Brother Gabriel, you’re in incredible shape, and I never would have thought you napped daily. I’ve let my self go since I honorably discharged out of the Marines. Some times I take 2 naps in a day and that’s a problem that needs to be rectified most decisively. With that said I’m eager to try this product, and thank you for sharing. I hate feeling lethargic and drowsy all day.
@@TacTicMint no. thais simply arent good at taking a punch and dont have the best defense when it comes to good boxers. their defense for good boxing is take a punch to give one back.
Solid points. We typically recommend our Muay Thai (and Kickboxing) beginners to also take regular boxing classes to help condition them into respecting and defending against punches for these exact reasons.
My MMA gyms base is boxing they suggest you have experience in boxing mixed with grappling before picking kick boxing or muy Thai as a third art, which some people end up leaving over thinking it would be muy Thai instead (some gyms are opposite)
@@liltonydeAngelo on My muay Thai gym My Kru Made a lot of sparring with boxers and for that reason we work a lot our boxing and defense against punches, I'm glad that I have been learning this from the beginning because muay Thai defense lacks a lot
@@trujilloroldancarlosarturo4281 the gym I'm ats main art is boxing, and collegiate wrestling (rare but huge in my area so this is lucky) but then offers muy Thai basics, BJJ, and kickboxing. I love it lol
No one wants to talk about how they don’t allow you to clinch in ONE FC “Muay Thai” fights which is where Thailand fighters truly excel and is what makes Muay Thai different from Kickboxing
This is what’s annoying about ONE’s use of 4oz MMA gloves for Muay Thai. The smaller gloves should allow for better clinching (swimming into guard and having better hand manipulation) but they don’t allow the clinch for some reason.
@@overtblowfish4439 Varga is a Karate fighter that wouldn't last 1 round against the same Thai fighters ( Nong-O and Saemapetch ) that he's criticizing. Varga couldn't man up and go to ONE FC.
@@8limbedwarriornakmuay504 I’m pretty sure he can speak from experience. He’s fought some very high level and very traditional Muay Thai fighters and came out victorious. What organization do you fight for? How many titles have you won? Even better question, what kind of coward trashes a man who has done things you have never accomplished, nice and safe behind your keyboard, in your Gram Gram’s spare room.
I used to fight Thai rules. I agreed with most of this. Against Thais, we always went hand heavy attack. I was very heavily influenced by Ramon Dekkers and Damion Trainor, who was my trainer incidentally.
From what I’ve learned from my coach and other fighters who have fought in Thailand is that they highly recommend not using a tight guard in Muay Thai. The reason why is because the moment you do that is when the other fighter starts using knees, elbows and clinch. I’m not saying a tight guard isn’t needed but from what I’ve heard and seen, there’s more cons to it in Muay Thai than in kickboxing where there are no elbows and a prolonged active clinch.
People said you can't use head movement in muay Thai and MMA because of high kicks and knees and yet they are used by all of the top tier fighters. In my opinion, the amount of protection that a high guard can provide cannot be replaced by head movement or anything else. You need to have this defense in your arsenal. It's like saying "I don't need calf kicks, I only do round houses and high kicks". Plus, if you know that you're opponent is gonna use a certain move when you shell up, why not shell up to bait the move and punish them for it?
Yea they do it but crack it open easily, example: ruclips.net/video/IwAOh9g2nH0/видео.htmlsi=dC2NXnKwuJAEl2OO&t=194 ruclips.net/video/IwAOh9g2nH0/видео.htmlsi=XyNU63hTngi5T1fL&t=1420 so I suppose they don't see this guard as any more viable
I'm Thai and I totally agree with this. This comes down to the scoring system in the standard Thai rules that favor strong and aggressive fighters over defensive ones. In MT, fighters are encouraged to hit back after being down for a count rather than turtling and do everything they need to survive the round. Because the spectator (read: gamblers) would see them as throwing away the fight and the odds will be stacked against them. No matter how well they perform after that, there's no going back unless they can score a KO. It's not a coincidence that most, if not all, Thai fighters always stand right up after getting knocked down instead of resting and waiting until the count of 8; unlike most of the fighters. They were trained that way. I think this will gradually change over time, though. Right now, the standard Thai rules are not popular with the masses anymore and there are new promotions that start to adapt more international rules to make the game more accessible for the masses (read: non- gamblers). ONE Championship is one of the best examples. Even Rajadamnern and Lumpini are gradually changing because they know there are bigger markets than the gamblers and them keep making a scene to influence the judging doesn't help either.
Whenever I've watched Thai fighters I've always wondered why they pop up so quickly from knockdowns instead of taking the count to clear their heads. I get that being tough is a virtue in any combat sports but being smart helps too.
I've seen a few weaknesses, mostly from my first Kru being from Thailand, then going to different gyms when he moved to another state and doing a bit of Dutch, as well as some Muay Thai that's simply been Americanized a bit. Pacing, lack of emphasis on lateral footwork, and lack of creative head movement options were my biggest weaknesses coming from a more Thai style to other, more Westernized training methods. I definitely learned some lateral footwork and head movement, but it wasn't emphasized as much, and the general style we had was in and out of range, with pullbacks like what you showed here. Nowadays, I'm using a lot more head movement and lateral footwork which is great for my size as it allows me to spend more time on the inside since I don't have a long reach.
I think the issue with head movements in Muay Thai is getting caught with a round house to the head when you slip to either side, or a knee up the middle if you do a boxing style squat. Same trickiness in the mma rule set. Having said that, I'm sure there's a balance to be made
@@delusional88 This is the common conception, though in my current gym we've been putting some head movement into practice and we haven't found an issue. Theory vs practice type stuff, just like when Wing Chun fighters say that Boxing and Muay Thai guards are inferior because they don't protect "the centerline" and there's a visible path to the target, but once you get to sparring the theory doesn't always pan out. From our practice, it seems that head movement in kickboxing and Muay Thai can be pretty darn similar to Boxing and safely. Boxers can make punches miss a lot with their head movement. Why wouldn't that be possible with strikes like knees and kicks, which are generally slower than punches? We're making some adaptations to the head movement because the stance is different, but it's working.
@@vicentegeonix Lol you flatter me, but I'm afraid I'm not a fan of being on camera. On top of this, it's my coach that's helping me develop more lateral footwork and head movement, not something I'm out here innovating with. I'm sure there are better people to make videos on it than myself.
Good point. I'd add that one needs to take a lot of punches without being dropped to learn to not be afraid of them and at the same time one needs to be dropped couple of times to learn to respect the punch and to not be overly reckless or cocky, when it comes to getting punched. The latter is, sooner or later, coming up for Rodtang, cause that solid chin is gonna wear off sonner or later with the style he fights in.
@@siegfriedo 100% on Rodtang ... the dude has a granite chin and takes a lot of punishment because he can take it ... but as we've seen over and again, eventually your ability to take a punch to the chin/jaw goes away
yeah as oppose to other fighters who are petrified of punches LOL get a grip man he got caught with a shot he probably didn't see coming, got rocked and finished, all there is to it, you fight so often with top guys it is bound to happen at some point
Mr. Wong, owner of Fairtex Gym came out recently warning Thai boxers about the increase of foreign fighters beating Thais at their own sport, in their own country. Traditional Muay Thai will never die, but adopting foreign techniques should be encouraged.
