Tiger Muay Thai News Archive

October 6th, 2008

TMT scores 3 wins at Bangla Stadium Oct 3, 2008

Tiger Muay Thai and MMA camp continues to roll as Veronica (USA), Isaac (Canada) and Robert Lek (Thailand) racked up wins at in Patong at Bangla Stadium on October 3, 2008.

Veronica took on tough women’s Muay Thai fighter Noodeang from Krabi and won a hard fought 5-round decision on points. veronica, staying and fighting at TMT for the next year, moves to 2-0 and continues to improve her Muay Thai skills.

Isaac (Canada) went to war in his fight with Dennua in the “Fight of the Night.” Isaac showed his superior conditioning by going hard for five rounds and getting the KO in the 5th round scoring a low leg kick that dropped his opponent to the mat. Fantastic fight.

In the Bangla Headline “Superfight” Robert Lek battled for 20,000 baht and defended his title against former 2 X Champion Baily. Robert Lel made short work of the former champion showing his speed and power by dropping his Thai opponent 3 times in the first round. In the 2nd round, Robert Lek attacked hard and scored hard combinations in the corner forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight. Robert is now the reigning Kata, Patong, and Bangla Muay Thai Champion in his weight division.

For all the Muay Thai fights photos please see www.fightingthai.com

For all the Muay Thai fight Videos please see www.tigermuaythai.tv

October 3rd, 2008

TMT goes 3-0 with 3 Knock-outs at Patong Stadium October 2, 2008

Three for Three with Three KO’s was the tlly for the evening for Tiger May Thai and MMA training camp fighters on the evening of October 2, 2008 @ Phuket Island’s famous Patong Muay Thai Stadium as Randy (USA), Cyrus (USA), and Ritt (TMT Trainer / Fighter) all scored KO’s in their fights.

Randy beat a fighter many years his junior and looked in fantastic shape as he battered the younger fighter for his first KO win this trip to TMT.

For all the fight photos see www.fightingthai.com

Cyrus eneterd his grudge match against Thonpet and put to doubt any questions about his combining Muay Thai and other Martial Arts skills as a head kick dropped Thonpet before Cyrus moved in with some lethal combinations to win the fight and the Patong Championship Belt.

Ritt continued his win streal going 10-0 with another left hook KO. Ritt has been on a tear lately and owns all 3 stadium titles on Phuket: Patong, Bangla, and Kata.

October 3rd, 2008

Interview with Damien Rooney before his “Ultimate Conflict Ireland” MMA Fight

TMT: This is your third trip to Tiger Muay Thai, what keeps bringing you
back to our facility to train?

Damo: Well for a start the weather over here really beats Ireland!lol…Seriously I keep coming back cause I love the facility.  The trainers are fantastic and my time here has given me a chance to develop a really good raport with all of them.  They understand my style and I can tailor my training much more to what suits me.  The MMA also is run very professionally and there are always a great group of training partners there, never mind the top fighters that pass through the gym every month!

TMT: You have an upcoming fight. Tell the readers a bit about your
opponent and the fight promotion you will be fighting for.

Damo: I will be fighting on the Ultimate Conflict Ireland card “The Battle continues”.  Its a relatively new promotion and this will only be their second show, but the last one was a big success and I expect much of the same this time around.  I made my pro debut on the last card and this time will be fighting in the main event, subsequently in my home town again so its going to be a real pressure cooker!  My opponent, Husen Mohamid is an explosive fighter with strong Muay Thai and good ground skills, he holds a blue belt in BJJ as far as I know.  Its going to be a tough test, and in my second fight out at home they were looking to match me up with an easier opponent but Mohamids style and my style really compliment each other.  We are both aggressive strikers and like to keep the fight standing, and have no interest in a judges decision so fingers crossed it should be a great spectacle for the fans!

TMT: What gym do you train at back home and who are your major training
partners?

