10 Great Muay Thai Fighters Who Inspired My Journey – Damien Trainor
10 Fighters Who Inspired My Muay Thai Journey
Over the years, I've been inspired by a lot of great Muay Thai fighters and Kickboxers.
When I was younger, I'd watch fights religiously. I'd study how fighters moved, how they set up their attacks and how they dealt with different styles of opponent.
Whenever I could, I'd also try to find interviews with them.
I wanted to understand their mindset as much as their technique. How did they prepare? What were they thinking before a fight? Why did they fight the way they did?
Some fighters influenced particular techniques that eventually became part of my own game. Others changed the way I thought about training, tactics or competing.
All of them gave me something to learn from.
So, these are 10 of the Muay Thai fighters I probably watched most during my development, along with a few fighters whose careers crossed heavily into Kickboxing.
This isn't my ranking of the 10 greatest fighters of all time.
It's a much more personal list than that.
These are fighters who, for one reason or another, helped shape my own Muay Thai journey.
1. Ramon Dekkers
Ramon was probably my biggest inspiration when I first started competing.
I would watch his fights over and over again and try to emulate parts of his style.
He wasn't your stereotypical Thai-style Muay Thai fighter. He brought a very aggressive Dutch approach into his fights, combining heavy Boxing with devastating low kicks and constantly looking to put his opponents under pressure.
As a young fighter, it was difficult not to get excited watching him.
What was also interesting was seeing that style tested against elite Thai opposition.
Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to speak with a number of Thai fighters from that era, and several have told me they wanted the opportunity to fight Ramon.
They wanted to test their Muay Thai against his power and aggression.
That says a lot about the reputation he developed.
There were technically smoother fighters and there were fighters who probably represented traditional Muay Thai more closely, but in terms of making a young fighter want to get in the gym and train?
Ramon Dekkers had a massive influence on me.
2. Ronnie Green
Ronnie Green was one of the UK's early trailblazers on the international Kickboxing and Muay Thai scene.
My coach, Steve Logan, once lent me a VHS of a Master Toddy show from 1990.
It had been broadcast on Screensport – if any of you reading this are old enough to remember that!
The show featured a team from Thailand taking on some of Europe's best fighters, and one of the bouts was Ronnie Green against Sombat Sor Thanikul.
I was so impressed by Ronnie.
At that time, footage wasn't available at the click of a button like it is now. Seeing somebody from the UK standing opposite that level of Thai opposition meant something.
It showed me that fighters from our little nation could genuinely compete with the best in the world.
Ronnie went on to establish himself as one of the pioneers of British Muay Thai, winning major international titles and repeatedly testing himself against elite opposition.
A few years later, I was lucky enough to actually train with him.
That was a completely different experience from watching him on VHS.
There were things Ronnie told me during those sessions that stayed with me throughout my own career.
Sometimes a small piece of advice from somebody who has already walked the path you're trying to follow can make a huge difference.
3. Rob Kaman
Rob Kaman was another fighter I studied a lot.
He was so clever and clinical.
Obviously, everybody remembers the low kicks, but if you really watch him, there was much more going on than simply kicking hard.
It was the way he moved opponents into position.
The way he created openings.
The combinations he used to arrive at the shot he actually wanted.
And the way everything seemed to have a purpose.
Rob became a nine-time Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion and was one of the defining European fighters of his generation.
But there was another reason he influenced me.
He was one of the first fighters I remember seeing with a proper instructional series.
I could watch him explaining a technique and then go back and find examples of him actually using the same ideas in fights.
I loved that.
It connected coaching with application.
Years later, that became something I wanted to do myself.
Rather than simply showing a technique and saying, "This works", I wanted people to be able to see the reasoning behind it and, wherever possible, see how those same ideas could actually be applied in a fight.
Rob Kaman definitely planted some of those seeds for me.
4. Dany Bill
For me, in terms of pure Muay Thai skill, Dany Bill is probably the best non-Thai Muay Thai fighter I've watched.
He could genuinely "out-Thai" the Thais.
That's what made him different.
A lot of successful foreign fighters found ways to impose attributes that gave Thai opponents different problems – heavy Boxing, aggression, physical strength or a different rhythm.
Dany didn't need to do that.
He could stand in front of elite Thai fighters and beat them at the technical game.
Timing.
Balance.
Distance.
Scoring.
Reading reactions.
Knowing when to attack and when not to.
Some of the things he did were so subtle that I don't think he always gets the credit he deserves.
He's actually one of those fighters you appreciate more as your own understanding of Muay Thai improves.
When you're inexperienced, you tend to notice the big techniques.
The knockout.
The head kick.
The elbow.
The sweep.
As you learn more, you start noticing everything that happened before those moments.
That's where Dany Bill was exceptional.