I feel like we should petition to send Gabriel out to Thailand to work with some of the greats. The content would be incredible, and they'd be leveling up their much needed tight boxing defense. Win win
What can losing a single competition indicate? Nong O has lost over 60 fights in Thailand, but he has knocked out his opponents with boxing techniques far more frequently than they have knocked him out.
Im not a pro and expert in martial art, but I agree with this. I am Thai and trained Muay Thai since I was 12 years old, lived n trained in Muay Thai camp, luckily the camp located in tourist area, so 70% of the student were foreigner, so I get used to sparring with them and plus, I learned and familiar with western boxing style too (from sparring and learn from those foreigner fighter).
Gabriel really made me focus on disciplined, solid defense way more. Everything I drill and practice now always includes making 100% sure I'm staying tight and protected, no matter if it's during offense, combos, on exits etc.
I remember this being highlighted when people found out the only way to beat Buakaw was with the hands, specifically Masato looking for the uppercut under Buakaw’s vampire guard.
To be honest I do feel like most modern thai fighters focus more on offense rather than defense, and that is probably influenced by the amount of gamblers pressuring not only the fighters but the stadiums too. (By favouring the offensive fighters) Buakaw has a very defensive style, and same with most golden era fighters. Thai fighters definitely need to work on more defensive techniques .
Watching the last bit of your video. You are right about their defensive training in Thai gyms. I’m at fairtex gym where saemapetch is . They spar boxing but don’t really work on defensive hand motions like parry’s etc
Walter Mccord And yet Saemapetch is literally one of the best in the whole world at 145 lbs. He must be doing something right. Varga doesn't know what he's talking about, he's a karate fighter nowadays 😂. He wouldn't last 1 round against those same Thai fighters ( Nong-O and Saemapetch ) that's he's criticizing. Haggerty meanwhile got crushed by Rodtang twice and only beat Sam-A because Sam-A got a staff infection and Sam-A didn't really belong at Flyweight at all. Lobo the guy that got send to the shadow realm by Nong-O. Both Haggerty and Lobo train in Thailand all the time ( Haggerty for this fight ) they won because of training with Thai trainers. If there's something wrong with Thai training then why are Haggerty or Lobo even here in the first place ?
@@8limbedwarriornakmuay504 I don’t think there’s anything wrong wit Thai training at all. Everybody has holes for sure. Just telling what I see. Saemapetch is definitely a dog, top class. But they don’t really work boxing defense but the long guard and pull back . And Varga was Glory champ bro and he beat Lerdsila. He can fight 😂😂
@@DatboyWalt In GLORY is are the gloves MMA gloves ? If not the Vargas point is a whole lot of nothing. Saemapetch and Nong-O lost by KO because of MMA gloves. Varga couldn't man up and fight under those rules, he's a sissy these days fought in Karate tournament. The same Saemapetch and Nong-O would KO Varga in round 1, after that we'll see Varga make a video about Canadian style not being suited for MMA gloves 🤣.
@@DatboyWalt He beat an old Lerdsila UNDER Kickboxing rules, he would have lost if it was under Muay Thai rules. Varga is a sissy he fight Lerdsila who is 0-0 under Kickboxing rules at that time lol.
Exactly my thoughts, they are going in for the kill & the Thai fighters are so conditioned offensively to push the pace (you never see them back peddle even a little) that they regularly get KO instead of buying a little time to recover.
One thing my teacher mentioned after the superbon ko was that a lot of thai fighters really struggle defending combinations especially long combos because they're so used to fighting thais whom tend to throw single shots with lots of power
Agree everything when Gabriel say he teach us affective tips and he is a pro kickboxing 6x champion...Great channel from nowdays Gabriel varga one of my favorite fighter and favorite online coach
The TIE Fighter has 4 main weaknesses 1. No deflector shields 2. Lack of hyperdrive 3. Lack of life support 4. Poor visibility The X-Wing doesn't have any of these weaknesses while also having the benefit of an onboard Astromech unit and a superior VMax therefore the Alliance to restore the Republic had the edge in confrontations.
I'm of different opinion. Muaythai fighters when they get to a certain stage of success or dominance, they tend to get accustomed to their routine preparation for a fight. When Superbon fought Giorgio Petrosyan, he spent much time in preparation for the fight with trainer Gae. Together they watched Petrosyan's fights and plan the best tactics to defeat Petrosyan. After his fights, I believe that Superbon was illusion into believing that he was in top form, and probably succumb to his usual preparation for the fight against Chingiz Allazov. He also spent much time giving seminars, instead of devoting time and effort, preparing for the fight. Nong O also fell prey to routine fight preparation. There are a few trainers such as kru Gae and the late kru Yodtong Senanan who are expert in grooming fighters for specific opponent. Top muaythai fighters should spend more money investing in these trainers, for each specific fight, particularly against foreign muaythai fighters who are primarily punchers.
@@45lxudmouth27 One Championship entry level make maximum $1.5k per fight, but earn bonus of $50k if got selected for the performance of the night. But if you're at shit level, you get shit purse at temple fight. Heck! students pay to get in smoker fight.
@@45lxudmouth27 Only to fighters at shit level. Heck, some students even pay organizer to fight Smoker. Do search on how much One Championship pay top muaythai fighters+ bonus incentive.
I think also a big part is that muay thai fighters are used to clinching when an opponent swarms them. Correct me if I am wrong but I think in ONE rules the allow very minimal clinch, I think 1 strike only.
Yup, its to attract more western viewers. They know that westerners don't want to see clinching. Its also why ONE doesn't invite many clinchers/muay khao fighters. Otherwise the fights would be 70% clinching like in Rajadamnern and Lumpinee.
This makes me appreciate Rodtang even more He might not be the most impressive fighter defense wise (man blocks with his chin sometimes 💀) But his defense is underappreciated in my eyes because he does have good fundamentals, he just gets a bit wild sometimes but he even when he throws combinations, he still has good fundamentals and movement I think it's overlooked because he's fine taking shots to give shots and pressure his opponents but you don't just win hundreds of fights with no defense at all 😂
One thing I've realised about him is he ditches some of his fundamentals to both entertain and draw opponents in. No one is willing to engage with him if he doesn't present opportunities. He's extremely skilled. And when opponents stand toe to toe with him they tend to get knocked out.
@@doperat9630 he also has an amazing reflex that most people don’t see. Often he moves with the punch, so it looks he gets hit but hey takes the sting out of the punch
@@comosediceesoo681 I mean he doesn't do it every time or every round When he taunts around and lets his opponents hit him, it's definitely his last resort, or his way of drawing his opponent for him to counter
I always watched a lot of Mayweather, Loma, Rigondeaux, and Canelo. All of them have different styles of defense, but all of them are really good at it. Its funny to me that people always mention brain trauma when we talk fighting, and I'm like nah dude, I don't have any. I move my head
Another big complaint that Ive seen is that Thai usually have a stubbornly slower pace esp in the first round. Which is good in some cases, to analyze your opponent for the long game, but is also something that can exploited if one is caught by a precise shot. Foreign fighters usually have a faster or more flexible tempo in the early rounds. This is exactly what happened in Nong-O vs. Haggerty or Buntan vs Wondergirl. The foreign fighter took advantage of the slower pace of the Thai and ended up dominating.