Damo: I train at several gyms back home, as MMA is still growing traveling to my MMA club takes quite a while so I have to try and spread out my training around several clubs.  I train my stand up at local boxing and Muay Thai clubs, my BJJ under my instructor Sebastian Torres (BJJ Brown Belt), and my MMA at the EFR Gym Antrim.  I have a lot of quality training partners and that’s what helps me stay sharp and improve my skills all the time, so i would like to thank all of them for all their hard work.  My two main training partners though id say would be Sebastian Torres and Steve Mc Combe.

Sebastian is my BJJ instructor, Brown Belt in BJJ and Black Belt in Judo.  He has trained BJJ for over 15 years and was in the Judo school of excellence training with the Olympic Squad before a serious ankle injury ruled him out of competition.  He is my weight so it makes him a great training partner as well as being a superb instructor.  He has a long way to go on perfecting my ground game but he ties me in knots at least 3 times a week so I’m bound to improve at some point!

Steve Mc Combe is one of the top ranked bantamweights in the country, an excellent pro with a tireless work ethic.  He has been around the circuit for over 4 years and is probably my main training partner.  Because we fight in the same weight category we train together for most of our fights and working with someone with so much experience and competing at such a high level has been invaluable for me improving my overall game.  I’m a relative rookie to the sport so i get a lot of nutritional, training and weight cutting tips which have helped me a lot.

TMT: What technical areas do you feel you have improved the most in during
your stay at TMT?

Damo: I try to train all areas every time I come here, but coming closer to the fight I have really concentrated on my stand up and wrestling.  Mohamid is a stand up fighter predominantly same as me so I have really been trying to sharpen my stand up for this fight, my boxing with Ash and my Muay Thai with Nazee….so that’s plan A…..lol

Hutch has been showing me ways to sharpen my wrestling style and Ray has been drilling my take-downs continuously and thanks to this work I’m feeling confident in my ability to get the fight to the mat if needs be!

TMT: What do you think of the new additions made to the TMT facility? Do
you think they add to the training experience?

Damo: The gym has grown so much since my first visit almost 2 years ago, and it continues to grow!  The facility itself is becoming more modern and the publicity its producing is insane.  It of course adds to the whole experience and I only see a bigger and better future for TMT if things continue as planned.

TMT: What is something unique that MMA instructor Ray Elbe brings to his
classes that you can not find back home?

Damo: The truth………….lol!  If I ever need to hear an honest opinion about how I looked in sparring, training or on the pads I go to Ray and he doesn’t tip toe about!lol.  Honestly Ray is a fantastic coach and close friend of mine.  He pushes the MMA team hard twice a day, everyday! He never misses practice and its very rare that you find an instructor who trains the entire class with a team.  He leads by example and will never ask us to do anything that he isn’t prepared to jump in and do with us.  I owe him a lot for everything that hes done for me in my time over here and owe it to him and all the rest of the boys to go back and do them proud in my fight!

TMT: You competed against Ngoo Ditty at one of the full moon parties and
won in the 2nd round via arm-bar submission. What is your opinion on
Ngoo Ditty, Tiger Muay Thai’s first Thai MMA fighter.

Ngoo is a great guy.  Top Muay Thai fighter and trainer.  He is learning all the time and the more he trains the more confident he gets.  I always felt initially that was his biggest issue being taken out of his comfort zone of Muay Thai and being asked to compete MMA.  Now though he is training almost full time with the MMA, and with his level of stand up, and Ray continuing to perfect other sides of his game id say he will be a real force in a couple of years!

TMT: During your stay you got an opportunity to train with UFC vets and
BJJ Black Belts. How did the level of training partners in Thailand  compare to your gym in Ireland?

Damo: The guys in Ireland are great have taught me so much and they all train so hard.  Getting the chance to work with some of the talent over here was a fantastic experience for me, and really cemented my love for the sport.  Alan Belcher, multi time UFC fighter and down to earth guy.  No ego and was so open to show anything he thought would help you out without hesitation, wish him all the best in his future fights.  Then Tony Eduardo, BJJ Black Belt and so laid back he is almost lying down!lol.  Another privilege to get to train with someone who is top of his field, but so humble about it.  I had the opportunity to train with Tony a lot, and everytime.He was always giving me pointers and things to improve my game……super cool bro!lol.  That’s not to mention the other top guys who have passed through, if I’m forgetting anyone just send me an abusive email!lol

TMT: What are your long term goals in fighting?

