Tiger Muay Thai News Archive

January 4th, 2013

Look Ahead: TMT MMA Fighter Danny Mitchell

Most 26-year-olds are finally getting their foot in after university, succumbing to the nine-to-five grind of a full-time job. Danny Mitchell is preparing for his next fight.

With his record at 12-3-1, the Doncaster, England-native is set to take on KSW veteran Vitor Nobrega (12-5) on February 2 in Lisbon, Portugal at Will2Fight 8 event. Mitchell recently joined the Tiger Muay Thai Training Camp Phuket, Thailand MMA team in December after a two-day tryout period.

“I feel like I’m at a turning point. (I’ve) beaten a lot of guys domestically and am fighting in bigger shows so I think it is time to take it up to the next level,” he says.

Nobrega is a 31-year-old fighter who began his career in 2004 and has at least 15-pounds on Mitchell (usually fighting Middleweight compared to Mitchell in the Welterweight division). The Brazilian has a good mix of wins from both the ground and his fists.

Meanwhile, Mitchell has been competing regularly since 2008 and fought in everything from Tae Kwon Do to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to bare knuckle vale tudo fights and even full-contact stick fighting.

It only took Mitchell a few years to acquire his Brown Belt in BJJ. His training has proven solid with seven of his 12 wins coming via submission, including an impressive flying armbar submission win over Dean Amasinger. Don’t count out his standup game either since he has worked on his Muay Thai with one of Tiger Muay Thai’s legendary stable of trainers in Pi Nong.

“(Nobrega is a) big guy as well. I like to fight those big guys, I’ve got good BJJ, I like to test myself against good guys,” Mitchell says.

December 29th, 2012

TMT Alum Phil Baroni to fight on New Year’s Eve

With 2013 only days away, Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand alum Phil Baroni will be gearing up for a fight on December 31 at the DREAM 18 event in Saitama, Japan as he takes on Japanese MMA veteran Hayato Sakurai.

Baroni (15-15) is a multiple-time guest at TMT and was last at the camp in 2011 to prepare for his fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at the inaugural ONE FC event in September 2011. He also trained in 2010 for about two months, and held a wrestling clinic for guests and fighters.

In his last bout, Baroni finished off Rodrigo Ribeiro at ONE FC 5 in the first minute of the first round. With his record tied, he will look to use his superior wrestling ability against the tough Sakurai (36-12-2) on December 31.

Baroni is a UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, and ONE FC veteran who has trained with TMT’s own Muay Thai guru Kru Yod, who recently helped train Georges St. Pierre for his fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 154.

December 27th, 2012

Five TMT Fighters to see action this Friday

It’s a big week at Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand, with the holiday season in full swing and our monthly BBQ Beatdown event taking place this Saturday, five our our Thai fighters will see action at Suwit Stadium here in Phuket.

Fahsuchonlek (Team), Singdam, Pakmai, Ploydang and Dendanai are all lacing up their gloves this Friday night, December 28.

Team is an eight-year-old Muay Thai fighter whose father, Fahsuchon, is a longtime trainer at Tiger Muay Thai. Check out a video on Team below!

Ploydang is a decorated fighter with impressive victories under his belt, and will take on a well-known southern Thai fighter in Nakrobdam J Prapa. Ploydang’s opponent has a win over noted Muay Thai fighter Cyrus Washington.

Meanwhile, Dendanai will enter the ring for his first fight for Tiger Muay Thai and is one of the camps newest trainers. He is a highly decorated veteran fighter who has competed against top level competition in Bangkok for several years, especially at Lumpinee Stadium.

December 21st, 2012

Look Ahead: TMT MMA Fighter Cody Stevens

The past few months have been frustrating for Cody Stevens, with several of his fights getting cancelled, including one that was scrapped just three days before the show. With a month of training under his belt at Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand, the 30-year-old American says he is as hungry as ever.

“I think I’ve absorbed lots of new techniques through Tiger trainers Fernando (Maccachero), Wiktor (Svensson), Roger (Huerta), and all the Thai trainers” he says, “I’ve been nothing but focused on training. I’m ready to go out there to put on a good performance and get a win for Tiger (Muay Thai), Fight Farm, and all my gyms back home

Stevens (8-5) has a fight lined up on January 19 against Cory “The Irish Car Bomb” Mahon (10-5) at the Rocktagon XXIII “Journey of Champions” event in Cleveland, Ohio at 145 pounds.

Though almost all of Mahon’s victories have come from submission, Stevens is excited to use his polished arsenal of all-around skills (from striking to groundwork) in what should be an exciting match up.