I don't disagree, but Nong O was using that high Dutch guard when he got knocked down but Haggerty still managed to spilt the guard. Can you elaborate on what he could've done more to prevent this? Because Nong O is one of those unique Thai's that likes to keep a high guard to protect shots to the head
It's just a product of the small gloves, the high guard gets split. Petr Yan can mitigate this somewhat by plastering his palms to his forehead and bending over when shots are coming in but it leaves him susceptible to knee strikes and that's one strike you don't want to present opportunities for when fighting a taller fighter like Haggerty. Nong O's safest option was relying on head movement and footwork to be his main line of defense
@@champ1159 True even as somebody who's mastered all the Shell Guard Types I can get my hands on agrees that it's the last line of Defense when no other tools work. Cause you have so many other options Bobbing, Weaving, Ducking, Slipping, Shoulder Roll, Parry, Frame, Trap, etc. These are things a lot of Boxing style users seem to forget a lot when they take a hard shot. To be a true defensive master you need to be calm under the storm to intercept and redirect shots instead of taking them straight up. While it's fine for conditioned Thai's it doesn't work forever.
I think a good way to remedy this weakness is doing hard boxing sparring several rounds back-to-back with lighter-hitting pressure fighters so you get tired and have to defend but don't get too beat up.
My coach is ALWAYS telling me not to cover tight. He says “No hiding!” every time I try it. He preaches long guard 90 percent of the time. I don’t feel that comfortable in long guard 24/7 though. I utilize tight guard every now and again and if you are smart with it it works. It’s tough to train something when your Coach who runs the floor and the gym is yelling at you not to do something. Even if Gabriel Varga says it’s okay lol I’ve been at this place for 4 years. I’ve had 5 fights and I also work there. So I do what he wants for the most part. But it is sometimes frustrating. Anyone else been in this position?
I would also rely on parrys, catching, hand traps and slips because blocking from a high guards, leavs tons of gaps as if u block a Hook, u ar Open for a kick
Russian fighter are the reason I use the high guard guys like bivol,Beterbiev and Petr yan alawys amazed me with this simple defense nothing to complicated like the Philly shell and high guard works in both mma and boxing
Been training MMA for a year now, there's a guy in my gym who is obsessed with Thai style and believes it to be the ultimate in fighting prowess. Me personally as a guy with fast hands and good reach, when he opens up that wide guard it's like being invited to an all you can eat buffet.
@@Seekingtruth-mx3ur Styles are only as good as the fighter using them. A fight is so much more than 🪨 📜 ✂️. How many UFC champs come from pure muai thai backgrounds?
Kinda agree, but a big part is also that they get up way too quick. And saying "keep getting knocked out"...thaifighters don't get knocked out THAT often. Great vid as always, thanks ❤
Their greatest weakness is their boxing and their over reliance on kicks for defence rather than good head movements or guard. As a person who travelled and training in Thailand, this is my personal observation. They even say "If a boxer learns to defend against kicks, they will kill the best MT guys" but they don't put boxing into their training.
Plus, a lot of Thai fighters don't work angles. Their footwork is either straight forward or straight back and often flat footed. I think the Thai's are improving over the last 10 years in this area, but could be much better. I love watching Thai fights, but my friends get sick of me yelling "Move your head", "Spin off", "Don't stand in front of him", "Combinations"... LOL
It's funny you mention that because I'm hardly a combat sports expert and even I picked up that Thai fighters don't work angles. There's not much head movement and they almost never step to the side.
Haggerty jab and went to the ribs made Nong O dropped his left hand to protect his ribs. Getting his head low and off line making it looks like he's jabbing and going low to the body again but went over and into the jaw. It was well setup by Haggerty.
Muay Thai fighters use active high guards, long guards and low guards. While dutch kickboxers only shell themselves with an static Turtle sheel guard. In muay Thai the guards are more fluid than in kickboxing, and the defense is more well-rounded and practical for bare knuckle or small gloves, they are the best Long guard users and they prefer to rely more on reflexes,like you sayd leaning back using head movement, and using long guards to parry, deflect or catch shots and control limbs.
As a person me sota learned from a MMA fighter who favored a tia stance. It seems using your hands outward over and over and over makes it so that even your brain doesnt resort to covering your head with palms flat, because it's been so engrained to keep them outward facing. Just a theory
This narrative comes out whenever a Thai gets knocked out with boxing. There are Thais with great boxing. Kaew, Sittichai, Superbon, Kongnapa, Kompetch etc who are all doing very well in kickboxing. But when a Thai gets knocked out suddenly its a hole with the martial art. Fighters get knocked out all the time, Muay Thai or not
Nong-O knocked out his last 5 contenders (including Saemapetch and Lobo) with boxing combo's and all of a sudden people are acting like he lacks boxing. Rodtang drops Haggerty with a liver shot no one says anything about boxing. I think the fact that a few Thai's suffer a loss is made to be such a big deal is what's more telling. Plenty of guys thought they could do the same to Superlek, Tawanchai, Rodtang, Saenchai... most knockouts in 4oz gloves come by way of punches.
Yeah but those Thais that are good with the hands and are more skilled boxers get ko’d a bit less it’s a pretty normal thing that Thais get out worked with boxing and ko’d sometimes because they don’t have their boxing as on point
Ive only just subscribed to Gabriel Vargas channel and although I only have little experience i think he has sound advice for the beginner and veteran kickboxer. Alot of training varies on the coach but who better than a champion. Great stuff mate 🇬🇧👍
TRUTH I tighten this up and no longer had trouble the drill at the end is the best. It not only helps with the muscle memory but the psychology of getting used to operating in the pocket. If you can be calm in the pocket your gravy. The first couple of times I worked that drill was stressful. But once I got used to it it helped all my fighting striking and grappling be cause you know how to pressure without getting lit up.
As a Thai sports fan I agree with your analysis. We lose easily against fighters with good punches. I find myself always annoyed so many times when Thai boxers don't punch more and if you often watch Thai fighters' fights, you will often find that They usually only use heavy punches and rarely jab punches.
The first and most important weakness of Thai fighters is ... they go easy on first round. So you just have to go all out. Its just that. Nong O and Superbon for example both got knockout on first round. Meanwhile Rodtang who always goes all out ... destroyed Haggerty not just once but twice 🙃
What the anchor may not know is that Thailand is actually one of the world's boxing powerhouses, with numerous world champions in the lower weight classes in WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF. They are not only strong in the fields of Muay Thai and kickboxing
Galaxy and Payakaroon way back in the day, and neither of them was really ATG or top of the food chain in boxing and Sor Ringvasai recently, calling them boxing powerhouses is a stretch
@@vicentegeonixAfter doing some research, I found that Thailand has many top boxers such as Amnat Ruenroeng and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, who have won numerous championships. It can definitely be said that Thailand is a world boxing powerhouse.