He could outthink and outmanoeuvre extremely high-level opposition.
I could watch his fights again and again and still notice something different.
5. Buakaw Banchamek – The K-1 MAX Years
I'm specifically talking about K-1 MAX-era Buakaw here.
That period was something special.
When Buakaw arrived in K-1 MAX in 2004, he suddenly had this enormous international platform against some of the best 70kg Kickboxers in the world.
And he showed everyone just how effective his Muay Thai could be.
He won the K-1 World MAX tournament in 2004 and then did it again in 2006.
But it wasn't just the titles that interested me.
It was the opposition.
Masato.
John Wayne Parr.
Andy Souwer.
Albert Kraus.
Yoshihiro Sato.
These were serious fighters with different styles and different strengths, and Buakaw had to continually adapt.
I loved watching those fights.
After he stopped competing regularly in K-1, I didn't follow his career quite as closely.
Some of the later match-ups felt much more weighted in his favour, whereas those K-1 years had that sense that he was continually being tested against genuinely dangerous opposition.
That version of Buakaw was a force.
Those are still the fights I most enjoy going back to.
6. Paratuhadlek Sitchunthong
Paratuhadlek was a five-time Lumpinee Stadium champion around the beginning of what people now refer to as Muay Thai's Golden Era.
The first time I saw him was on a Master Sken show against the excellent Dutch fighter Maikel Lieuwfat.
He immediately caught my attention.
He was short and stocky, with really good Boxing and these fast, explosive kicks.
What I particularly liked was the way he used his left kick when Maikel tried to press forward.
That stuck with me.
It's easy to think about kicking purely as an attacking weapon, but watching fighters like Paratuhadlek helped me understand how you can use kicks to disrupt somebody else's attack and punish them for trying to take ground.
From that point onwards, I was a fan.
Back then, finding footage wasn't easy. If somebody had a VHS you hadn't seen, you borrowed it. If you spotted a fighter you liked on a show, you tried to find whatever else you could.
So I started hunting for more of his fights.
One I'd recommend looking for is his 1989 bout with Pongsiri Por Ruamrudee, better known as Rambo.
If you enjoy Golden Era Muay Thai, put that one on your list.
7. Jomhod Kiatadisak
The first time I saw Jomhod fight was against Ramon Dekkers at the King's Birthday event in Bangkok in 1996.
And the thing I remember most wasn't actually a technique.
It was his presence.
He seemed completely unfazed by Ramon.
That was unusual because Ramon brought such intensity into his fights.
He'd land something heavy and Jomhod would almost call him on before firing straight back.
At times, he even appeared to intimidate him.
I hadn't really seen anyone do that to Dekkers before.
That confidence stayed with me.
Jomhod was obviously an outstanding fighter technically, but watching him reinforced something else: the psychological battle matters as well.
How you react when somebody hits you.
What your body language tells them.
Whether you allow their best weapon to change your behaviour.
Jomhod also used a brilliant jumping-knee setup that I absolutely loved.
I tried to recreate it several times in my own fights.
Mine never looked quite as good as his...
but it did the job!
8. Ernesto Hoost
Arguably the king of the K-1 heavyweights.
Ernesto Hoost was somebody I watched countless times during K-1's heyday.
He eventually became a four-time K-1 World Grand Prix champion, but what always impressed me was how technically composed he remained despite fighting enormous, dangerous opponents.
His combinations were beautifully put together.
Again, I wasn't only interested in the final technique.
I liked looking at how he got there.
One combination in particular – his body shot into the low kick – really caught my attention.
I adapted the idea into my own version, and it became something I enjoyed both using and later teaching.
That's something I've always done.
If I see an idea I like, I don't necessarily try to copy the fighter exactly.
I ask:
Why did that work?
Then I'll take the principle into training and see how I can make it fit me.
Hoost was brilliant for that because there was so much structure behind what he did.
And if you've never watched his second fight with Rob Kaman, find it.
For me, it's still one of the best Kickboxing fights you'll ever watch.
9. Namkabuan Nongkeepahuyuth
There was an old Muay Thai documentary called Born for the Fight.
It followed three different lives within the sport, including an established Muay Thai superstar: Namkabuan Nongkeepahuyuth.
After watching it, I became fascinated by him and tried to find as many of his fights as possible.
Namkabuan was one of the outstanding fighters of the Golden Era and had a very distinctive style.
One thing he became particularly well known for was what people often call his "plough" technique.
He'd catch an opponent's kick and drive them backwards across the ring before completing the attack.
The rules at the time allowed him to cover considerably more ground while controlling the leg than you're generally permitted to do now, and he was brilliant at exploiting it.
I loved it.
So naturally, I started trying it myself.
I used that technique quite a lot during the early part of my career.
