ONE FC - Kickboxing Tournament - The Modern Greats - Kickboxing in Philadelphia
One FC is arguably the most interesting promotion on the market today. An Asian-based, venture capital-backed, multi-sport organization, One FC is quickly becoming the counterbalance to the UFC. ONE FC bans weight cutting through the use of multi-day weigh ins and hydration tests, combines Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and MMA bouts on single fight cards, and promotes honor, sportsmanship and warrior’s code over feuds, hyped up trash-talking, and celebrity. It goes above and beyond to differentiate itself from a standard fight promotion.
Without going into too much detail, ONE FC is using its venture capital to acquire top-talent and put on ridiculously good fights—for free, mind you. The 8-man kickboxing tournament on Friday, May 17, is no different.
Below we will go into detail about some of the athletes and their skill sets. The 1st leg of the tournament takes place early Friday morning. ALL PEOPLE, members and nonmembers, are welcome to train at our 6:45 AM class and then watch the fights after in the gym. We will probably go in on some food and coffee and all that good stuff.
The contenders
Giorgio Petrosyan
Arguably the best kickboxer of our era, Petrosyan’s nickname ‘The Doctor’ is no mistake. An unbelievably precise southpaw who rarely makes a misstep in the ring, Petrosyan has an excellent lead hook and rear kick, both of which are used as counters. He is the favorite of the tournament. Additionally he exclusively fights kickboxing rules—no elbows or clinch—which gives him an upper hand to the competitors who fight primarily Muay Thai. In the video below, from a recent ONE FC event, Petrosyan easily handles a very tough Thai in Sorgraw.
Yodsanklai Fairtex
The runner up on the betting odds, Yodsanklai is absolutely one of the most feared Muay Thai fighters of our era. Another southpaw, Yodsanklai is almost always talked about in regards to his brutal rear body kick. At opposite sides of the bracket, Yod and Petrosyan have the strong potential to meet in the finals. This is a fight folks have talked about for a long time, and a very interesting one as a southpaw vs. southpaw match makes both of their strongest weapons (Petrosyan’s lead hook & Yod’s rear kick) a bit less effective.
In this fight Yod goes up in weight and absolutely demolishes the very tough and decorated American, Chike Lindsay.
Jo Nattawut
‘Smokin’ Jo Nattawut is a very high level Muay Thai practitioner who gained most of his notoriety not in Thailand, but in the USA, on the Lion Fight Promotion. An orthodox fighter, Nattawut has a vicious lead kick, that maintains its power without having nearly any switch or setup. His signature move is similar to the last variation on the switch kick in our previous blog post. Nattawut has lost to Petrosyan, but beaten Sammy Sana, putting another interesting twist on this tournament. Watch him stop a very tough Charlie Peters below.
Dzhabar Askerov & Enriko Kehl
On paper, this is probably the most even and competitive bout. Both fighters are veterans of the game having competed in Muay Thai and Kickboxing on the top-level international scale. Additionally, both love to throw heavy combinations with lots of punches.
Here is a video of Askerov, which not only highlights his aggressive style, but also how to properly spar. Full speed with only 20-30% power.
Petchmorakot Petchyidee Academy
The sleeper of the tournament, Petchmorakot is a multiple time Lumpinee champion. He excels with elbow strikes—which are of course prohibited in kickboxing rules—however, he is an extremely solid competitor fighting out of a gym, Petchyidee, that is absolutely crushing it right now. Their current fight team, including the likes of the Cypriot, Michael Savvas, and Petchdam, are performing incredibly, and the gym has hired boxing coaches to tighten up their fighters’ boxing technique.
Here Petchmorakot TKOs the fan favorite and top-knotch fighter, Liam Harrison.
This first round of fights is going to be fascinating. So if you like watching or training Muay Thai, and live in the Philadelphia area, head down to Juniper Muay Thai in South Philly on Friday in the AM to catch the fights! Naturally, we are rooting for the Muay Thai fighters.