Could you do a video on how to the shell guard when wearing 4oz MMA gloves. Should your hands be opened or closed? How high up should your hands be relative to, say your eyes or ears? How much does the hand position change depending on whether they’re throwing strait punches or hooks/overhands? Thank you!
Two Muay Thai fighters get knocked out by two other Muay Thai fighters on Friday and people are making it out to be a hole in Muay Thai. Nong-O dropped most of his competition including Lobo (who also trains in Thailand) with boxing. Haggerty got dropped by Rodtangs body punching too. It's just the nature of 4oz gloves.
Yeah. It's not like boxers came in off the street and did this to Nong-o. Haggerty has an excellent teep with teep fakes(and elbows) that sets up his boxing.
Without seeing the video im gonna say... the abuse of the long guard, the lack of follow up un combos (they use to throw 3 or maximum 4 shots, no more), and the lack of experience against spinning fancy shit haha Im from ITF Taekwondo and i've been doing Muay Thai for 8 months and they eat spinning kicks like candy.
Yes. The spinning kicks can cause some frustration with muay thai fighters. I've been seeing a few guys from Thailand training spinning kicks. The evolution is beginning
ONE WORD........ TEEP......... ITF'S BEEN GETTING BRUSHED BY THEM FOR DECADES. WESTERN THAI BOXING MORE DETAIL 2 PUNCHES THAI'S BORN INTO KICKING, WESTERNERS NO. YEAH YOU'LL CATCH THEM OUT AT FIRST WITH SOMETHING UNCONVENTIONAL BUT AFTER THAT BASIC BOXING, LOW KIK, GRAPLE KNESS, CLOSING THE DISTANCE AND ITS THE SAME RESULT FROM BLACK BELT TO WHITE QUICKER THAN YOU CAN SAY OOOOSE!!!. LOL
LMAO. I love it when visiting TKDers visit my Muay Thai gym and spin for spinning shit. One teep in the back and they are on the floor. As Jack Slack said the only valid reason to spin is to catch someone coming in-otherwise you are exposing your back like Valentina Schevchenko in her last fight.
It's interesting Firas Zahabi was saying on one of his podcasts recently that when he trained under Sagat he made him do straight boxing 50% of the time.
Really evident why Rodtang adapted western striking and that is what makes him so dominant, because the thai package with legs and conditioning and endurance came with the territory allready
i think the root of the problem is lack of side to side movement very good at coming forward and going back but you’re just going to end up on the ropes or canvas if that’s all your good at
Not an expert but I totally agree here. I’m not a good boxer but I when I spar with Muay Thai guys my punches are the only thing that can get through when they have a wide guard
I always get hate for this from muy Thai people (whom I respect) when I say most of my training outside of ground game is traditional boxing classes due to the fact that I believe boxing and grappling arts are the two most important bases to have for MMA. I just haven't decided to take more kick boxing classes or muy Thai as my third but I am leaning towards muy Thai as I can't kick too high but I can knee up to a six ft person's chin no problem and have heavy elbows lol
@Anthony DeAngelo Everybody needs the boxing fundamentals, u should train like an amateur boxer for a couple of years, you need to get an amateur license
@@Bartron_Flat_Earth wym? Yeah you need license for MMA from athletic commissions in my state too. I train to box every week but also go to MMA in general. I'm fitting to go on rough and rowdy highly trained but lie so I can take three k off em
That's how Lethwei fighters dominated top thai fighters mostly ( not every fight of course ). With a double KO rule ( due to injury timeout , second chance in lethwei if u got KO , u will be asked weather u want to keep fighting or not , if you are willing , you can have a second chance , so no easy win there ) , lethwei fighter's conditioning are on another level ( no easy win , no early stoppage , knock down counting is super slow ) and they are heavy punchers ( might not as graceful as western boxers or kickboxers ) , but they did KOed many MT fighters. They fought completely bare knuckle in the past , hand wraps were used just 6 decades ago or so. With extensive clinching , throws , wrestling and head butting , lethwei is the closet striking sport u can get similar to street fighting. The only downside is they don't have enough training , equipment , sport diet knowledge and support like thai fighters as Myanmar is under dictatorship ( more than 70 years now , but in 2021 one of the worst military coup happened and millions suffered ) and the whole country is busy fighting with the evil military ( they are in survival mode , fighting for freedom ) , so lethwei fighters are mostly farmers who sometimes test their skill in the ring , only a handful fighters make it to the top level ( even pro lethwei fighters train less than thai fighters and they only train when there are guaranteed upcoming fights ). So these days, there are no full time lethwei fighters left and only part time semi-pro fighters are waiting to get their next fight contract. Imagine if Myanmar was a free country 70 years ago.
I've been thinking about how I can make my body stronger to take body shots. I'm about Ryan Garcia size 5'11, and I float around 136 to 152 a lot. After taking some body shots in the past during training, I realized I needed to make it stronger.
nothing can condition your rib cage or a liver, if the shot lands in perfect spot that's a wrap you can turn yourself into a Butterbean and thus become completely immune to a body punch though........
What was your view of the Haggerdy fight? He was a big underdog but completely destroyed Noon-O. Who do you think would be favourite in a rematch, or if Haggerdy fought Harrison? Or even Petchtanong or another Rodtang.. ? Great channel ty!
Hey Gabriel I am searching for one of your Bellator fights in which you fought against a southpaw.. knocked him out too i think. Do you know where to find it? I am training to fight a southpaw, thanks! And awesome video, I personally love all the fighters that got Ko‘d recently, which is why I really got to think about their mistakes 😂
Great video. How would you nuance this with those 4oz gloves? Shame all the jockey gym guys have retired. That boxing cross training would be for the 4oz fights. 👌 Although traditional Thai training with cheuk is the same
Same thing happened to Ferrari Fairtex against Reis (I think he got straight flatlined, but he did clearly get hurt before the KO, and his reaction was to try that same long guard)
@@Prime_Legend Can it work? Yes. Effectively? Minimally. Not nearly to the degree that boxing gloves work when covering up. It's much easier to sneak shots through.
@@GabrielVargaOfficial I would even go further and say it hurts fighters that don't take the time to understand the difference with small gloves. Small gloves require you to be a lot more active in your defense than with boxing gloves.