That's a perfect example of how watching fighters influenced me.
You see something.
You become curious about it.
You take it into the gym.
You practise it.
Then eventually it becomes part of your game rather than simply something you copied from somebody else's.
And if you've never seen Born for the Fight, I'd highly recommend finding it.
For me, it's essential viewing for a Muay Thai fan.
10. Wangchannoi Sor Parangchai
Wangchannoi is a little different from everyone else on this list.
Because eventually I had to fight him.
I'd actually watched several of his fights before I even knew who he was.
He often appeared on the same cards as Namkabuan – and fought Namkabuan himself – and his punching power had already caught my attention.
Then, early in 2000, I was offered a fight in France against a former Lumpinee champion called Wangchannoi.
The name didn't immediately click.
We accepted the fight, but for whatever reason it never materialised.
Later that year, the same opponent was offered again, this time in the UK.
We jumped at it.
The promoter, Dean White, sent us a VHS containing some of Wangchannoi's fights.
We put it on.
And I think I turned completely white when I realised who I'd agreed to fight!
It took me a couple of days to get my head around it.
But that's part of fighting.
Once I'd processed who was standing in front of me, there was no point being intimidated by what he'd already achieved.
We had a job to do.
So I settled into training and focused on preparing for the challenge.
When I speak to older Thai trainers today, Wangchannoi's name regularly comes up when they're discussing their top fighters of all time.
That doesn't surprise me.
He had frightening power, but there was real Muay Thai intelligence behind it as well.
To go from watching somebody like that on a VHS to eventually standing across the ring from him is something I'll never forget.
If you want somewhere to start with Wangchannoi, look for his fight against Superlek Sor Isarn.
And while you're there, look up Superlek as well.
He could very easily have been on this list.
Taking Inspiration and Making It Your Own
Those are only 10 fighters.
There have been many, many more over the years – and not all of them came from Muay Thai or Kickboxing.
I watched the Fabulous Four – Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Durán – religiously.
I loved watching Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank Sr and Prince Naseem Hamed as well.
Stylistically, though, my favourite boxer has always been Mike Tyson.
Looking back now, I can see little pieces of all those influences in the way I eventually fought and the way I coach today.
A combination from one fighter.
A setup from another.
A particular way of moving.
How somebody deals with pressure.
How they create an opening.
How they make an opponent react.
How they turn defence into attack.
But here's the important bit:
Don't try to become somebody else.
Take ideas from them.
Watch Fights With a Purpose
If you're serious about improving, don't only watch a fight for entertainment.
Obviously enjoy it.
But pick something to study.
Watch what happens before the successful technique.
Why did the opening appear?
Did the fighter create it?
What did they do to make the opponent react?
Was the finishing technique actually the first attack, or had they spent the previous minute conditioning their opponent to expect something else?
What happens when their first attack doesn't work?
How do they adjust?
Sometimes I'll go back and watch the same exchange repeatedly because there's a small movement or reaction that's much more important than the actual technique everybody notices.
That's how I think you should study great fighters.
Take It Into Training
Then experiment.
If you see a setup you like, take it into the gym.
Try it on the bag.
Try it on the pads.
Drill it with a partner.
Then try to make it work in sparring.
Sometimes you'll discover it doesn't suit you at all.
That's fine.
Other times you'll change something slightly and suddenly it feels completely natural.
That's when an idea you've borrowed starts becoming your own technique.
Do that over enough years with enough different influences and eventually you develop your own style.
That's exactly what happened with me.
How This Shaped the Way I Coach
That process also explains a lot about the way I teach Muay Thai today.
I've never been particularly interested in showing somebody 100 different techniques just so they have 100 techniques.
I'm much more interested in the details connecting everything together.
What sets the technique up?
What reaction are you looking for?
Where should your weight be?
What happens if they defend it?
What's the next option?
Can you make it work against somebody who knows it's coming?
Those are the questions that interested me when I was studying fighters like Dekkers, Kaman, Dany Bill, Hoost and the great Thai fighters.
They're still the questions I ask now as a coach.
And they're the same ideas I've tried to get across whenever I've filmed training material with Warrior Collective.
Whether we're looking at bag work, sparring, clinch, fight strategy, technical Muay Thai training or fighting concepts, I want people to understand the reasoning behind what they're doing rather than simply copying a movement.
If you're interested in studying more of that approach, you can find my complete collection of Muay Thai instructionals here on Warrior Collective.
But whether you watch my material or somebody else's, my advice is the same:
Keep studying good fighters.
Don't just watch what they do.
Try to understand why they do it.
Even after more than 30 years in Muay Thai, I still go back to old fights and notice things I didn't see before.
That's one of the things I love most about the sport.
There's always something else to discover.
