe got his belt then. The promoter asked for the belt back so he could engrave it. Gabe gave the belt back and the promoter never got it engraved, he stole the belt from Gabe. Gabe was so pissed. Gabe is always like “Fuck that guy, he stole my belt.”

This guy, Danny Kelly, at AKA, had something similar happen to him. He won his first championship but the promoter didn’t give him his belt. So his dad called the promoter every day for six weeks. “Where’s Danny’s belt at? Where’s Danny’s belt at?” The promoter told Danny’s dad “You have a ringside magazine, go to the back page and pick something out.” Danny Kelly had to buy his own championship belt.

Lucas: What do you think is one of your strongest attributes as a fighter?

Luna: I’ve always had really good hands. I haven’t fought anyone that has better hands than me. If I had to pick one tool it would be my boxing although I think my best attribute is my ability to listen to my coach, Derek. I can do whatever it is that he tells me. My ability to follow directions is really good. Derek is always telling me before the fight and right up to it “Use all your tools, open up your toolbox. I can’t see anyone beating you if you use everything. If you punch, kick, and knee.” I think my best attribute is being able to listen to him. I can hear him and obey commands. I pay attention to the advice in my corner between rounds.

Lucas: That’s really important. I can’t always seem to achieve that. I can’t always hear my coaches during the fight.

Luna: Yeah it can be difficult. You have all the fans yelling, then the other corner screaming as well. I’ve always had an easy time hearing my own corner. Derek isn’t always loud but the other guys in the corner repeat what he says. I can always pick out my own corner.

Derek always tells me to really sit down and do some damage with the first combination in the first round of the fight that way my opponent means that I’m not going to fuck around. Then I try to gauge my opponent, I still try to win the round but I also try to figure him out.

More about Matt Lucas

Born to a working class family in rural New York I grew up working like a dog and drinking Natural light in the woods. After a brief stint attempting to escape the poverty of employment via university I gave up on escaping the grind and moved to sunny California where the burritos are as generous as the weather. I work in the service industry slinging booze and food.

I got into Muay Thai as a recreational activity. I saw an interclub fight and decided to try it out, everyone has to test their mettle somehow. A few fights and a year later I was in Thailand training, and fighting. I haven’t quit stepping into the ring since. I currently live in East Oakland and balance my time blocking punches with my head with attempting to prevent brain deterioration through writing, studying Thai; language, culture and history, and going to wild dance parties with my friends.

]]> http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/interview-with-eric-luna/feed/ 4 http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/chaz-mulkey-interview/ http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/chaz-mulkey-interview/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:30:04 +0000 mattlucas http://www.mymuaythai.com/?p=2790 ?????? ? ????????

I first saw Chaz Mulkey fight in a brutal match with Brazillian Marfio Canoletti on a Fairtex card here in the bay. The brutal fight was hands down the fight of the night. A few months later I heard that Mulkey had been continuing his pro fighting career, having a bout with the respectable USA nak muay Chike Lindsay. I was able to talk to Mulkey on the phone and ask him about his current profession as a basher of brains.

Lucas: What weight do you fight at?

Mulkey: 154lbs.

Lucas: How old are you?

Mulkey: 29.

Lucas: How did you get into Muay Thai?

Mulkey: I just fell into it. A little over 4 years ago. I was working in a night club in Dallas. I always wanted to do something like boxing. My buddy Joe  came into work one night wearing a Muay Thai t-shirt. He was into Muay Thai and asked me to go to the gym in Dallas, it was Saekson Janjira’s place. All the stars aligned, it seemed perfect.

I wasn’t there that long, just six months although I was there twice a day. My mom was out here in Vegas so it made sense for me to be out in Vegas. I’d been in Dallas my whole life and needed a change of scenery. Saekson found out I was going to Nevada and he referred to me Master Toddy’s.

Lucas: What do you do for a living?

Mulkey: I have a small pool cleaning business but the majority of my money comes from being an instructional trainer at Warrior’s Way Training Center. I have about 7 classes a week and I do a lot of privates along with doing a kid’s class twice a week.

Lucas:What appeals to you about Muay Thai?

