So as of late we are beginning to see some of the biggest names in kickboxing and Muay Thai defect over to MMA. The question that needs to be answered is what does that mean. In an interview I recently watched one of my all time favorite fighters, Tyrone Spong said that the organization he fights kickboxing for(Glory) can't afford him at the moment. We've also seen another big name in Joe Schilling win the Glory middleweight tournament and then eventually make his way all the way down to our lovely state of Florida and join American Top Team so that he too can reap some of the benefits of those MMA dollars.
So what does it mean to the sport of Kickboxing or Muay Thai? Absolutely nothing. The exodus by a few top name fighters to a sport that is growing and beginning to put some cash in the pockets of the fighters participating in it is just a good business decision for them in the long run. Especially if they are successful. This type of thing just goes to show that our sport is still an obscurity for some odd reason. It's hard for me to believe that with the amount of action that's involved on a Lion Fight Muay Thai card or a Glory Kickboxing card the us hasn't really caught on yet.
I know Tyrone Spong is a draw as is Joe Schilling but if you haven't seen Nieky Holzken, Josh Jauncey, and Sittichai Sitsongpeenong(a Thai boxer in kickboxing) in Glory or Kevin Ross, Gaston Bolanos, Tiffany Van Soest, etc. in Lion Fights, then you are missing out. I don't know if it's miss use of marketing money or people just not understanding the sport but either way if there isn't a renaissance in kickboxing in North America it could be one of the biggest tragedies in combat sports. And even then our sport will live on in obscurity and in some ways that would still be okay. At least we don't have to wear uniforms. J/S.
