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BKFC Thailand 5 brings us Buakaw vs. Saenchai live from Pattaya, Thailand. Both men are icons of Muay Thai, and despite both being in their early 40s, can still thrown down.
Buakaw, aka ‘The White Lotus’, is a two time K-1 world champion and multiple Lumpinee Stadium champion. The 41-year-old’s pro fight record is officially listed as 240-24-14 1 NC. Buakaw tried his hand at bare knuckle fighting with BKFC in 2022, appearing at BKFC Thailand 3, defeating Erkan Varol by first round KO.
Saenchai is two years older than Buakaw. His record is 327-49-2. He is also a multiple time Lumpinee Stadium champion as well as a multiple Thai Fight champion and WBC Muay Thai champ. Saenchai has also fought in conventional boxing, where he holds a 5-0 record. He hasn’t lost any kind of fight since 2014. That’s good for a 70-fight undefeated streak (with just one draw in there).
Follow all the action as these two legends do battle, without the gloves, here on Bloody Elbow.
Buakaw vs. Saenchai live play-by-play
Round 1
Saenchai started with a teep kick to the body. Buakaw was the advancing fighter to begin, but Saenchai was the one throwing picks. Buakaw scored with a leg kick then came in for a knee to the body. They both then threw leg kicks. In a clinch, both legends threw an elbow. Another leg kick was thrown by Saenchai before he clinched up. Buakaw connected with a partially blocked head kick then came in with another knee. Buakaw, still advancing, threw a series of leg kicks before Saenchai pressed forward with a knee in the clinch. Two minutes down, that’s how the fight has gone.
Round 2
Buakaw started the second round with a leg kick that backed up Saenchai. Buakaw had a good start to this round, coming forward with lots of kicks to the body and head. Saenchai came in with a kick, but Buakaw caught it and dumped him to the ground. Commentary pointed out that leg kicks from Buakaw were landing frequently. Saenchai threw a series of punches, and Buakaw responded with a few shots of his own before clinching. Buakaw dumped and caught Saenchai once again, and was warned once again that the special ruleset they’re fighting under doesn’t allow for that.
Round 3
The round started with the fighters close and not very separated by the marked lines that they had to stand on to begin a round. Buakaw pushed Saenchai to the ground again but did not face punishment for this. Buakaw was still chopping away at Saenchai with leg kicks. Saenchai was scoring with elbows and punches. Buakaw continued to be the advancing fighter in this round, backing Saenchai up against the ropes at times. Saenchai found more success with elbows in this round, closing the distance to land those shots.
Round 4
Buakaw scored with a combo of punches to the body and then exited a clinch with a hard elbow to the head in the first minute of the fourth round. He’s the significantly more active fighter in this round, keeping the pace quick with loads of kicks to the legs and body as well. The broadcast made note that the referee is being very quick with separating the clinch. Buakaw landed a series of clean punches late in this round that seemingly stunned Saenchai, or landed clean at the very least.
Round 5
Both fighters took a little longer in between rounds before our final frame here. Buakaw dumped Saenchai to the ground once again – that rule for this special rules bout does not seem to really be enforced. The pace has dropped off as this fight nears its end, but Buakaw is still keeping active with kicks. A statistic on-screen notes that Buakaw has out-landed Saenchai in every round of this fight. Lots of clinching in the final minute. Here’s a change: Saenchai dumped Buakaw to the canvas once in the closing moments. They both land a few final shots as the bell rings. Let’s see who will get the nod…
Official Decision
Buakaw def. Saenchai via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-46 & 48-47)
BKFC Thailand 5 Quick Results
- Buakaw def. Saenchai via unanimous decision
- Po Denman def. Fani Peloumpi via unanimous decision: BKFC Thailand Flyweight Championship
- Krisana Srisang def. Sarun Srioumboo via KO at 0:18 in Round 3: BKFC Thailand Featherweight Championship
- Kristof Kirsch def. Thomas Newton via KO at 0:45 in Round 2
- Daniel Dorrer def. Tofan Pirani via TKO (referee stoppage) at 5:00 in Round 1
- Andrew Miller def. Teerawat Wongaon via KO 1:13 in Round 1
- Joemil Miado def. Gustaf Cedermalm via KO at 0:43 in Round 2
- Jonny Tello def. Chaloemporn Sawatsuk via TKO at 0:50 in Round 5
- Pouriya Rokhneh def. Yohann Marin via KO in Round 2
- Pongpisan Chunyong def. Tha Pyay Nyo via unanimous decision
- Mike Vertrila def. Allen Wycoco via unanimous decision
- Tumba def. Sornchai Seng Maseng via split decision
Start date and time
BKFC Thailand 5: Buakaw vs. Saenchai goes down on Sat., Nov. 4, live from the Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall in Pattaya, Thailand. The prelim card starts at 7 p.m. locally, or 8 a.m. ET | 5 a.m. PT. The main card follows at 8 p.m. locally, or 9 a.m. ET | 6 a.m. PT.
Live streams
You can watch the prelims of BKFC Thailand 5: Buakaw vs. Saenchai for free on YouTube.
To purchase the pay-per-view portion of the event ($9.99), head over to either of the following options: watch.BKFC.com, the BKFC+ app, the BKFC YouTube, or FITE.
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