Hey Gabe, So I like and agree with everything you said here in this video. Although I’d like to share my opinion on the matter and hear what you think. So in general I always felt that in pure Muay Thai the fact that the hands have gloves, and the elbows knees and shins have no padding, it historically has lead to Muay Thai fighters not always placing such massive emphasis on throwing hand combinations. However when you think about it technically, it IS a very good reason not to. I mean the hands are literally at a disadvantage in that specific format. But now let’s think of mma. Most knockouts seem to come from punches when compared to other strikes on the feet. Now is that indicative of mma fighters not having good Muay Thai? I personally always felt it’s because this limiting factor in the big gloves is now removed, and the hands are the quickest most accurate way to strike. Statistical Data analysis doesn’t always hold real world proof, but the history of mma knockouts does make a good case that using the first to secure KOs just seems to be the quickest way to victory vs elbows, knee, clinch knees, elbow KOs or cuts via elbow, knee or kick. Infact most submissions that are landed are very often after a fighter is rocked by a punch in the feet or ground. I am in no way claiming boxing is the automatic superior martial art, I’m just making the case that in a ring with boxing gloves, the less restrictive striking styles always seem to superceed each other (example: kickboxer low kicks boxer, Muay Thai fighter clinches kickboxer) but once it’s small gloves, and a bigger fighting space such as an octagon and a different scoring system that doesn’t take points away for moving back, the whole game changes. So overall I think my main point is to defend a puncher who’s wearing boxing gloves in the context of Muay Thai by using punch defense, counters and clinches, it’s just not the same as what it takes to defend yourself from those mma gloves and punch heavy style. I mean heck I feel like the general consensus of people agree the best Muay Thai fighters of all time debates have always been some “muay khao” vs a “muay femur.” Yet in caged Muay Thai in ONE FC you see guys getting dropped with punches left and right. Makes you wonder if punches really are the most objective way to land knockouts in the context of the cage
Most guys in martial art forums discredit boxers turns out they have the best defense and can actually take a punch not forgetting switching your lights out
this might sound like a fighting sports myth but I do feel like it works. at least it did for me and my friends: we would do training drills where one guy spins around (we would hold a weight plate at the back of our head and neck during spin to save time, the extra weight messes ur sense of balance faster) until they are uncomfortably dizzy and then do light sparring with emphasis on blocking, dodging, defence and strike accuracy in counter shots. the easier someone found it to avoid hits the harder we would make it by adding one more guy against him and if he could still avoid everything then we would add yet another guy against him. Or get him to spin more on the next round to be even more dizzy.. i remember it working, because the very first times we hard sparred and got rocked we would lose a loooot of our accuracy and sharpness in reflexes, missing shots and catching opposing shots because our sense of depth, direction was messed. and after we were doing these drills it was like we were a looooot more used to ''rocky boat vision/balance'' and with muscle memory and being used to fighting while ''rocked'' we were doing much better overall.
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Brother Gabriel, you’re in incredible shape, and I never would have thought you napped daily. I’ve let my self go since I honorably discharged out of the Marines. Some times I take 2 naps in a day and that’s a problem that needs to be rectified most decisively. With that said I’m eager to try this product, and thank you for sharing. I hate feeling lethargic and drowsy all day.
Can you talk about this Thai kickboxer? I'm really drawn to his style.
ruclips.net/video/np_w_2EFluU/видео.html
Those MMA gloves make a big difference in defense. Maybe they're not used to them enough to have any muscle memory when they're rocked.
@@TacTicMint no. thais simply arent good at taking a punch and dont have the best defense when it comes to good boxers. their defense for good boxing is take a punch to give one back.
@@TacTicMint how often do we see thais parry, slip or actually block punches when doing pad work? NONE.
Solid points.
We typically recommend our Muay Thai (and Kickboxing) beginners to also take regular boxing classes to help condition them into respecting and defending against punches for these exact reasons.
Bruh Exactly💯
My MMA gyms base is boxing they suggest you have experience in boxing mixed with grappling before picking kick boxing or muy Thai as a third art, which some people end up leaving over thinking it would be muy Thai instead (some gyms are opposite)
@@liltonydeAngelo on My muay Thai gym My Kru Made a lot of sparring with boxers and for that reason we work a lot our boxing and defense against punches, I'm glad that I have been learning this from the beginning because muay Thai defense lacks a lot
@@trujilloroldancarlosarturo4281 the gym I'm ats main art is boxing, and collegiate wrestling (rare but huge in my area so this is lucky) but then offers muy Thai basics, BJJ, and kickboxing. I love it lol
Agreed! My foundation is in MT, but I went off and trained exclusively in boxing for a few years and it helped with defense in MT tremendously.
It's because TIE fighters don't have shields like Rebel fighters
A man of culture right here
Stay on target
Best comment
They also have a total lack of peripheral vision because of the wing design. A totally flawed space craft design if you ask me
Ahahahaha
No one wants to talk about how they don’t allow you to clinch in ONE FC “Muay Thai” fights which is where Thailand fighters truly excel and is what makes Muay Thai different from Kickboxing
This is what’s annoying about ONE’s use of 4oz MMA gloves for Muay Thai. The smaller gloves should allow for better clinching (swimming into guard and having better hand manipulation) but they don’t allow the clinch for some reason.
@@hoangavw its obvious, if they allowed clinching muay thai fighters would dominate every fight.
@EyeseeUriP eh, not really muay thai is the art of 8 limbs im sure they practice punching too
@@RefRed_Kingi do muay thai but its not all that
@@thunderkatz4219Highly disagree. Clinching is what makes Muay Thai lethal.
Gabriel varga is a RPG game character you will encounter in a cave to give you wisdom
Lol he really is
Yea if you have unarmed build he trains you
@@overtblowfish4439 Varga is a Karate fighter that wouldn't last 1 round against the same Thai fighters ( Nong-O and Saemapetch ) that he's criticizing.
Varga couldn't man up and go to ONE FC.
@@8limbedwarriornakmuay504 I’m pretty sure he can speak from experience. He’s fought some very high level and very traditional Muay Thai fighters and came out victorious. What organization do you fight for? How many titles have you won? Even better question, what kind of coward trashes a man who has done things you have never accomplished, nice and safe behind your keyboard, in your Gram Gram’s spare room.
@@brockphillips7403 Varga beat who under Muay Thai rules with MMA gloves ?
I used to fight Thai rules. I agreed with most of this. Against Thais, we always went hand heavy attack. I was very heavily influenced by Ramon Dekkers and Damion Trainor, who was my trainer incidentally.
K star in the house
k star W
Ñam
Damion Trainor was your coach? He is great fighter too his like Liam Harrison
From what I’ve learned from my coach and other fighters who have fought in Thailand is that they highly recommend not using a tight guard in Muay Thai. The reason why is because the moment you do that is when the other fighter starts using knees, elbows and clinch. I’m not saying a tight guard isn’t needed but from what I’ve heard and seen, there’s more cons to it in Muay Thai than in kickboxing where there are no elbows and a prolonged active clinch.
Yup my trainer always scares me with a vertical elbow once i use the boxing guard. He's right in that it goes right through the gap of the two gloves
People said you can't use head movement in muay Thai and MMA because of high kicks and knees and yet they are used by all of the top tier fighters. In my opinion, the amount of protection that a high guard can provide cannot be replaced by head movement or anything else. You need to have this defense in your arsenal. It's like saying "I don't need calf kicks, I only do round houses and high kicks".
Plus, if you know that you're opponent is gonna use a certain move when you shell up, why not shell up to bait the move and punish them for it?
Totally agree
Yea they do it but crack it open easily, example: ruclips.net/video/IwAOh9g2nH0/видео.htmlsi=dC2NXnKwuJAEl2OO&t=194 ruclips.net/video/IwAOh9g2nH0/видео.htmlsi=XyNU63hTngi5T1fL&t=1420 so I suppose they don't see this guard as any more viable
I'm Thai and I totally agree with this. This comes down to the scoring system in the standard Thai rules that favor strong and aggressive fighters over defensive ones. In MT, fighters are encouraged to hit back after being down for a count rather than turtling and do everything they need to survive the round. Because the spectator (read: gamblers) would see them as throwing away the fight and the odds will be stacked against them. No matter how well they perform after that, there's no going back unless they can score a KO. It's not a coincidence that most, if not all, Thai fighters always stand right up after getting knocked down instead of resting and waiting until the count of 8; unlike most of the fighters. They were trained that way.
