WTF: Muay Thai vs. Lethwei battle for the ages
WTF is back in your lives with Lethwei vs. Muay Thai match for the ages. We've also got dambe, judo and more.
Interview: Fight Circus head honcho Jon Nutt aims to ‘carve our own niche‘
One of the wildest, weirdest, and most remarkably ridiculous recent entries into the world of combat sports has been Full Metal Dojo’s Fight Circus events. Based out of Phuket, Thailand, it’s not Muay Thai, and it’s not MMA. FMD is putting together hybrid contests of strength, skill, and absolute clownery straight out of a sadistic […]
Karate Combat has trio of upcoming events in Miami
Karate Combat has been reinventing their namesake martial art by providing a big stage for the world’s greatest Karatekas to compete in a full contact format. KC has just announced that they will be taking their ‘unusually high for combat sports’ production value back to Miami, Florida to put on three events across three consecutive […]
The Level Change Podcast 220: UFC 283 rewind, ADCC moving to Fight Pass
Welcome to The Level Change Podcast, our combat sports themed variety show hosted by Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez. The show features the news of the week, fight card breakdowns and analysis, a roundup of regional promotions’ cards and fights; and whatever else we decide is important enough or entertaining enough to bring to your […]
From Writing to Fighting: Thailand, Part 2
In part two of this series, Bloody Elbow’s Managing Editor, Anton Tabuena faces off against his Thai opponent.
From Writing to Fighting: Thailand, Part 1
In this two part series, Bloody Elbow’s Managing Editor, Anton Tabuena flies to Thailand to compete in Muay Thai.
Fight Circus IV: Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money – Full Metal Dojo returns to life this weekend
Fight Circus has no use for the norms and standards of the combat sports world. And they sure as hell don’t care about daylight savings (there’s your reminder, thank me later). This Saturday night—Sunday morning local time—they’re back with more zany antics. While technically these could be considered ‘fights’ really it’s all just about having […]
A day in the life of a Thai MMA fighter – Topnoi Kiwram’s Road to UFC
Topnoi Kiwram is looking to be the first male fighter from Thailand to make it to the UFC, with his compatriot and teammate Loma Lookboonmee already making waves in the Women’s strawweight division. The lifestyle of a fighter in Thailand certainly isn’t an easy road, with countless athletes starting that grind from a very young […]
Dana White reportedly donates $10K to Muay Thai fighter who lost both legs in freak accident
We’ve been hearing more stories about Dana White’s supposed acts of goodwill. These stories are mostly firsthand accounts from fighters who’ve apparently experienced major life changes, thanks to the UFC president’s help. This most recent one, as reported by TMZ, involves 30-year-old Muay Thai fighter John Esposito, who lost both of his legs in a […]
Striking legend Melvin Manhoef retires from MMA after KO loss to Yoel Romero
At the age of 46, striking aficionado Melvin Manhoef has just retired from MMA following a third round knockout loss to the always scary Yoel Romero at Bellator 285. After 28 incredible years, Manhoef is departing from the sport with an honorable record of 32-16-1-2. Some of Manhoef’s achievements include being the K-1 HERO’S: Grand […]
Ukraine boycotts Muay Thai Youth World Championships due to admission of Russian athletes
The Ukrainian national team plans to boycott the upcoming 2022 IFMA Youth World Championships in Muay Thai due to the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes. The news was announced by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, which released a statement explaining its decision and its unwavering demand for “complete isolation of Russians […]
WTF: Jeet Kune Do vs vs. Kickboxing
While the combat sports world has all manner of wild antics taking place in and out of competition, WTF keeps chugging along here with the best fringe content and odd mishaps we can find in the martial arts world at large. This week, we’re kicking things off with Jerry at Fight Commentary Breakdowns, where we […]
Brandon Vera: “Who would win in a fight? Superman or The Hulk? You’ll see that at ONE-X” | Exclusive Interview
Former ONE Championship Heavyweight World Champion Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera currently runs his very own Philippines Alliance Training Center, developing the next generation of Filipino martial artists right where he got his own professional start training in submission grappling. His storied career climbing the ladder of the world of combat sports started out early while […]
Man found guilty of murdering fellow fight club member
A court in Sydney has found Diego Carbone guilty of the murder of Bradley Dillon (per news.au). Both men were members of the secretive Saint Michael Christian Brothers Fight Club; an organization started over an appreciation for Catholicism and Muay Thai, which police say later resembled an outlaw motorcycle gang. Dillon died after he was […]
Video: No one seems to know who won this Muay Thai fight
You all have heard the proverb (or some variation of it), “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”, right? Well, those words were truly taken to heart by a cage announcer at Budo Sento Championship 3 this past weekend. Budo Sento Championship (BSC) — a promotion based out of Mexico — held […]
Muay Thai Mike Tyson? Watch ‘King Cobra’ get disqualified for biting opponent
