Did Yodsaenklai take home the gold in Beijing?

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The Muay Thai portion of the 2010 SportAccord Combat Games in Beijing has wrapped up with surprising results in both of the most watched weight classes.

First up, in the 71kg division, Artur Kyshenko's upset loss in the semi-finals to Thailand's Teerapong Dee set up a final between Teerapong and HKL's #24 ranked Marcus Oberg.  Teerapong once again defeated his more high profile opponent, taking a close split decision to take home the gold medal.  Oberg ends up with silver, while Kyshenko and Zhang Xiao Long earn bronze.

The other highly anticipated final was at 75kg, where international star Yodsaenklai Fairtex (competing under his given name of Yodthanong Phorat) faced Artem Levin of Russia.  These two men met before in 2008 with Yodsaenklai coming out the winner.  In what has to be seen as something of an upset, Levin claimed his revenge in Beijing, defeating Yod via split decision.  This marks Yod's 2nd loss in 2010 - a distinct drop for the man who dominated international Muay Thai competition for the past several years.  Prior to these losses, Yodsaenklai had only lost once since 2005.  Levin wins the gold, Yodsaenklai takes silver, with Vasel Tereshonok and Jesse Lacombe at bronze.

Overall, in Muay Thai events, Thailand was the only country to claim multiple gold medals, taking home the top spot in 4 of the 11 weight divisions. 

Outside of Muay Thai, MMA fighter and former BodogFIGHT champion Tara LaRosa represented the US in wrestling competition.  LaRosa made it to the bronze medal stage, where she was eliminated by France's Oceane Talvard.

Finally, kickboxing competition started yesterday.  The only name of note in that category is Chinese K-1 fighter Xu Yan.  Yan was defeated Gregor Stracanek in the quarter final round.

For complete results of all the action in Beijing, click here.

Team Ukraine at the SportAccord Combat Games 2010

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The SportAccord Combat Games are taking place this week in Beijing.  We reported on these games over the summer, which feature a wide array of talent in various combat sports competing for their country a la the Olympics.  The most anticipated line-up is in the Muay Thai competition where a number of top stars are taking part in the games, including Artur Kyshenko, Marcus Oberg, Yodsaenklai Fairtex, and Thor Hoopman (both Buakaw and Saenchai were originally slated to fight but have since dropped out).

The event is broken into a number of weight classes, with quarter finals taking place earlier this week on the 29th, semi-finals earlier today, and the finals set for Thursday. Key results so far:

The biggest news is that, for the second time in a month, Artur Kyshenko has been defeated.  Kyshenko turned in a great showing in the 71kg quarter finals, but was upset by Thai fighter Teerapong Dee in the semi-final round when Kyshenko lost a unanimous decision.  Not sure what is going on with Kyshenko right now, but this is not what he needs before the MAX Grand Prix.

Elsewhere in the 71kg division, Marcus Oberg defeated Zhang Xiao Long in the semi-finals, setting up an Oberg v. Dee final.

In the 75kg division, Yodsaenklai was dominant on night one.  In the semi-finals, he was again victorious with a 4-1 decision victory over Vasyl Tereshonok.  Yod will face Artem Levin in the finals in what should be a very good fight.

Finally, Australian K-1 veteran Thor Hoopman faced Dzianis Hancharonak in the 91kg semi-final.  Hoopman fell via unanimous decision, and Hancharonak will now face Wen Zhong Wang in the finals.  Early reports are that this was a questionable decision and that it looked like Hoopman was the clear winner.

Click here for full results, and check out on-site reports from Clifton Brown here, including footage of Kyshenko's surprise loss.

The hot-tempered Lee Aldous is now wanted for murder in Thailand, via uktodaynews.com

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There are always the kinds of stories that you don't want to have to write about, but you do anyway, and this is one of them. It is a time honored tradition for kickboxers from around the world to head to Thailand in hopes of getting some specialized training from the home of Muay Thai. That was apparently what former Marine and Purple Heart recipient DaShawn Longfellow was doing. After a roadside bomb was detonated under his vehicle in Afghanistan, injuring his right arm and riddling him with scrap metal, DaShawn was looking for more out of his life. The 23-year old headed to Thailand to study Muay Thai in his post-military career but never quite made it. Instead he got into a brawl in Phuket, a popular tourist attraction in Thailand with a British kickboxer, which turned deadly.