Mulkey:I like how raw and aggressive it is. Its fun and competitive.

Lucas: How did you start fighting?

Mulkey: I actually started fighting in Vegas. I was at Toddy’s for 3 or 4 days. I wasn’t in the fighting class, but I asked about it. I told him he I wanted to fight. A week later I was at One Kick Nick’s. One Kick Nick has a pretty big show for amateur fights and a week later I was fighting my first amateur bout.

Lucas: What made you get into the ring?

Mulkey: I didn’t fight when I was younger, although I got into scraps here and there. Usually people who have an aggressive nature do well in this sport. I feel like I have something of an aggressive personality and its something that I like to do.

Lucas: What do you think of the Las Vegas Muay Thai scene?

Mulkey: Its pretty nonexistent. Every once in a while there’s an mma show with

There’s Dennis Warner’s cards. He’s awesome. He only puts on a show every  three or four months here. Its pretty thin around here.

Lucas: How many amateur fights have you had?

Mulkey: I had sixteen or seventeen fights with a  perfect record. They start to blur together after a while though. I was fighting once every six weeks for 7 or 8 fights. Then it started to slow down. The more fights you’ve had, and the more fights you win the harder it is to match up. After 7 or 8 fights a lot of people go pro.

Lucas: What was your amateur career like?

Mulkey: It was really fun at first. It started to get frustrating because it got harder to get fights. You get to the weigh ins and something happens. The other fighter bails and  you ask yourself; “Where am I going next?” or “What am I doing?” The first half was really fun, then it got more questionable as I had to decide if I was ready for pro fights or not.

Lucas: What is the difference for you between amateur and professional fighting?

Mulkey: In amateur bouts you can break people. They haven’t had that much experience. Their spirits aren’t always strong.

Plus in amateur fighting people get weeded out. With each step up more people drop out. First there’s the smokers then amateur shows, people quit in between those stages. There is a similar jump up to the professional stage.

Professional fighters, they’re tough and smart, the two worse combinations. Its what makes pro fighters good. The guys that don’t look technical are still tough and with their experience they’re smarter. It makes the fighters harder.

Lucas: How many pro fights have you had?

Mulkey: I’ve had four pro fights. In my pro career I’m split even  2-2.  I’ve fought the notable Chike Lindsay, Marfio Canoletti on the Fairtex War of the Heroes card, Douglas Edwards and Bryce Krauss who was my last match. I actually ko’ed Krauss a minute and forty seconds in. He threw something he shouldn’t have, and ended up turning his body and I hit him with a strong knee. We locked up for a second and then I caught him with a square hook.

Lucas:What has been the most memorable fight you’ve had thus far?

Mulkey: My last fight with Bryce Krauss. It was so short. I’ve been looking for a knock out in my career but hadn’t had one yet. Everyone kept telling me that it just happens. I wasn’t trying to knock him out. He just went out. It wasn’t something that I was trying for though.

My  fight with Marfio was one of my toughest fight. I took the fight short notice and he weighed more than me. My conditioning wasn’t that good and it was a hard match. We both stepping in at the same time and he got me with an elbow that counted. The upward elbow cut me right in the middle of my forehead.

Lucas: How did you feel about your close match with Lindsay?

Mulkey: I wanted to exchange with him more but he grabbed more, body locking me. I thought that I was winning most of the fight but he caught me in the fourth with a clean elbow which gave me an 8-count. That set me back two rounds. Its not a bad loss to have. He’s fought notable people.

Lucas:What is your training here like?

Mulkey: I train twice a day for the most part. Five days a week I train twice a day and once on saturday. Each session is 2 or 3 hours. I start at 8 o’clock then train again at 5 o’clock. I run 3 days a week for about 3 miles. I do a fair amount of bag work. I used to run more but I was burning out my legs. I wasn’t kicking as sharp so I scaled back on it. Along with the bag work I do a lot of timing sparring, or light sparring with Kevin Ross. I had to back off on my pad work as I’m no longer with Toddy. It was time for me to go a separate course. Right now I’m at Warrior’s Way. I also go over to One Kick Nick’s regularly as Master Lookchang is there. He used to corner me for a number of fights when I was at Toddy’s but he went his own way about a year ago as well. Its harder getting pad work now as I have to pay for privates so I don’t do it as much except when I’m gearing up for a fight, maybe I’ll start twice a week a month before a fight.

