Blake Lumphini stadium

A total of 6 months back in Thailand.

9 fights in 5 months.

Roughly a fight every two weeks

I knew the rural lads were nuts but i didn’t think they would have that much of an influence and make me as crazy with my fighting.

I guess when the moneys getting low fighting is the option. The same reason I was now fighting so frequently was the exact same reason the Thais at the gym fight in the first place. Poverty.

By the end of my stint the money was getting pretty low. Being on a budget is no way to spend a holiday, mind you getting beaten up daily probably isn’t most people’s idea for a holiday anyway.

When i first arrived at Uttaradit I was an outsider. As far as i knew there were no other falang (westerners) training or fighting Muay Thai.

Being a small place it’s not surprising the locals want to know what you’re doing there and it wasn’t long before people started knowing who I was due to seeing me fight or seeing me limping around bruised up after fights.

The first fight in Uttaradit I took on a couple of hours’ notice after a phone call from one of the gyms I trained at. Things worked out better than expected and I landed a first round KO with a counter left head kick.

Two weeks later and around after only ten days training i would be back in the ring again, this time at Lek Nam Phi.

This area was (still is) famous for its steel mine. The steel from here was used in the past for making Thai swords. As this fight was a fair way out of town I doubt the locals had seen many falang. Many people wanted photos with me prior to the fight. As off putting as it is to have a mob of people wanting pictures just before you step into the ring I still obliged.

My Thai opponent for this fight was a south paw. These are difficult enough to fight in boxing, now add in the extra weapons of Muay Thai and it’s a right mission. First round started out the usual Thai pace both of us really just trying to get the measure of our opponent. I got lucky in round one; I caught my opponents left rib kick and responded with a counter left cross as i switched into southpaw myself. This dropped him and I thought it was over. somehow he managed to get up, I didn’t go nuts trying to KO him as it appeared he recovered well and I knew i still had another 4 rounds ahead of me should it go the distance.

Round two I let off a few more right hands to the body and low kicked more, then seeing his hands come down slightly I whipped a right head kick over his guard and came crashing down on his neck, this time sealing the deal for a KO win.

After this fight I got a rep for head kicks, when i turned up at fights and people talked about me i could see them making chopping motions to their neck. Not a bad feeling knowing you’re getting a good rep and following.

The meeting of the soon to be nemesis!

A couple of weeks later I fought on a promotion that was run by the gym boss. It wasn’t even far from the gym, right across the road in Thung Young temple.

When I climbed the ropes and seen my opponent for the first time my initial thought was "I'm gona KO this little guy early and go home"….my assumption couldn’t of been further from the truth. In the first round I thought one of his initial right kicks broke my arm. Pound for pound this guy was the hardest kicker I ever fought. Things went pretty well for the first few rounds, but towards the end my tiredness coupled with his strong ability in the clinch lead to me being defeated in the clinch. Not only as i had a jacked arm and bruised ribs to boot (no pun intended) I was pretty pleased that this was over. Thinking that would be the last time I seen him was also another incorrect assumption I made that night.

About ten days later, and after only 5 days training I had another fight lined up. This time a 30 min drive out of town to Lae – Plae. It was an afternoon fight and the sun was belting down. On the way the promoter asked me if i was scared of elbows. I replied in Thai that i wasn't scared of elbows, just scared of not winning. He sort of gave a nod of approval and said no more. I was told i was fighting an older fighter from Issarn region. But after twenty minutes of being there I'm told the Issarn guy doesn’t want to fight me and I’m fighting the hard right kicking guy I last fought two weeks ago. With a semi-bunged up arm that still hurts on the bone i was to fight the same guy that gave it to me. What choice did i really have?? I needed the fight and the money.  Round one was a bit more cautious than our previous encounter, round two much the same, but this time when he came for the clinch in the 3rd I let the elbows rip, leaving bruises on his face. Round 4 and he'd had enough of that and stayed on the outside teeping, I’m sure I took this round; in Thailand round four is typically the winning round. In other words who takes round 4 ultimately goes on to win the fight. Round 5 i didn’t want to take any chances with judges and continued my onslaught of knees and elbows. Now here’s the funny thing, in rural Thailand, as i was about to discover, you have to knock him out for a draw. I thought I’d done enough for a win; there was a bit of an uproar from the local crowd when the Thais hand was raised instead of mine. My corner said i won, as did the promoter of the event and the local gamblers. There was a sea of thumbs raised in the air as I exited the ring and I could hear the crowd saying in Thai "Blake won". This is a memory i won’t forget. As weird as it sounds this was probably one of the biggest highlights of my fighting career as I'd pretty much won over a Thai crowd for them to take the side of an outsider underdog.

