My third fight

**Torakaka** · Posted On: 2/28/2009 4:51pm

Originally Posted by Sang

*Is that the usual size venue for amateur events over in the US?

It varies tremendously depending on the promotion. I've fought in shows with as few as 100-200 spectators (with many of those of course being friends and family of the fighters) and shows with as many as 7,000. My last fight had 1,500 in attendance.

Tournaments are usually not too big of a draw for spectators since it's more a competition thing put on for the fighters to win titles and trophies rather than a show to put on a performance for the audience. In this way, tournaments are great to get some good ring time, but are way less fun to fight in than regular events where you really get to be a showman and play yourself up to the audience.

**ORY** · Posted On: 2/28/2009 6:48pm

Originally Posted by KiwiPhil889

First off?? Congratz on the win.

Ok,so my experience in the ring to date is 0!! zip!! nada!!,but i am carded to fight 04 Apr so am looking forward to it.

With that in mind i have a few questions. What kind of game plan did you go in with?? You had the knees in the clinch down pat,but seemed to be a case of hanging on/taking the clinch he offered and putting knees in.The clinch is controlled by elbows yes?? ie moving you opponent around.Was that something you had worked on but didn;t need to use??. Another thing i thought was that the aggressor tends to be the one more favored by judges.I realise you dominated in the clinch and he didn't seem to land anything worthwhile out of the clinch,but he did seem to be the one moving forward,the one going into the clinch.Did you find you were just counter punching/ reacting to what he did?? or was that also part of the strategy?? ie staying relaxed and more going with the flow.

So,as i said at the start,my experience is 0,so forgive any ignorance on my part about ring craft in a fight

Hey man. Honestly I really did not have to much a stragety for this guy. I saw him fight another one of our guys a few months ago and our guy won with outstanding colors. I was (and still am) kinda sick , so I wanted to knock him out earlier because I was abit worried about my cardio. One of my homeboys that fought him told me that my opponet always keeps himself open for the left hook and teep , but as you know , I did throw either.

I first round , I just kinda played it by ear , but I did want to knock him out early. The round started faster than I wanted it to,and I was abit worried about my cardio. After round 1 , my coner told me,"alittle more action" and to move around the ring more. So I did.My oppoent kept lowing foward and leaving himself open to the clinch and it just ended up working in my direction. The third round my coner told me to use my distance, so thats why in the first fee secs I kept circling and peridocially throwing low kicks,he then would rush in for the clinch and I counter with knees.

Honestly man, it is better to probably be alittle more offensive (generally speaking) in about , just make sure that you use combonations and that when you train/spar you do condioning drills. In this fight I was abit sick (and tired cause I ws fight # 14 so it was about 9:45pm when I fought) so I wasnt flamming in energy.

The best advice I can give , is to try to stay calm! Since I started training at Khanomtom Muay Thai , I have been watching other fighters from our gym and fighters in Thailand , compared to most American / European style fighters and the traditional Thai-style fighters seem to be WAY more relaxed. There fights start slow in the beginning rounds and the pace pics up in the later rounds; it seems like us Westerns do the exact opposite.

Hey check out this link. This is one of our fighters. Watch I calm and collective yet aggresive he is.

Round 1
YouTube - Mark Khanomtom at Battle of Tampa Bay 12-6-08

Round 2

YouTube - Mark Khanomtom at Battle of Tampa Bay 12-6-08 Pt.2

Round 3

YouTube - Mark Khanomtom at Battle of Tampa Bay 12/4/08 Pt.3

**KiwiPhil889** · Posted On: 2/28/2009 9:31pm

Thanks man, nice fight you've linked there too,so cheers.

Just so its clear?? i did enjoy watchin your fight too.I like how you took his apparent willingness/stubborness to clinch and made him hurt for it,you see him turning to avoid some of your knees here 'n there due to what looks like a case of "Ow!! that fuckin hurts" flinching.