I think this will gradually change over time, though. Right now, the standard Thai rules are not popular with the masses anymore and there are new promotions that start to adapt more international rules to make the game more accessible for the masses (read: non- gamblers). ONE Championship is one of the best examples. Even Rajadamnern and Lumpini are gradually changing because they know there are bigger markets than the gamblers and them keep making a scene to influence the judging doesn't help either.
Whenever I've watched Thai fighters I've always wondered why they pop up so quickly from knockdowns instead of taking the count to clear their heads. I get that being tough is a virtue in any combat sports but being smart helps too.
I've seen a few weaknesses, mostly from my first Kru being from Thailand, then going to different gyms when he moved to another state and doing a bit of Dutch, as well as some Muay Thai that's simply been Americanized a bit. Pacing, lack of emphasis on lateral footwork, and lack of creative head movement options were my biggest weaknesses coming from a more Thai style to other, more Westernized training methods. I definitely learned some lateral footwork and head movement, but it wasn't emphasized as much, and the general style we had was in and out of range, with pullbacks like what you showed here. Nowadays, I'm using a lot more head movement and lateral footwork which is great for my size as it allows me to spend more time on the inside since I don't have a long reach.
Hopefully you upload videos? It would be cool to see you use your style.
I think the issue with head movements in Muay Thai is getting caught with a round house to the head when you slip to either side, or a knee up the middle if you do a boxing style squat. Same trickiness in the mma rule set. Having said that, I'm sure there's a balance to be made
@@delusional88 This is the common conception, though in my current gym we've been putting some head movement into practice and we haven't found an issue. Theory vs practice type stuff, just like when Wing Chun fighters say that Boxing and Muay Thai guards are inferior because they don't protect "the centerline" and there's a visible path to the target, but once you get to sparring the theory doesn't always pan out. From our practice, it seems that head movement in kickboxing and Muay Thai can be pretty darn similar to Boxing and safely. Boxers can make punches miss a lot with their head movement. Why wouldn't that be possible with strikes like knees and kicks, which are generally slower than punches? We're making some adaptations to the head movement because the stance is different, but it's working.
@@vicentegeonix Lol you flatter me, but I'm afraid I'm not a fan of being on camera. On top of this, it's my coach that's helping me develop more lateral footwork and head movement, not something I'm out here innovating with. I'm sure there are better people to make videos on it than myself.
@@I_Might_B_Wrong well that's disappointing. Are you planning on fighting?
It's paradox but I think that their massive experience is the weakness. They had so many fights that they are not scared of punches anymore.
Good point. I'd add that one needs to take a lot of punches without being dropped to learn to not be afraid of them and at the same time one needs to be dropped couple of times to learn to respect the punch and to not be overly reckless or cocky, when it comes to getting punched. The latter is, sooner or later, coming up for Rodtang, cause that solid chin is gonna wear off sonner or later with the style he fights in.
@@siegfriedo 100% on Rodtang ... the dude has a granite chin and takes a lot of punishment because he can take it ... but as we've seen over and again, eventually your ability to take a punch to the chin/jaw goes away
yeah as oppose to other fighters who are petrified of punches LOL get a grip man
he got caught with a shot he probably didn't see coming, got rocked and finished, all there is to it, you fight so often with top guys it is bound to happen at some point
@@JackTenrec-qk4zp Thai fighters literally just have a shitty defense and they make a whole thing about it
@@JackTenrec-qk4zp Why are you angry?
Mr. Wong, owner of Fairtex Gym came out recently warning Thai boxers about the increase of foreign fighters beating Thais at their own sport, in their own country. Traditional Muay Thai will never die, but adopting foreign techniques should be encouraged.
I feel like we should petition to send Gabriel out to Thailand to work with some of the greats. The content would be incredible, and they'd be leveling up their much needed tight boxing defense. Win win
The Thais have plenty of world class coaches around them
He spent time in Thailand. Some of his early vids are stories of the experience, worth hearing.
What can losing a single competition indicate? Nong O has lost over 60 fights in Thailand, but he has knocked out his opponents with boxing techniques far more frequently than they have knocked him out.
@The Son of the BattleCry But it seems they still don't teach properly
@mason馬神 Indicates that he should correct some things
Im not a pro and expert in martial art, but I agree with this. I am Thai and trained Muay Thai since I was 12 years old, lived n trained in Muay Thai camp, luckily the camp located in tourist area, so 70% of the student were foreigner, so I get used to sparring with them and plus, I learned and familiar with western boxing style too (from sparring and learn from those foreigner fighter).
Gabriel really made me focus on disciplined, solid defense way more. Everything I drill and practice now always includes making 100% sure I'm staying tight and protected, no matter if it's during offense, combos, on exits etc.
I remember this being highlighted when people found out the only way to beat Buakaw was with the hands, specifically Masato looking for the uppercut under Buakaw’s vampire guard.
To be honest I do feel like most modern thai fighters focus more on offense rather than defense, and that is probably influenced by the amount of gamblers pressuring not only the fighters but the stadiums too. (By favouring the offensive fighters) Buakaw has a very defensive style, and same with most golden era fighters. Thai fighters definitely need to work on more defensive techniques .
Watching the last bit of your video. You are right about their defensive training in Thai gyms. I’m at fairtex gym where saemapetch is . They spar boxing but don’t really work on defensive hand motions like parry’s etc
Walter Mccord
And yet Saemapetch is literally one of the best in the whole world at 145 lbs.
He must be doing something right.
Varga doesn't know what he's talking about, he's a karate fighter nowadays 😂.
He wouldn't last 1 round against those same Thai fighters ( Nong-O and Saemapetch ) that's he's criticizing.
Haggerty meanwhile got crushed by Rodtang twice and only beat Sam-A because Sam-A got a staff infection and Sam-A didn't really belong at Flyweight at all.
Lobo the guy that got send to the shadow realm by Nong-O.
Both Haggerty and Lobo train in Thailand all the time ( Haggerty for this fight ) they won because of training with Thai trainers.
If there's something wrong with Thai training then why are Haggerty or Lobo even here in the first place ?
@@8limbedwarriornakmuay504 I don’t think there’s anything wrong wit Thai training at all. Everybody has holes for sure. Just telling what I see. Saemapetch is definitely a dog, top class. But they don’t really work boxing defense but the long guard and pull back . And Varga was Glory champ bro and he beat Lerdsila. He can fight 😂😂
@@DatboyWalt GLORY ? What a sissy organization.
The same GLORY that Petchpanomrung and Sittichai are master of ?
@@DatboyWalt In GLORY is are the gloves MMA gloves ?
If not the Vargas point is a whole lot of nothing.
Saemapetch and Nong-O lost by KO because of MMA gloves.
Varga couldn't man up and fight under those rules, he's a sissy these days fought in Karate tournament.