“People think I’m a wrestler because I come from wrestling but my goal is to be a hybrid fighter,” he says, “my kicks got a lot of snap on them, I feel light on my feet right now, my elbows and knees are on point. If he wants to pick his poison and try to take me to the ground he can try if he wants to.”

Stevens’ last bout was a loss in July to Wilson Reis, an eight-time Bellator veteran with more than double the experience of the Mansfield, Ohio-native. His four fight losing streak doesn’t seem like it will continue, however. For a time, it was difficult for him to get fights, forcing Stevens to accept any challenge even if they were against Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts, fighters with over double the experience, or even with just three days notice.

“I will take any fight, I’m all about the warrior spirit,” Stevens says, “You can say I made some bad choices, but in my eyes I’m out here to get experience.”

This will be Cody Stevens’ first fight as part of the newly minted Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp Fight Team. Below is the first part of our MMA Tryouts series.

December 20th, 2012

TMT Fighter Marcel Gaines wins Bangla Stadium Belt

Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand fighter Marcel Gaines fulfilled a dream of winning a muay thai championship Wednesday night when he won the AMCO Bangla Stadium 140-pound title via decision victory over a tough foreign fighter.

The 28-year-old frustrated his opponent, Leigh Malcolmson of Australia, throughout the entire five rounds by knocking him down over four times and slipping away from most of his strikes. Gaines’ blocking coupled with his penchant for fast punch/kick combinations were enough to sway the judges.

On two occasions, Gaines almost forced Malcolmson over the top rope before the official called for a reset from both fighters.

The South African’s calm demeanor helped him gain an edge throughout the five rounds as he was relaxed in throwing all of his combinations. On one occasion in the second round, his opponent caught Gaines with an elbow to the throat, though the eventual champ battled on.

The win puts Gaines’ record at 7-1, with his only loss coming against Malaysian muay thai champion Matt Ropi in a five round war last month. He is expected to fight a rematch sometime in early 2013.

With the title, Gaines has achieved the next level in the sport with match ups against tougher opponents sure to come.

December 20th, 2012

MMA Mom: Jennifer Tate and the itch to train

Giving up a promising MMA career just before hitting your stride would weigh on certain people, but not Jennifer Tate.

The Lodi, California-native, who starred in the 2007 reality TV show “Fight Girls”, found out she was pregnant just before what could have been the biggest fight of her career and a chance to avenge the only loss on her MMA record.

“(Fighting is) fun. I dont think anybody would just want to get in (the cage) and continue (fighting), someone could get in there once or twice to try it. To continue to do it, you have to love it,” she explained.

After three years of taking time off to raise her four boys (three sons and a step-son whose ages range from 11 to 10 months-old), Tate decide to dive head first back into training.

In early November 2012, Tate flew out to train at Tiger Muay Thai and MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand to work on her standup skills with an eye on having three muay thai fights.

“It’s a whole different scene here. You got six rings, you wake up across the street, you got your private training, everything BJJ, you got someone to do your laundry, got all the food you can eat, there is no pressure so you can just train,” she said, “the only pressure here is the pressure you put on yourself. I needed a clear conscious and go train.”

Coming from the world of Tae Kwon Do and amateur boxing, Tate always had the hand skills to do damage.

The elbows, and knees that go into muay thai was something she was not use to in 2007 when Tate was thrown into a fight against WMC World Champion Miriam Nakamoto while on the show. It was the first and only defeat in Tate’s muay thai career, though she came out of the fight hungry to learn more about the art of eight limbs.

Since the show, Tate has amassed an MMA record of 6-1, earned her blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the legendary Cesar Gracie, and beat an undefeated female muay thai fighter in Bangkok at the Queen’s Cup in 2009.

But it’s when she talks about her kids that her face lights up.

“I can’t wait to go back to California grab all my boys, and hang out in a cabin in the snow,” she said as her boyfriend and longtime trainer Moses hold hands.

“Having two babies back-to-back is physically and mentally draining. It’s stressful, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Tate first found out she was pregnant right after her last victory at the FCF-Freestyle Cage Fighting grand prix in January 2010, whose winner would get a contract with Strikeforce. She defeated Kaitlin Young via armbar in the second round, setting up a rematch against Sayna Baszler (who is the only woman who had defeated Tate).

“Before the fights they ask you to take a pregnancy test. I took it and it came out negative. After the fight, I flew home and lo and behold my mom who knows everything told me totake another and it was positive,” Tate recalls.

Though she is still a mother to four boys, the sport still calls to her.

“Its a little itch I wanted to srcatch. I have a pretty full plate. A woman’s work is never done. If Mom’s happy, then everybody’s happy. This makes me happy,” she said.

Here are videos Tate’s two muay thai fights:

December 5, 2012

December 14, 2012