Mouhman Amine Alharar lived up to his “King Cobra” nickname in the worst way. Friday night in Abu Dhabi, Alharar was disqualified in the third round for biting his opponent. Mohammed Mardi, a UAE Muay Thai National Team member, was getting the better of the exchanges during their bout at UAM Muay Thai Night 6. […]
Video: Muay Thai legends Buakaw and Saenchai throw down in epic sparring session
In Muay Thai there are few names that are spoken with as much reverence as Buakaw and Saenchai. Between them, those legends have over 500 wins to their names and enough trophies and belts to fill Lumpinee Stadium. Recently both men met at the Yokkao Training Center in Bangkok to throw down in a sparring […]
Zoë Bell and Nick Sasso on their new Muay Thai action drama ‘Haymaker’
Fighting is in Nick Sasso’s blood—literally. Related to Jake LaMotta, Sasso grew up watching boxing with his father, and started in on the sweet science himself at a young age. Later, he became a devoted MMA fan, showing his father the greatest fights the sport had to offer, and making the argument it was superior […]
Fight Circus: Camgirl site hosts 2 vs 1, man vs woman in weirdest freakshow MMA event
Freakshow fights have long been part of MMA’s culture and history, with odd matchups typically brought in to draw in eyeballs to more legitimate talent. Thailand has upped the ante though, providing the weirdest event yet this past weekend. Full Metal Dojo partnered with camgirl streaming website CamSoda, and produced the appropriately named “Fight Circus” […]
MMA fighter vs Butterbean wannabe, bar fights – Tiger Muay Thai MMA Training: Episode #5
Last time out, MMA Mania’s Andrew Richardson got some solid sparring in, and took in an amateur fight card accompanied by a full spread of delicious Thai food. His mini-doc series so far has brought him from the training grounds of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento all the way to Phuket Thailand, to get some […]
Battling Bullies, BBQ Beatdowns – Tiger Muay Thai MMA Training: Episode #4
Andrew Richardson has taken viewers into the heart of one of combat sports’ biggest training facilities. We’ve seen him go through grueling conditioning circuits, fast paced grappling classes, and stuff himself with a variety of six legged snacks. | Watch Episode One HERE and Episode Two HERE and Episode Three HERE! | In this episode, […]
Photo Vault: Rare images reveal the history of fighting
entry-content__stream “> A picture says a thousand words. And we have millions of them in our photo vault. Check out this stream for the most interesting and evocative images we have in our database; all of which reveal a slice of martial arts and/or prize fighting history. We have images of sumo wrestlers and bare […]
Inside Tiger Muay Thai: Episode 2 – Fried with Sauce
Team Alpha Male fighter and MMA Mania writer Andrew Richardson spent a few weeks in Thailand earlier this year, with the intention of putting together some solid training at one of the world’s largest combat sports gyms. In 2020, Tiger Muay Thai has much more to offer than just the art of 8 limbs. The […]
World Lethwei Championship to make US debut later this year, talks ongoing with ‘familiar names in MMA’
Lethwei is a Burmese bare-knuckle combat sport that originated in Myanmar, Southeast Asia. It is known as ‘The Art of Nine Limbs’ because headbutts can play a key role in the action alongside the more commonly used punches, kicks, knees and elbows. The sport is often viewed as niche, but that is a perception World […]
Video: Wanderlei Silva’s son wrecks shop in Muay Thai debut
Wanderlei Silva’s son recently made his amateur Muay Thai debut and put on a striking clinic. Related Video: That time Wanderlei went all out in sparring after being axe kicked View this post on Instagram Quando lutei pela primeira vez na vida , ganhei por KO aos mesmos 30 seg de luta , exatamente como […]
Graphic: Muay Thai fighter suffers brutal cut
[CW: This article contains graphic NSFW video and images] Three days ago, Eddie Farrell was young and innocent. He had not yet seen the inside of his own forehead. Sure, he had been cut before and even had scar tissue — scar tissue just waiting to tear like tissue paper on Christmas morning — but […]
ONE Championship: Dreams Of Gold – Kickboxing/Muay Thai fight card preview
ONE Championship has done a very good job constructing a solid kickboxing/Muay Thai roster since they announced its launch last year. It shows in their next card as the main event is a very good match up for a kickboxing title and the major fights on the rest of the card are kickboxing or Muay […]
Video: Rungnarai and Phetsommai face in Muay Thai stadium champions superfight
Rungnarai Kiatmookao, the Lumpinee superflyweight champion, is the king of the division in Thailand. But as matchmaking in Thailand is heavily based on gambling interest, he’s been forced to take fights at bantamweight recently with mixed success. He’s suffered two knockout losses this year at the hands of bigger fighters like Detchaiya or Yothin and […]
Video: Rodtang beats Haggerty in ONE Championship thriller, Phetpangan takes Rajadamnern belt
22-year old-Jonathan Haggerty (12-2, 10 KOs) made waves when he beat veteran and modern great Sam-A Gaiyanghadao for the ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai title. Even if Sam-A was coming out of a two year retirement and is an ancient by Thai standards 35 years old, that was a fantastic win for the English prospect. […]
Video: Gruesome arm break in female Muay Thai fight
In this Muay Thai bout from Lion Fight 57 this past weekend, shin met forearm, and the forearm lost, badly. These bone breaks have always been one of my worst nightmares when competing. But while they’re relatively uncommon, I guess these devastating injuries are really part of the hurt business. You’ve been warned in advance […]