Rainy season was now underway; this would have a big affect on the amount of fights happening around the region. Before the rains there were fight shows every day, sometimes as much as four separate shows on a single day, that’s how much they love their Muay Thai out in the boonies.

My 5th fight in Uttaradit happened not long afterwards. By now a rematch with Niam Meht (the guy i lost the last two fights too) was on my mind…fighting in a flood soaked rice paddy was not. The rains had made a major mess of the field that the ring was situated in; to make things worse it started raining while the show was on. The ring was open air as a lot of festival fights are. By the time I got in there it was a greased up puddle of sweat, water, and grime. The entire fight was a balancing act from both me and Niam Meht. I stuck to boxing and low kicking due to the safety of these techniques while on the slippery canvas. Occasionally I'd go kneeing.  Niam Meht stuck to his trusty right kick and teep while on the outside and clinched with me when he had too. This essentially seen me behind on the score cards by the end of the fight.

Random fights with no training!

With my visa nearly expired again I decided to head to Chiang Mai, see my wife’s mother and head to the Maesai / Taichelek Burmese border and extend my visa by leaving and re-entering Thailand.

I spent the remainder of my week in Chiang Mai hanging out with friends and having a couple of beers (not that i drink often, but i needed some down time)

Then on the last Friday there I went to watch some fights at the police stadium. On getting there Andy Thompson of Lanna Muay Thai asked if I’d like to fight as one of his fighters couldn’t do it that night due to personal family reasons. Knowing I’ve over spent again in the last week due to the visa run and the expense of hanging out and doing nothing but have fun in Chiang Mai, I’m up for some money making to help cover the cost of my trip. With no training at all and a belly full of dodgy Thai food and beer from the previous day I jumped in the ring. I said to Andy this will be either the best thing or stupidest thing I've ever done….in reality it was probably a bit of both.

Round one kicks off and i soon realise I'm up against another southpaw as he tears into the outside of my right leg with his left low kick. I stick to teeping, boxing, and also low kicking. Occasionally going for the high kick but mostly missing with it. I land a few elbows in round two but not before being nearly dropped from a right hook. Round 3 and i can see my opponent getting a bit tired, the teeps and punches to the body are taking their toll. I continue with this strategy plus low kicking until i see what I’m looking for, his guard comes down just for a split second and i throw my head kick with all its might. Another chop to the neck and he’s Ko'd. Money in the bank. I also got a police stadium promotional belt for my effort. Not bad for not training for a week.

On the bike ride home to my wife’s mother’s house i get lost. It’s raining, cold, I’m sore from fighting, the bikes almost out of gas and my cell phone has no money on it. Eventually after a couple of hours I find the super highway I’m looking for and head home. My mother in law has been waiting for me worried. She’s shocked when i told her i ended up fighting. The next day I take the bus back to Uttaradit a few thousand baht richer though. After a couple of day’s rest I’m back in the gym, the guys seem pleased when i tell them about another head kick KO. I’m informed i will be fighting again in two weeks.

Two weeks roll around; Kru Tao my teacher has come up with new nasty games on the pads. The last round of my pad work involves nothing but nonstop knees elbows and clinching. I felt pretty strong going into the next fight. Despite there being a power outage and the lights over the ring stopping for 30 minutes as well as it starting raining (just as I’m about to enter the ring) the fight was actually really good.

This time my opponents a bit lighter, but very fast. I can’t block his low kicks, instead i choose to step right through them and blast out hands followed by my own kicks. It does the job; in the 4th round I drop him.  He’s so drunk and wobbly from my punches the ref has no choice but to call it off.

It’s all about Lumphini!

Lumphini stadium, the mecca of Muay Thai and every nak muays dream.

I have a month of preparation. The longest training block I’ve had since arriving.

The build-up is good, no complaints really. I’ve done the hard work, but the weight cut is annoying me.

We leave for Bangkok on the Thursday morning by minivan. In it is one of the main promoters from Uttaradit along with several of his noisy buddies who talk the whole way. So much for me getting some rest on the road.

Once in Bangkok after a bit of mucking around we head to the hotel. "Hotel" is an over statement. Run down hell hole is a better description. The paint looks old and flaky. The blanket (my bed only had one) is paper thin and full of holes. The aircon has one setting….extremely cold. To make things worse Kru Tao has flu and coughs all night. I hardly sleep all night, the cold air blowing down on me, plus Tao coughing and the worry of making weight tomorrow morning.

The next day on the walk to Lumphini I check my weight at the electronic scales at the closest 7/11 mini mart. I’ve made weight according to it, now all I have to do is check it officially. We arrive at the stadium. One of the big wigs asks to see my passport. Unfortunately I've left it in Uttaradit  and apparently they won’t let me fight without seeing it. I end up calling my wife who is back in New Zealand. After many a lengthy phone call her uncle in Uttaradit gets access to my apartment and faxes a copy of my passport to the office at lumphini. This fiasco takes around 3 hours; finally I get to check weight. I’m tired, hungry and fed up. I make weight no problem and we make our way to the restaurant at Lumphini where I eat some of the worse Thai food I’ve ever had. It’s barely substantial for refuelling after a weight cut.