Aldhouse and the American, Dashawn Longfellow, began to quarrel at Freedom Bar in Phuket's resort area of Rawai Beach, said Nooket, who is heading the investigation. Then, when Longfellow headed toward the men's room, Aldhouse followed him and a fight ensued outside the restroom, with the American punching the Briton to the floor before the men were separated, according to Nooket.

Both men were trained kickboxers adept in the popular local Muay Thai style, Nooket said. Muay Thai involves using the fists, elbows, knees, shins and feet.

"It was simply a fight between two bad-tempered young men, and both were good at Muay Thai, and things became out of hand," Inthasorn said Tuesday.

Nooket said that when Longfellow and his Thai girlfriend returned to his rental home, Aldhouse came from behind and fatally stabbed Longfellow.

Coming out of last weekend's Jerome Le Banner fight I heard vague reports about French fighter Patrice Quarteron making a public challenge to JLB post-fight.  Now, we've got the details and boy are they weird.  Really, it's best if you just watch this amazing Tarantino-style video Quarteron put together.  If you're thinking it's too long, trust me, it's worth it.

I think the list is my favorite part, though I have no idea who "Flamby" is.

So there you have it.  Patrice Quarteron is on a mission: Kill Le Banner.  Apparently Quarteron has been pursuing this fight for some time, but he hasn't been able to make it happen - in the video you see footage from a 2008 fight of his where he comes to the ring behind a banner with his "Kill Le Banner" logo.  The rumor is Le Banner's camp has turned down the fight a few times, either because the money is not right, or because Quarteron hasn't faced an appropriate level of competition lately to earn a shot at Le Banner. 

With JLB fighting in France, Quarteron decided to take advantage of the opportunity and appeal to the French fans by storming the ring.  Armed with a wig and fake mustache, Quarteron disguised himself as a Rastafarian, sat ringside, and then came in to issue the public challenge at the end, which, really, is just about the most bizarre way to challenge someone I've ever seen in a ring. 

An IKF World champion in Muay Thai, Quarteron has some impressive wins on his resume, including top 25 fighters Ashwin Balrak and Brice Guidon.  He had two higher profile international fights last year, defeating Bob Sapp in France and losing to Paul Slowinski in Jamaica (the Slowinski fight just aired on G4 last Friday).  Although he's not as widely known outside of France, he is definitely a big name in the French kickboxing community.  He's partly made that name through these kind of showings - previously he set his sights on another Frenchman, UFC fighter Cheick Kongo (that fight never materialized). 

As with any big personality, Quarteron has his fans and his detractors.  But there's no doubt a showdown between Quarteron and Le Banner would be a huge fight in France.  And with crazy showings like this, it's a fight I too want to see. 

Love him or hate him, Quarteron is going about his career in absolutely the right way - he's challenging a big name, and he's doing it in a way that gets people talking.  Let's see how Le Banner responds.

Yeah, you just saw Buakaw Por. Pramuk decked out like he is heading out for a night out on the town in Los Angeles along with a host of other Thai champions singing a song dedicate to Muay Thai. You really aren't tripping out, seriously, this is a promotional video from a press conference for a new reality series launching in August tited; "Thai-Fight." You can probably tell by all of their t-shirts and the giant screen flashing that. This song will probably tell you just the level of support this show is going to be getting. The starpower in that song? Pretty immense.

The Thai Champions included: Anuwat Kaewsamrit, Saenchai Sor.Kingstar, Buakaw Por.Pramuk,Yodsanklai Fairtex, Apidet Sithiran, Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn, Samart Payakarun, Kongthoranee Payakarun, Khaosai Galaxy, Khaokor Galaxy, Wicharnnoi Porntawee, Put Lorlek, Pudpadnoi Worawut, Kaopong Sittichuchai, Thailands last gold medal winner in boxing Somjit Jorhor, Sangtiennoi Sor Rungrot and Jaroenthong Kiatbanchong

So the premise of the show? A 16-man tournament, the winner getting 2 million baht (about $62,000 USD) and the right to be called the Thai-Fight Champion. Unlike other reality shows, like the Contender and TUF, the fighters train at separate camps and are followed around by a documentary crew leading up to their fights. The shows are August 29, October 23 and December 6th is the final, four-man tournament to decide the winner. Here are the draws for the tournament;

Jason Lea (Australia) vs Youssef Boughanem (Belgium)

Liam Harrison (England) vs Behzan Rafighdoust (Iran)

Sharos Huyer (Italy) vs Pinca Fabio (France)

Fikri Arican (Turkey) vs Soichiro Miyakoshi (Japan)

Farnam Mirzai (Sweden) vs Anthony Kane (Netherlands)

Vitaly Hurkou (Russia) vs Jong hyun ko (Korea)

Bartosz Koscielniak (Germany) vs Rafi Zouheir (Spain)

Petchmonkong Petchfocus (Thailand) vs Zhou hongzhang (China)

Now the question is, how exactly will those not in Thailand see this show. One has to hope that we'll find a way, maybe the magic of the internet?