The same Saemapetch and Nong-O would KO Varga in round 1, after that we'll see Varga make a video about Canadian style not being suited for MMA gloves 🤣.
@@DatboyWalt He beat an old Lerdsila UNDER Kickboxing rules, he would have lost if it was under Muay Thai rules.
Varga is a sissy he fight Lerdsila who is 0-0 under Kickboxing rules at that time lol.
Exactly my thoughts, they are going in for the kill & the Thai fighters are so conditioned offensively to push the pace (you never see them back peddle even a little) that they regularly get KO instead of buying a little time to recover.
One thing my teacher mentioned after the superbon ko was that a lot of thai fighters really struggle defending combinations especially long combos because they're so used to fighting thais whom tend to throw single shots with lots of power
Exactly.
Agree everything when Gabriel say he teach us affective tips and he is a pro kickboxing 6x champion...Great channel from nowdays Gabriel varga one of my favorite fighter and favorite online coach
The TIE Fighter has 4 main weaknesses
1. No deflector shields
2. Lack of hyperdrive
3. Lack of life support
4. Poor visibility
The X-Wing doesn't have any of these weaknesses while also having the benefit of an onboard Astromech unit and a superior VMax therefore the Alliance to restore the Republic had the edge in confrontations.
6:18 agreed. Most gyms train less defense. Most of the time its "ok class jab, cross, hook and right middle kick" then switch.
I'm of different opinion. Muaythai fighters when they get to a certain stage of success or dominance, they tend to get accustomed to their routine preparation for a fight. When Superbon fought Giorgio Petrosyan, he spent much time in preparation for the fight with trainer Gae. Together they watched Petrosyan's fights and plan the best tactics to defeat Petrosyan. After his fights, I believe that Superbon was illusion into believing that he was in top form, and probably succumb to his usual preparation for the fight against Chingiz Allazov. He also spent much time giving seminars, instead of devoting time and effort, preparing for the fight. Nong O also fell prey to routine fight preparation. There are a few trainers such as kru Gae and the late kru Yodtong Senanan who are expert in grooming fighters for specific opponent. Top muaythai fighters should spend more money investing in these trainers, for each specific fight, particularly against foreign muaythai fighters who are primarily punchers.
Muay Thai doesn't pay shit. Hahaha
@@45lxudmouth27 One Championship entry level make maximum $1.5k per fight, but earn bonus of $50k if got selected for the performance of the night. But if you're at shit level, you get shit purse at temple fight. Heck! students pay to get in smoker fight.
@@45lxudmouth27 Only to fighters at shit level. Heck, some students even pay organizer to fight Smoker. Do search on how much One Championship pay top muaythai fighters+ bonus incentive.
I think also a big part is that muay thai fighters are used to clinching when an opponent swarms them. Correct me if I am wrong but I think in ONE rules the allow very minimal clinch, I think 1 strike only.
Yup, its to attract more western viewers. They know that westerners don't want to see clinching. Its also why ONE doesn't invite many clinchers/muay khao fighters. Otherwise the fights would be 70% clinching like in Rajadamnern and Lumpinee.
This makes me appreciate Rodtang even more
He might not be the most impressive fighter defense wise (man blocks with his chin sometimes 💀)
But his defense is underappreciated in my eyes because he does have good fundamentals, he just gets a bit wild sometimes but he even when he throws combinations, he still has good fundamentals and movement
I think it's overlooked because he's fine taking shots to give shots and pressure his opponents but you don't just win hundreds of fights with no defense at all 😂
One thing I've realised about him is he ditches some of his fundamentals to both entertain and draw opponents in. No one is willing to engage with him if he doesn't present opportunities. He's extremely skilled. And when opponents stand toe to toe with him they tend to get knocked out.
His chin is still insane though he takes huge shots like there nothing
@@doperat9630 he also has an amazing reflex that most people don’t see. Often he moves with the punch, so it looks he gets hit but hey takes the sting out of the punch
he gets hit a lot fighting is about hitting and not getting hit having good chin should be your last result
@@comosediceesoo681 I mean he doesn't do it every time or every round
When he taunts around and lets his opponents hit him, it's definitely his last resort, or his way of drawing his opponent for him to counter
I always watched a lot of Mayweather, Loma, Rigondeaux, and Canelo. All of them have different styles of defense, but all of them are really good at it. Its funny to me that people always mention brain trauma when we talk fighting, and I'm like nah dude, I don't have any. I move my head
Yes head movement is key, many Thai fighters are sitting ducks. Not talking about great elusive fighters like Lerd Sila or Seanchai
Another big complaint that Ive seen is that Thai usually have a stubbornly slower pace esp in the first round. Which is good in some cases, to analyze your opponent for the long game, but is also something that can exploited if one is caught by a precise shot. Foreign fighters usually have a faster or more flexible tempo in the early rounds. This is exactly what happened in Nong-O vs. Haggerty or Buntan vs Wondergirl. The foreign fighter took advantage of the slower pace of the Thai and ended up dominating.
I don't disagree, but Nong O was using that high Dutch guard when he got knocked down but Haggerty still managed to spilt the guard. Can you elaborate on what he could've done more to prevent this? Because Nong O is one of those unique Thai's that likes to keep a high guard to protect shots to the head
It's just a product of the small gloves, the high guard gets split. Petr Yan can mitigate this somewhat by plastering his palms to his forehead and bending over when shots are coming in but it leaves him susceptible to knee strikes and that's one strike you don't want to present opportunities for when fighting a taller fighter like Haggerty. Nong O's safest option was relying on head movement and footwork to be his main line of defense
@@champ1159 True even as somebody who's mastered all the Shell Guard Types I can get my hands on agrees that it's the last line of Defense when no other tools work. Cause you have so many other options Bobbing, Weaving, Ducking, Slipping, Shoulder Roll, Parry, Frame, Trap, etc. These are things a lot of Boxing style users seem to forget a lot when they take a hard shot. To be a true defensive master you need to be calm under the storm to intercept and redirect shots instead of taking them straight up. While it's fine for conditioned Thai's it doesn't work forever.
Nong kept going forward, seems he wanted to fight like Rodtang who beat twice haggerty. Usually he is less careless. Wrong game plan in my opinion.
Watch again, at the last minute he switched to a long guard which is dangerous when youre on the ropes
@@blacksabbath2559 interesting thought. I think you're right.
I think a good way to remedy this weakness is doing hard boxing sparring several rounds back-to-back with lighter-hitting pressure fighters so you get tired and have to defend but don't get too beat up.
Thanks for this video Mr Gabriel
Hey Gabriel can you make a video on "What makes Superlek so good?"
Ive been wondering about this after the last few One events. Thanks so much for providing the answer.
My coach is ALWAYS telling me not to cover tight. He says “No hiding!” every time I try it. He preaches long guard 90 percent of the time. I don’t feel that comfortable in long guard 24/7 though. I utilize tight guard every now and again and if you are smart with it it works. It’s tough to train something when your Coach who runs the floor and the gym is yelling at you not to do something. Even if Gabriel Varga says it’s okay lol I’ve been at this place for 4 years. I’ve had 5 fights and I also work there. So I do what he wants for the most part. But it is sometimes frustrating. Anyone else been in this position?