Lucas: How would you describe yourself as a fighter?

Mulkey: I think I’m a competitive tough opponent. I think the harder people push the harder I push. I try to push the pace more or apply the pressure more.

Lucas: What is your strongest attribute?

Mulkey: I have a pretty long reach for my size. My cardio is real good. I’m technical. The three attributes are probably tied.

Lucas: What are your goals with fighting?

Mulkey: The first goal I set was fighting on a Dennis Warner card and I accomplished that. Warner’s show was the first live real Muay Thai fight that I saw. The card had Michael Mannequil fighting Ra Karma. I saw that fight and said to myself “That’s where I want to be.”

Secondly I’d like to fight in Thailand. I have that small pool business that I can’t leave for more than 7 days. Being an instructor I can’t just leave my classes, I need to find people to fill my classes. It doesn’t make sense to go over there right now. It takes a few days to adjust and then I’d have to come right back.

Presently I’m shooting for 5 pro fights this year. The pro cards seem to happen every two or three months. You take more damage with a  pro fight so it makes sense to have them a little more spaced out. Being stablemates with Shawn Yarbough and Kevin Ross should help me get on some cards that and being friends with One Kick Nick. He actually got me on my last card.

Lucas: Where do you think Muay Thai here in the states will go?

Mulkey: I think it will always be overshadowed by MMA. MMA is the new trend. Everyone wants to do it. I think people just follow it cuz its popular. In Muay Thai there’s more of a dedication you don’t see it all over the place. You have to go looking for it.

More about Matt Lucas

Born to a working class family in rural New York I grew up working like a dog and drinking Natural light in the woods. After a brief stint attempting to escape the poverty of employment via university I gave up on escaping the grind and moved to sunny California where the burritos are as generous as the weather. I work in the service industry slinging booze and food.

I got into Muay Thai as a recreational activity. I saw an interclub fight and decided to try it out, everyone has to test their mettle somehow. A few fights and a year later I was in Thailand training, and fighting.  I haven’t quit stepping into the ring since. I currently live in East Oakland and balance my time blocking punches with my head with attempting to prevent brain deterioration through writing, studying Thai; language, culture and history, and going to wild dance parties with my friends.

]]> http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/chaz-mulkey-interview/feed/ 5 http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/legendary-the-movie/ http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/legendary-the-movie/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:06:18 +0000 nopstar http://www.mymuaythai.com/?p=2670

I did a post on this months ago, just wanted to let you know that movie is out and is available for purchase.  Malaipetch’s a friend of MMT and I’ll always promote anything he’s doing.  You can order the DVD here.

I was hoping to see him in action in the second season of the contender asia, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening anymore.

I was fortunate enough to train the other week at Malaipetch’s original camp Sasiprapa in BKK. (more on that next week) I had a chance to meet with some of his old trainers who were all quite proud of him.

I’m going to order my copy sometime this week.

Just came across of this clip from Rawai MuayThai of the “The Empower” Namsaknoi in action.

For those of you who don’t know who Namsaknoi is, he’s the original star of the Por.Pramuk camp.  He’s one of the most decorated nakmuays from back in the day.  You can read more about him here.

Looks like he’s a trainer at Rawai these days.  I was just chatting with Nathan a week ago and I was shocked at the number of gyms that have sprung up in Phuket in the past couple of years.

He thinks he’s able to name a dozen or so camps just off the top of his head.  I know larger camps like Tiger have 10 or so rings with up to 150 or so people training.  That’s kind of ridonkulous…

I think Phuket could be the capital of MuayThai… can anyone think of any place that has more people training MuayThai per capita?

Anyway, it’s good to see Namsaknoi back in action even though the footage has been butchered.  A word of advice to the Rawai folks.  Nobody likes to watch edited footage, you can’t get a fair picture of how the fighters performed.  If you worried about the length then split it, or move to vimeo.