Damo: I have been given the opportunity to train and fight full time for a while at least and I dont intend to waste it!  I’m at the bottom of the mountain and realise that I have a long way to climb, but I never give up and will do what it takes and make the sacrifices necessary to be a success!  I’m just taking it one step at a time right now “only those bold enough to chase dreams…….are the ones who catch them!”.  And if I dont make it as a fighter im sure I could cut it as a philosopher….if thats how you even spell it!lol

TMT: Congratulations on another great training trip with TMT. When can we
expect Damo “your not the boss of me” Rooney to return to TMT?

Damo: I would like to thank everyone at Tiger Muay Thai for another great trip, Will for giving me the opportunity to come and train here it was a real pleasure, and all my trainers and training partners who pushed me hard every day!  Whats next?  There are another few places I am interested in training around the globe but I definately havent closed the book on TMT, Ill be back sooner than you think!

October 2nd, 2008

Mike Hutchison awarded “Blue belt” by Tony Eduardo after winning Gold Medal

TMT wants to congratulate new BJJ Blue Belt Mike Hutchison on winning the absolute division at the FBT 2008 BJJ / Submission Grappling Open Tournament in Bangkok, September 27-28, 2008. In a special ceremony with a certificate, Mike was awarded his Blue Belt in BJJ after winning the Absolute Gold beating other Blue and Purple belts from around the world from Black Belt Tony Eduardo.

Recently, Mike has won old Medals in Singapore at Lordz of Pain, Indonesian Grappling gmes, and Pan Asian Games in manilla, Philippines. Mike has worked hard as a member of professional fight team: MMA Thailand and was long overdue a promotion.

Congratulations Mike. Thanks for being a hard working team member of Team MMA Thailand.

October 2nd, 2008

Ngoo aka “Ananconda” wins MMA fight and heats of Thai people in Bangkok

First it was a Silver Medal in his first Gi competition at the 2008 Thailand BJJ Open Tournamnent. Then, Ngoo took the MMA stage by storm as he won a unanimous decision over a Xavier (foreigner out of Pattaya.) Simply put, Ngoo looked like an MMA fighter…..not just a Muay Thai fighter. With the home crowd of Thais looking on, Ngoo showed his countrymen that the Thais are ready to show people what a Muay Thai fighter with BJJ skills can do in the world’s fastest growing sport: MMA.

Ngoo grappled, attempted submissions, takedowns, reversals, and of course, his signature Muay Thai as he crowd chanted loudly “Ngoo, Ngoo, Ngoo” as he landed hard knees and showed off his ground skills almost catching a submission win by triangle choke in 2nd round.

Video soon on www.tigermuaythai.tv

Photos up soon on www.fightingthai.com

October 1st, 2008

Team MMA Thailand rolls to victory @ 2008 Thailand BJJ Open Tournament

Led by head instructor Ray Elbe and BJJ Black Belt Tony Eduardo, Team MMA Thailand dominated the FBT sposored 2008 Thailand BJJ /Submission Grappling Open Tournament in Bangkok on September 27-28, 2008. On the first day of competition against some of the toughest bjj grappling teams in ASIA, Team MMA Thailand took 2nd place in “Gi” division garnering Gold Medals in Black Belt and Absolute Divisions, Purple Belt and Absolute, and Silver in Brown Belt, and Silver (Ngoo wins in first ever “Gi”competition”) and Bronze in White belt despite training little in “Gi” in the tropics of Phuket.

On the 2nd day of competition, “No Gi” it wa all Team MMA Phuket as we took the 1st Place all-around team and 30+ medals including most technical Grappler to Dimitri, Black Belt and Elite for Tony Eduardo along with “Top Bjj Grappler award.”

Check out all the tournament photos at www.fightingthai.com

Ready to Roll @ 2008 Thailand BJJ Open Tournament

Ngoo wins first ever “Gi” BJJ fight

Tony and Josh celebrate a BJJ match win

Allen Chong of Team BJJ Borneo prepared at TMT