As for game plan?? pffttt,no biggie,you go with what your given,and he was giving you nice open sides lol. Just takin what advice i can get and seein what werks for me.

Cheers,and gratz on the win once again.

**Sang** · Posted On: 3/01/2009 5:12am

Originally Posted by KidSpatula

It varies tremendously depending on the promotion. I've fought in shows with as few as 100-200 spectators (with many of those of course being friends and family of the fighters) and shows with as many as 7,000. My last fight had 1,500 in attendance.

Tournaments are usually not too big of a draw for spectators since it's more a competition thing put on for the fighters to win titles and trophies rather than a show to put on a performance for the audience. In this way, tournaments are great to get some good ring time, but are way less fun to fight in than regular events where you really get to be a showman and play yourself up to the audience.

Good to hear, in Aus we don't have many smoker type events with just a few spectators. For my pad fight i think there were 1,000+ people in the building by the end of the night. It has its negatives of course, I sure felt the nerves with that many people half-watching.

Thanks for posting your weight ORY, trying to get a feel for the speed of the fights for my weight, i'll be fighting at 165 in July. How many rounds of sparring do you usually do per week?

**TxSanshou** · Posted On: 3/01/2009 8:54am

Good match dude keep up the good work

**ORY** · Posted On: 3/01/2009 9:45am

Originally Posted by Sang

Good to hear, in Aus we don't have many smoker type events with just a few spectators. For my pad fight i think there were 1,000+ people in the building by the end of the night. It has its negatives of course, I sure felt the nerves with that many people half-watching.

Thanks for posting your weight ORY, trying to get a feel for the speed of the fights for my weight, i'll be fighting at 165 in July. How many rounds of sparring do you usually do per week?

We spare about 25 -30 rounds + per week (assuming that you train all six days)

Yeah , the 165ers are pretty fast , but that was a 170 division fight. Even though I weighted in at 166 , that said that I weight 170. My last fight was about the same , I weight in(without cuting weight, I didnt know about fasting the day of the weigh in ,so I sate twice and drink water all day) at 168 , my oppoent (who cut weight by fasting) weighted 175.I talked to him after the fight and he said actually weighted about 180 something the day of the fight(cause he ate)

If you want to check out the size differnce , here is a link.
YouTube - My 2nd Fight - Orlando The Warrior Rivera 's Warrior's Classic 4

I guess some more advice I should give you is TO CUT WEIGHT!! It is very important!! I have been the lighter guy in ALL of my fights so far.Even in my first fight, my oppoent was a giant.

YouTube - My Debute Fight - Master Merhdad Muay Thai Classic 2007

So yeah ,stay calm , train hard and CUT SOME WEIGHT!!! :)

**Snake Plissken** · Posted On: 3/01/2009 10:37am

Good job and:

your acceptance and understanding and willingness to impliment the suggestions of Omega and Kid Spat shows that you want to improve and not argue about what YOU thought you should do.

Unlike some posters that have come before you.

This should serve you well in the future and keep us up on your future fights.

**Sang** · Posted On: 3/01/2009 11:41pm

Won't be able to cut weight for this fight, when i accepted the fight i was 174 pounds but my diet was a little too effected so at the moment i weight less than the fight weight. At least i'll look good while being thrown around like a ragdoll :P.

**retrograde** · Posted On: 3/03/2009 5:17am

Originally Posted by Sang

Good to hear, in Aus we don't have many smoker type events with just a few spectators. For my pad fight i think there were 1,000+ people in the building by the end of the night.

That's also because you're in QLD. In some other states, 1000 would be a big event, although you'd definitely never see anything as small as that video that wasn't an inter-club (maybe in Tasmania, or something, but then of course you'd have two heads for every ticket sold harhar), and I've never seen a show here without lighting, DJs, MCs, etc. I can see why a less-formal event would take the pressure off, but it's kind of cool to have the atmosphere and vibe of a big production.