I’m not sure who the other fighter is, I gathered from the comments his name is Robert.  The fight kind of get’s nasty, with teeps to the grill…

Have any of you trained with Namsaknoi?

Sup people… sorry for the sporadic update but just got back from Bangkok.  Damn, it was good to be back…more on that later. Here’s another clip from Robert Clyne of Fight Japan.  More Sanchai!  you can never get enough of the sanchai in your diet.  Hopefully this will get those of you who are on the fence to the show this weekend.

I’ll post part 2 in a couple of days, enjoy.

Last week Poonsawat Kratindaeng Gym (Red Bull Gym) traveled to Ireland to take on Bernard Dunne for the WBA 122lbs title.

Thanks to Rob Cox for posting the press clip, Poongsawat did a media meet and greet at a local muaythai gym.  He did a few rounds of sparring and then transitioned to Thai pads as he gave the reporters a MuayThai demo.  Poonsawat a former NakMuay (surprise, surprise) drew applause from the media with his display of flying knees, kicks and elbows.

Here is the fight in it’s entirety… thanks to celticcutiepie for sharing with the rest of us.

Looking at the pics of Coke training with Jongsanan, I wonder if NakMuay’s in the San Francisco Bay Area can appreciate how much MuayThai talent there is just kicking it in the Bay.

It always amazed me how many people I’ve trained with who didn’t have a clue what Lumpini Stadium was.  Then you have the other contingent who truly believe that the fighters at their gym are “World Champions” just because their belt says so.

Anyway, didn’t mean to get off on a tangent… I came across some vids the other day from Bryan, he’s a self professed MuayThai nerd and has the video collection to prove it.

I just wanted to share a old fight of Jongsanan with you.  This would have been in the early 90’s probably 1991, as Noom (jongsanan’s Thai nickname) is 18 in this fight.

I always feel like I’ve got a headache when I watch Noom scap… he such a head on fighter…  I can’t imagine how many shots he’s taken to his dome throughout his career.

I’m thinking about doing a couple of posts on Legendary Nak Muay’s and where they are today.  I know most of them are living in the States…  I might ask you guys for some help.  If you train with any of these legends, drop me a line at nopstar at my muay thai dot com.

If you lucky enough to bump into Noom in the Bay, Wai him and buy him a beer for me.

After his pad work, the muscle bound man, worked the pluhm. Known in Thailand for his strong clinch, Coke used his strong upper body to man handle his partners until he had to leave. Finishing with simple calenthestics, he rushed out of the gym to head back to Oakland to teach class. The next morning after his 5 mile run into the Oakland hills I got a chance to sit down with Coke and ask a few questions.

Lucas: Where were you born?

Coke: I was born in Ratchaburi. Close to Bangkok, not too far. Maybe 2 hours from Bangkok.

Lucas: How did you start doing Muay Thai?

Coke: I stayed at a temple with monks. One monk asked me if I wanted to fight. I said “Okay, I want to fight.” They have shows, and celebrations, at the events they would have Muay Thai. I had my first fight for a New Year’s celebration.

Lucas: How old were you when you started fighting?

Coke: Eleven.

Lucas: When did you start at Fairtex?

Coke: I came to Fairtex around when I was thirteen or fourteen.

Lucas: What made you move from the temple to Fairtex?

Coke: At the time I was thirteen and had not finished high school. I had to go to school for three more years, but I didn’t want to go to school, I wanted to go to Bangkok. I worked for one month or two month, and then a friend asked me “You want to go to camp.” I said “I want to go.”

Lucas: You stayed at Fairtex for your most of your career?

Coke: Yes until I came to America. Now I train and teach at Pacific Ring Sports in Oakland.

Lucas: What was it like growing up at Fairtex?

Coke: I just stayed at Fairtex, I don’t know about other camps. I grow up there. My house was there, you know, I had my friends and family there.

Lucas: Who were your trainers?

Coke: At first Jongsanaan, and then Farsai (clear heaven).

Lucas: When did you first come to America?

