Muay Thai Fighters have it hard, as Muay Thai is a rough combat sport, and being a Muay Thai fighter is a challenging path to take. As the sport is rather niche in the Western Hemisphere, the path to becoming one requires a lot of investment of one’s time and health into a dangerous and brutal form of combat. Not just dangerous but also at times unrewarding, as other sports like boxing, MMA, and even kickboxing often yield better financial results for their fighters.
But things have changed since the inception of ONE Championship over a decade ago. Now, Muay Thai fighters have earned more than ever before and are getting worldwide exposure more than ever. With the promotion, many Muay Thai stars, such as Rodtang, Superlek, and Jonathan Haggerty, are being paid handsomely, at least for Muay Thai athletes. However, with ONE being the most significant stage, one can appear as an athlete. Is it also the biggest stage for the best Muay Thai fighters? Let’s take a look.
Almost every Muay Thai Fighter in ONE has been a champion somewhere else.
If you were to look at mere ONE Friday Fights card, you wouldn’t think much of it at first glance. However, suppose you pay close attention to what the announcers often say about each fighter. In that case, you will notice that often even uncontracted fighters and unranked fighters have held World titles elsewhere.
With fighters in the top rankings like Jo Nattawut, a Lion Fight and WMC Muay Thai Champion, Bampara Kouyate, a former WMC champion, Nico Carillo, a former WMO champion, and Shadow, a former Rajadamnern Stadium champion. Even Luke Lessei, who has never held a major world title, made quick work of Canadian top Nak Muay Cody Jerome in one round. Showing the difference in levels is one truly notable thing, and they do harbor some of the world’s best Muay Thai fighters, despite what some purists may say.
ONE and its Muay Thai Fighters are what the sport needs to grow and survive.
ONE Championship may have some flaws, especially with its barren divisions and suspect ranking system. However, one true thing is that ONE has an absurd roster of talent that values quality over quantity, signing the best kickboxers and Muay Thai Fighters from around the world, from various organizations. Meaning that while lacking in depth, they make up for it in substance. Although ONE is not very good at crafting easy and compelling narratives for fans to follow, they know how to matchmake exciting fights with exciting Muay Thai fighters to help with that.
Fights that often go viral online and bring more eyes to sport, as ONE just had one of the most anticipated cards of the year across combat sports in ONE 172, where top Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer Rodtang smoked K-1 legend Takeru in one round. This is the drama and excitement Muay Thai and kickboxing need if it ever hopes to regain the legend the sport once carried in the golden era of K-1 and the stadium scene.