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Over the weekend, G4TV, a television network which was once known as TechTV and is currently a network aimed at twenty-somethings who love videogames and technology, took a stab at the fight game. This took the form of an hour-long program centered around last year's Champion of Champion's 2 Muay Thai event from Jamaica. Along with the fights, when the program was taped last year, there was a mini-documentary filmed about Muay Thai and how big the sport is in Thailand.

G4, interestingly enough, chose to base their one hour program around that documentary and one of the fighters who spoke throughout it, Clifton Brown ended up being the main star of the show. Also, from how the Champions of Champions Elite homepage reads, it looks like this event will be a monthly program aired on G4TV. In a way, I am shocked. I'm shocked because a cable network is going to be airing Muay Thai fights for the rest of the year on the last Sunday of the month as well as I'm shocked that nobody really knew about this happening. 

I feel like the online fight community usually has its finger on the pulse of upcoming shows, but in this case, this completely came out of nowhere. If you Google "G4TV Champion of Champions" you pull confused forum posts and our initial report of the show airing. If you take that into account along with the rumors of G4 wanting to air a show akin to MMA Live, it makes sense that they dip their toe into the water and start airing some fighting on the network. I'll be hard pressed to complain about Muay Thai airing on American television, but it seems like an odd choice, considering Muay Thai is incredibly niche in the United States.

Due to the lack of promotion I almost wonder if this is unrelated to the rumors of G4 going after the MMA audience and RISARC Productions is fitting the bill and paying for TV time. If you read their Twitter feed it smells of desperation. 

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G4 TV has added a show that should be of great interest to our readers.  This Friday night, July 23, at 8:00pm EST, the network will air Muay Thai fights from Champion of Champions 2 in Jamaica.

This event was held last summer and featured top level Muay Thai stars from around the world.  The 1 hour program will include 3 fights from that event: Nathan "Carnage" Corbett v. Tyrone Spong, Paul Slowinski v. Patrice Quarteron, and Clifton Brown v. Kaoklai Kaennorsing.  All are solid fights, and in particular, if you haven't seen Spong v. Carnage, that is one to check out.

While not possessing the same reach as a network like Spike, G4 still can be found in a significant market.  With HDNet being the only place for US fans to see kickboxing, this news comes as a very welcome surprise.  Any chance to see Muay Thai like this is great, and the fact that it is a strong card with top ranked fighters only helps.

With the short lead time and departure from G4's normal video-game centric programming, I am not expecting this to do particularly strong numbers, but hopefully it will catch some eyes and turn into more than just a one time thing. It will also be interesting to see exactly how they handle the presentation.  Will it focus more on the tradition of Muay Thai (as the Champion of Champions event itself did) or will they present a more fast-paced, heavily edited program?

Be sure to check it out - Champion of Champions 2 on G4, Friday night at 8:00 pm EST.

Contestants Armen Petrosyan, Gago Drago, Sahin Yakut, and Pajonsuk pose during filming.

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Muay Thai based reality show Enfusion has just completed filming on their second season.  Following the format of The Ultimate Fighter and The Contender, Enfusion takes Muay Thai fighters, has them live together, and pits them against each other in a tournament to determine a season champion.  Judging from the exceptional list of fighters, Enfusion looks like it follows the older model of TUF - the show that brought in solid prospects like Chris Leben and Rashad Evans, as opposed to many of the more recent seasons and their focus on personality over skill.

Some of the fighters competing in Enfusion season 2 include the #10 ranked Pajonsuk, #16 Gago Drago, Vusi Colossa (the man who defeated Yodsaenklai), Armen Petrosyan, and Sahin Yakut. 

On July 10, Enfusion held their finale event in Portugal, crowning the season champion.  Since the show has not yet aired, we'll keep it spoiler free here, but read the full entry for results from the finals.

Still no word on when/where the show will air, though you can view a list of international broadcast partners here.

Read the full entry for results from the finals and to find out who is the Enfusion season 2 winner.

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