Coke: I came in 2004 to work, and then I came back in 2007. I live here now.

Lucas: How is the US different from Thailand?

Coke: In Thailand they fight because its their job. Here fighters have to work, training is hard. The fighters have a lot to do. They have to train and work. In Thailand the fighters only have training.

Lucas: What have some of your obstacles been being here in US?

Coke: The language is hard. Not too hard, but I have to learn.

Lucas: How is Thai culture different from American culture?

Coke: It is different. Sometimes people here show respect, sometimes they don’t. The music in America, they like to talk dirty. In Thailand they talk sweet, talk about love. Its different.

Lucas: How are your fights here in the states different from Thailand?

Coke: Here, easy. In Thailand I have to lose weight a lot, almost die (Laughs)!

Lucas: Why are the fights easier?

Coke: I don’t have to lose weight. I can eat. In Thailand I have to train hard and lose weight. Run, train and then fight. Here I train, and then can fight.

Lucas: How would describe yourself as a fighter?

Coke: I think I’m not always smarter than my opponents but I’m stronger.

Lucas: How have you been training to fight for your upcoming fight with Kevin Ross?

Coke: I have been training hard. I can not lose. This time I can not lose because I’m fighting Muay Thai. I have a lot of friends and students coming to see me.

Lucas: What do you expect to happen with this fight?

Coke: I don’t know, we’ll see.

Lucas: What have you gotten from Muay Thai?

Coke: Muay Thai has been really good to me. I’ve learned a language and I can teach people about Muay Thai. “This is from Thailand. This is Muay Thai!” I can teach people how to say thank you and be polite, teach Thai culture.

Lucas: How do you feel American fighters are different from Thai fighters?

Coke: Some American fighters don’t understand training, Thai style. Americans don’t understand about trainers yelling, and pushing you. The trainers want you to be better. Not all American fighters understand that.

Lucas: What do you like to do with your free time?

Coke: Take it easy (laughs). Stay at home, go see movie, sometimes I like to do that.

Lucas: How long would you like to fight for?

Coke: I don’t know. We’ll see how long.

Lucas: What was one of your most memorable fights?

Coke: I remember the fight the best with Anpiichai. He is short but good. First time I lost. First fight I knock him down, and he knock me down too. Third time we fight, it was a big fight for me. I’ve had a lot of big fights. I fought and beat Buakaw. I’ve beat a lot of champions.

Lucas: What would you like to accomplish with your career?

Coke: I want to fight. I want to make my name known. I want people to know that what I do is Muay Thai. I want to make students into strong fighters. I want to be known as a good teacher.

Coke, the Thai with a steel will is set to fight Kevin Ross, the American with an Unbreakable Heart, on October 10th at the Santa Clara Convention Center for War of the Hereos 4. Tickets are available at Pacific Ring Sports on Telegraph and 40th in Oakland and at www.virtualboxoffice.com/coke

Props to Historian of MuayThaiFocus.com for posting this vid, If you’re a regular to MMT these two fighters shouldn’t be strangers to you.   Kem is the fighter that was supposed to be a contestant in the second season of the Contender Asia…  he would have been if his passa enkrit was up to snuff.  I guess the producers felt that the audience was too slow to read subtitles?

Sudsakorn has recently been one of the favorite Nak Muays on MMT… in his last fight that I posted, I think a lot of us felt he needed to clean up his hands a bit…

It’s been a slow week for MuayThai news… so this’ll be the perfect time to bust out the Badr Hari documentary.

I’m a pretty big Badr fan, I think he’s really one of the few last remaining legit K1-GP fighters out there.  This documentary was originally put out by HDNet.  If you’ve got a slow work day you’re in luck, because this clip is about 80mins long.

Enjoy.

Another interview with Somrak on MuayMag.com,   Basically, dude is probably play a couple of pickup soccer games in preparation for his showdown with the Muscles from Brussels.  Somrak is like, yeah so what..? dude is like 50 and I’m gonna get paid!  “The Commander at Home” classic… super star nakmuay worried about getting beat down by the old lady, aint that the truth.