On the walk back to the hotel I buy some bananas for extra snacks as well as some biscuits and a small cake from the 7/11. This turns out to be my lunch.

Skip forward 8 hours

Prior to the fight I feel ok, but once I’m in there i can already feel the weight cut sapping me of explosiveness. I’ve cut weight the wrong way, by food deprivation. To top it all off I haven’t even refuelled properly. I feel sluggish the entire fight, yet i manage to finish and lose on points. My opponent was technically quite good, but not the strongest I’ve fought. I know if i hadn’t cut weight or had better refuelling throughout the day i could of taken the fight. I get my money and leave for Uttaradit right after the fight.

My Lumphini experience isn’t the way i hoped it to be. I’m a little disappointed and very tired. I feel like a zombie the entire way back, all i want to do is sleep but i cant on the bus. Once home i take 4 or 5 days off to recover and get energy back. For two weeks I’m eating like a pig anything that isn’t bolted down in order to gain back the strength and power i feel like I lost when going to Bangkok.

The final fight and final goodbye.

The promoter’s at the gym tell me that there aren’t many fights with it being raining season. The rains are almost over but I’m worried I can’t fit in what will be my 50th fight total and 9th fight this trip before leaving.

At this point i realise there’s only one option…challenge Niam Meht again.

A months preparation, enough time to get strong and in shape and really dish out some punishment in the final rematch. Unfortunately for me plans don’t always go that well. I get food poisoning and "Tong se ah" (the Thai word for diahorrea) and suffer for it in training. Then with a rundown immune system I get shingles for the second time this trip (i had it a few months early, and also ring worm at the start of the trip…the joys of the raining season I guess). It’s so persistent. I’m on a constant flow of acyclovir antiviral pills trying to kill it. Eventually my teacher takes me to a traditional healer who makes a magic mix of rice whiskey, herbs, and candle wax to blow over my wounds (using his mouth) while saying a magic prayer. I’m not sure if it was the magic whiskey or the constant stream of antiviral pills entering my system but 3 days later the shingles is on the mend. I can resume training hard and finish the build-up strong.

My final fight was on a ten day Muay Thai festival in a park opposite the Praya Pichai statue in Uttaradit. I fight on the Saturday. Rounds 1 and 2 start slow paced with mainly kicks and teeps. Rounds 3 and 4 are a lot of clinch. The fights close, I’m told to push it the last round and go clinch strong. This becomes my undoing, because I end up walking so straight lined I’m easily timed, even though I get some solid clinch knees in its not enough. Niam Meht wins again. He’s tired though, the entire last round he was saying in English "no, no, stop" and i was shaking my head. The fights over and he sits on the grass exhausted, I feel the same but being the cheeky kiwi I am I go and do pushups beside him. His friends are in hysterics and offer me some whiskey. Niam Meht gives me a hug and tells me good fight. I may not have beaten him this trip (although I’m sure I won the 2nd fight) but I’ve definitely won his respect. We wave good bye to each other as i leave the fair ground. The sportsmanship and spirit of Muay Thai is alive and well in Uttaradit. We've beaten several shades out of each other yet remain friends and shake hands afterwards. No one smack talks each other in Thailand because both have been through a war and will have more in future. They know how the game goes, winning and losing go hand in hand.

I take one day off and go back to training even though i don’t have any fights lined up as I leave shortly. I felt so sad leaving. I thought I was going to miss saying goodbye to my closest Thai friend from the gym as he went home after his fight. The day I’m leaving Uttaradit, there’s a knock on my door at 8am. Limbo; my close friend is there, fresh off the bus all the way from Chaiyaphum where he has just had a fight the night before. He has two beers in his hand and a smile on his face. He’s raced all the way to Uttaradit just to see me leave.

This maybe farewell but it’s not goodbye.

My return to New Zealand feels weird. After 6 months of rural Thailand I find it hard to fit in again into western society. People aren’t as friendly, they are generally ruder and don’t smile often. The weather is freezing by comparison. The food is overpriced. I’m used to having a water hose by the toilet instead of paper. Everything’s so different.

After a week of being back I phone to Kru Eck the gym boss. "When are you coming back he asks? Everyone here misses you!! Limbo is lonely without you here!" My heart sinks and a tear comes to my eye, I feel guilty that I have returned to a life of western riches while they continue to live in poverty. They have a small grotty gym with a few bags, a make shift ring and not much else, yet they produce great fighters and great people. I'm itching to return to Uttaradit and have one last fight….maybe next year.