Yeah, he looks like hell… but he’s still got the skills.  Does anyone have any footage of Van Damage?  He does realize that doing splits and punching people in the crotch isn’t going to win this for him right?  Well here’s some footage of Somrak from back in the day.  Many thanks to GKfromMTA for sharing this with us.

The commentator says that Somrak had his first fight at 7 and made a whopping 10 baht… old school.  Enjoy.

Ross looked determined as he warmed up and then engaged in some light padless sparring with Mulkey (who also had a fight on Dennis Warner’s card at the Hilton). After twenty minutes of light sparring, an equal amount of time honing his hands with his boxing coach and a warm down Ross took the time out to answer some questions.

Lucas: How did you get into Muay Thai?

Ross: I actually saw it on TV. It was a long time ago, probably when I was 14. I’d always want to fight since I was a little kid. I’d thought about boxing but was interested in martial arts too. I never saw any style of fighting that was both, boxing and martial arts. Karate has point sparring, but they don’t really fight, fight. As soon as I saw Muay Thai I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Lucas: Where you living in Vegas at the time?

Ross: Yeah, I had just moved out here, it was ‘94. I saw  Muay Thai on Television. It still took me eight years to start doing it, but once I saw Muay Thai I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Lucas: So you started at the age of 22?

Ross: Yes, as I was growing up and the years went on I always knew Muay Thai was something that I wanted to do. Muay Thai was always in the back of my mind. I got really into partying, I was a full blown alcoholic at one point. I told one of my best friends that I wanted to be a fighter, he was one of the only people I ever told. I didn’t tell that many people because I wasn’t sure how invested I was into fighting. I told him about wanting to be a fighter and he asked me why I didn’t become one. I would have to give up drinking, partying, and everything. I was never ready to do it. Then my best friend died while waiting for a heart transplant in ‘99. (Ross points to a memorial tattoo on his arm) When he died I promised myself that I would become a fighter. When he died I really fell deep into drinking but then one day about 3 years after my friend’s death I was sitting there drinking and it hit me. I was wasting my life, doing nothing. I poured out what I was drinking and two days later I was in the gym. I gave up drinking cold turkey.

Lucas: You’ve been training with Master Toddy your entire career?

Ross: I called around town looking for trainers. There were only a few in Vegas that sounded legit to me. I knew that I wanted to do private lessons as I wanted to learn as quick as possible. That really narrowed things down. In Vegas my options were Toddy’s or One Kick’s. Toddy’s was the only one with actual Thai trainers. I talked to Master Chan and started training out of Toddy’s.

Lucas: How long have you been training at Master Toddy’s?

Ross: It will be 7 years in January.

Lucas: Have you gone to other gyms?

Ross: No, not for training. I’ve been to other gyms to spar but as far as people training me its just Master Toddy’s. I’ve worked with some boxing coaches here at Warrior’s. Whenever I’m out of town I’ll check out other gyms. I got to train with Jongsanaan for the first time when I went to San Francisco but Master Toddy has been my trainer the entire time.

Lucas: What do you do for a living? Do you make money off of fighting alone?

Ross: I’m an artist. I do a lot of freelance stuff. For example the logo up there (points to a mural for Warrior’s). I went to school for computer animation. I was in school when I started training. I graduated about 5 years ago. Muay Thai takes up most of my time. Computer animation demands a lot of time that I can’t really commit to. So I do a lot of free lance stuff, in between fights.

Lucas: Where did you go to school?

Ross: I went to the art institute of Las Vegas. Its a straight art school.

Lucas: This upcoming bout with Kang En for the WBC International Superlightweight Championship is your 13th professional fight?

Ross: This is my 12th professional fight. This will be my 36th fight. I’ve had a lot of pro/amateur fights, full muay thai rules, with two minute rounds, but I wasn’t getting paid. Because of that a lot of people think I’ve had more professional fights than I actually have.

Lucas: What was your amateur career like?

Ross: It was good. My first fight I lost. I went up to Utah to fight, up at Saekesam’s place. The guy I was supposed to fight didn’t show. The only other guy they had available was 20 pounds heavier and had about thirty fights. I didn’t care. We had driven all the way up there. So we fought. He ended up stopping me in the third round. He didn’t knock me out but they stopped the fight. I was basically standing in the corner getting beat up.  It was really hard for me but it was the best thing, losing that first fight, getting the fight out of the way. Knowing what it feels like to lose really motivated me to train harder. We actually got to rematch about 2 years later and I knocked him out in the second round. That was my first fight. I don’t think I lost another amateur fight. I got to fight about every month. I was really active. A lot of the guys I was fighting had a lot of experience and were supposed to beat me. Fighting tough guys had me improve quicker. I’ve always wanted to fight tough guys. I’m not worried about a perfect record. I want to fight the best there is. I always want to have tough fights. I don’t care if I lose every time. I just want to fight the best there is. I always want to get better.

Lucas: You’ve competed in boxing before correct?

Ross: I’ve had four boxing fights. There was a year where I had a really hard time finding Muay Thai fights. I had something like 30 fights fall through. It was getting ridiculous. There was a boxing trainer who told me he could get me a boxing fight. I went to a smoker for a Muay Thai fight, they had boxing fights on the card as well. They offered me a boxing match so I took that.

Lucas: You’ve competed in professional boxing as well…

Ross: I’ve had two amateur boxing fights and two professional.

Lucas: Did the training differ from your Muay Thai fights?

Ross: I took both of my professional fights on short notice. So it was hard for me to transition between the two. Boxing and Muay Thai are so different. The first guy I didn’t have too much trouble with. The second guy I fought was real slick with his movement. It was really hard for me to adjust to his style. I lost the decision, it was really tough especially with short notice. Boxing has never been my main focus. I love boxing but its not the same as Muay Thai for me. I feel like I’m sparring when I’m fighting in a boxing match. I’ll do whatever I have to to stay busy though.

Lucas: Were the boxing matches four rounds?

Ross: Yes.

Lucas: How many times have you been to Thailand?

Ross: Twice.

Lucas: Where did you go?

Ross: First I went to Sitkuanim, its affliated with Sit-O gym. I was there for two months and then second time I was at Sasiprapa for a month before my fight for the king’s birthday.

Lucas: How do you feel your training compares between here in the U.S. and in Thailand?

Ross: Going over there I wasn’t sure what to expect, I knew it would be hard. I think the biggest difference between there and here is being surrounded by other serious top of the line fighters. Most people out here are doing it for fun, as a hobby, or to get into shape. People out here aren’t doing it because they don’t have any other options. Being surrounded by great fighters, and the mentality the fighters have, that’s really the biggest difference. The training is hard but I train hard here too. For the fighters over there its not a joke, they’re not doing it for fun.

Lucas: What does your training here in the U.S. consist of?

Ross: Well I go over to Toddy’s everyday for my Muay Thai and do my strength and conditioning over here at Warrior’s. I do strength and conditioning three times a week. I started doing that just last year. Its taken my game to a whole new level. I’ve never done any strength and conditioning before. I train with Norm Turner. I always saw him working with MMA guys and then I started working with him. Its taken my conditioning to crazy levels. Sometimes I’ll do some boxing padwork over here with the boxing trainer. I spar regularly here and at Toddy’s. I train six days a week. I’m over at Toddy’s for a couple hours every day and over here for a couple hours. Its about 6 hours a day.

Lucas: You run regularly as well?

Ross: I snapped my ankle in a previous fight with Kang En. I was in a cast for six to eight weeks. I’ve been in rehab ever since then. I was finally feeling better before this last fight. I wasn’t able to kick until two months ago. So I actually haven’t been able to run at all. Norm had me doing some exercises as substitutes for running because I couldn’t run. Now I’m back to running.

Lucas: Do you imagine you’ll stay in Vegas?

Ross: As long as I’m fighting I’ll be here or in Thailand.

Lucas: Where do you think your fight career will go, and or where would you like it to go?

Ross: I don’t know. I want the big fights for sure. As far as Muay Thai goes things are slowly getting bigger. The big stand up fights would be good like K-1. I’d like to get over to Japan. That’s definitely where the money is. Fighting for this title, the WBC, has been one of my dreams. I don’t think there’s one specific goal for me. I want to keep getting better, keep fighting better fighters.  Obviously it’d be great to make some big money but its more important to me to fight good people. I’ll see what happens.

Lucas: Do you have any end point in mind or do you want to fight as long as you can…

Ross: I’m going to fight as long as I have the passion to fight and for as long as my body will hold up. Hopefully when I retire it will be when I want to instead of due to an injury. I don’t have a specific date, I want to be in this sport for as long as I can.

Lucas: You’ve fought Kang En before in Beijing, what do you expect with this fight?

Ross: I expect En to be more prepared for me. The last fight was a tough fight for both of us. He knows he lost that fight, he told me, his trainers, all of the spectactors told me. I think he’s really coming to fight with a will. He wants to show that he deserves the title. I think he’s going to come as hard as he can. I don’t think he realizes how good I actually am. I only trained for five days for our last fight. I know he’s tough and strong. If its going to be a five round war, I’m ready for that too. I think it will be a great fight.

Lucas: Do you have a game plan you are going to implement?

Ross: My game plan is always the same, to pressure people and go forward. The biggest thing for me is some stylistic things that threw me off last time. I think as far as a game plan goes I plan on taking it to him, pressure him and stay on him. I stayed on him last time and I wasn’t in shape at all. I’m going to push the pace. I want to make him quit. That’s my goal, to make him quit.

Lucas: How do you prepare for your fights mentally?

Ross: I do some visualization stuff. I picture myself winning the fight. Fighting for me has never been a problem for me. I don’t get nervous. Its what I love to do. I’m always there, ready. Actually for me I have to get more pysched up then calmed down. I’m at the other end of the spectrum. Being too nervous is bad, but being too calm is way worse. I’ve been in a couple fights where I didn’t have any adrenalin going in. It was rough. You feel everything. I really have to amp myself up.

Lucas: Do you have any particularly memorable fights?

Ross: Fighting for the King’s birthday in Thailand. Being able to fight on that was such an honor for me. There’s only been a handful of Americans that have fought on that card. Fighting in front of 100,000 people in Thailand, it was a really great experience. That was my most memorable fight.

Lucas: Have you fought Thais in Thailand or foreigners?

Ross: The first time I fought a Thai. I remember the announcer saying that he had over 100 fights as I walked into the ring. It didn’t hit me at the time but afterwards I was like “How many fights did they say he had?” I actually broke my hand with the very first punch I landed, in the first round. It was a five round fight. That was rough.

Lucas: Was he stylistically different than the other Americans or foreigners you’ve fought?

Ross: Oh yeah. He was a southpaw. They way fight over there its like night and day compared to here. The Thais are so skilled and smooth. Definitely the kicks are different. Its just no joke. I think putting Thais up on such a high level, looking up to them, sort of threw me off, instead of realizing that I belonged there. For me I just wanted to earn the Thai people’s respect, not neccessarily win the fight.

Lucas: Do you feel like Muay Thai is growing here in the States?

Ross: Yeah, its growing, slowly. The problem here in the states is with MMA. Everyone is going into MMA. On one hand it helps Muay Thai because MMA guys need to train in Muay Thai but the problem is that there are so many more opportunities with MMA, getting fights more often, better, money, getting sponsorships, big pay days. People switch over. There’s so few shows here in America that are one: Top level and two: are going to make you any real money. Its really unrealistic for any Muay Thai fighter here in the states to make any money just fighting. That’s why so many people switch over. Mauy Thai is growing, I think its going to take a while but its growing.

Lucas: Do you like traveling for fights?

Ross: I love traveling, being able to travel the world, go places people have never been to. Travel wears on you especially right before a fight but I love it.

Lucas: Do you have any upcoming bouts?

Ross: Nothing set. There’s a Fairtex card in October that I would like to do. There’s also a possible card in South Africa I’d like to do. I’m looking towards October.

Ross went on to KO Kang En in the fourth round with a knee to the head. He now holds the WBC Muay Thai International Super Lightweight Championship along with the WBC US Welterweight championship.