I would also rely on parrys, catching, hand traps and slips because blocking from a high guards, leavs tons of gaps as if u block a Hook, u ar Open for a kick
Change gyms where the trainer isn't an egomaniac and is open to new techniques/styles/info etc.
Russian fighter are the reason I use the high guard guys like bivol,Beterbiev and Petr yan alawys amazed me with this simple defense nothing to complicated like the Philly shell and high guard works in both mma and boxing
Been training MMA for a year now, there's a guy in my gym who is obsessed with Thai style and believes it to be the ultimate in fighting prowess. Me personally as a guy with fast hands and good reach, when he opens up that wide guard it's like being invited to an all you can eat buffet.
MMA > Muay Thai
@@Seekingtruth-mx3ur Styles are only as good as the fighter using them. A fight is so much more than 🪨 📜 ✂️. How many UFC champs come from pure muai thai backgrounds?
@@Fightingat40We would like to know
@@Fightingat400
I wish you would go to Thailand and let all these Muay Thai fighters know this. I’ve noticed this for 25 years following this sport
Kinda agree, but a big part is also that they get up way too quick. And saying "keep getting knocked out"...thaifighters don't get knocked out THAT often. Great vid as always, thanks ❤
Their greatest weakness is their boxing and their over reliance on kicks for defence rather than good head movements or guard. As a person who travelled and training in Thailand, this is my personal observation.
They even say "If a boxer learns to defend against kicks, they will kill the best MT guys" but they don't put boxing into their training.
I think it has to do with not cutting weight. Haggerty looked visibly bigger than nong o. Thai usually doesn't cut much weight.
They need a lesson from Buakaw when he got rocked in the 1st round and survived and dominated up to the bonus round
Plus, a lot of Thai fighters don't work angles. Their footwork is either straight forward or straight back and often flat footed. I think the Thai's are improving over the last 10 years in this area, but could be much better. I love watching Thai fights, but my friends get sick of me yelling "Move your head", "Spin off", "Don't stand in front of him", "Combinations"... LOL
It's funny you mention that because I'm hardly a combat sports expert and even I picked up that Thai fighters don't work angles. There's not much head movement and they almost never step to the side.
Kinda disagree on the footwork. They are not all flat footed standing in front of you
@@comicsmaster7809 Yeh, I said "often"
thats why Buawkaw did so well as a Thai in k1, he had very good boxing as youve said.
Buakaw developed all his skills in Muay Thai gyms. Not in boxing. He never stepped in a boxing gym.
@@user-cn7wy7xx5kif saenchai trained in boxing I wouldn’t be surprised if Buwkaw did as well
Haggerty jab and went to the ribs made Nong O dropped his left hand to protect his ribs.
Getting his head low and off line making it looks like he's jabbing and going low to the body again but went over and into the jaw. It was well setup by Haggerty.
Great video, thank you Coach
6:17 was the highlight of this entire analysis in my book
Being KO'd happens Boxers are also Knocked Out fighting Kickboxing, Many Boxers who fought Kickboxing lost badly by knockout.
Thanks for all you do, Gabriel.
bro, no one is sitting through a 2 minute ad read
Fantastic stuff as usual, Gabriel. Thank you!
Muay Thai fighters use active high guards, long guards and low guards.
While dutch kickboxers only shell themselves with an static Turtle sheel guard. In muay Thai the guards are more fluid than in kickboxing, and the defense is more well-rounded and practical for bare knuckle or small gloves, they are the best Long guard users and they prefer to rely more on reflexes,like you sayd leaning back using head movement, and using long guards to parry, deflect or catch shots and control limbs.
Bro I'm eating up your content like crazy love when I see a new video dropped love it
I always thought the issue that lacking factor in traditional Thai boxers is the hands. They are hyper focused on legs.
As a person me sota learned from a MMA fighter who favored a tia stance. It seems using your hands outward over and over and over makes it so that even your brain doesnt resort to covering your head with palms flat, because it's been so engrained to keep them outward facing. Just a theory
This narrative comes out whenever a Thai gets knocked out with boxing. There are Thais with great boxing. Kaew, Sittichai, Superbon, Kongnapa, Kompetch etc who are all doing very well in kickboxing. But when a Thai gets knocked out suddenly its a hole with the martial art. Fighters get knocked out all the time, Muay Thai or not
Nong-O knocked out his last 5 contenders (including Saemapetch and Lobo) with boxing combo's and all of a sudden people are acting like he lacks boxing.
Rodtang drops Haggerty with a liver shot no one says anything about boxing.
I think the fact that a few Thai's suffer a loss is made to be such a big deal is what's more telling. Plenty of guys thought they could do the same to Superlek, Tawanchai, Rodtang, Saenchai... most knockouts in 4oz gloves come by way of punches.
@@CptCoatrack Yeah not just that but Superbon KTFOed Petroysan. Is Petroysan now over-rated with suspect defense now? 🤷
@@CptCoatrack in Muay Thai there are fighters with good boxing and fighters with bad boxing. Just like in boxing you have the brawlers and the boxers
Yeah but those Thais that are good with the hands and are more skilled boxers get ko’d a bit less it’s a pretty normal thing that Thais get out worked with boxing and ko’d sometimes because they don’t have their boxing as on point
@@tylerlynch2796 it's not a normal thing, you just hear about it a lot because of the hype whenever a Thai loses to a foreigner
100% !! Shelling up and high guards are common sense but apparently not so commonly implemented.
Great advice coach. I noticed in my gym my boxing defense let's me weather the storm and get close to clinch
Ive only just subscribed to Gabriel Vargas channel and although I only have little experience i think he has sound advice for the beginner and veteran kickboxer. Alot of training varies on the coach but who better than a champion. Great stuff mate 🇬🇧👍
Better to block punches with your hands than your face thats what I say. It''s good to be able to revert to a strong high guard when your buzzed.
TRUTH I tighten this up and no longer had trouble the drill at the end is the best. It not only helps with the muscle memory but the psychology of getting used to operating in the pocket. If you can be calm in the pocket your gravy. The first couple of times I worked that drill was stressful. But once I got used to it it helped all my fighting striking and grappling be cause you know how to pressure without getting lit up.
Can you do a video on kickboxing's lack of popularity compared to mma and boxing.
As a Thai sports fan I agree with your analysis. We lose easily against fighters with good punches.
I find myself always annoyed so many times when Thai boxers don't punch more and if you often watch Thai fighters' fights, you will often find that They usually only use heavy punches and rarely jab punches.
That drill you always mention works wonders and we seldom do it. Thanks for reminding us we need more work on our defence once again
The first and most important weakness of Thai fighters is ... they go easy on first round. So you just have to go all out. Its just that. Nong O and Superbon for example both got knockout on first round. Meanwhile Rodtang who always goes all out ... destroyed Haggerty not just once but twice 🙃
What the anchor may not know is that Thailand is actually one of the world's boxing powerhouses, with numerous world champions in the lower weight classes in WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF. They are not only strong in the fields of Muay Thai and kickboxing
So they shouldn't be so easily exploited in mma or kickboxing
Galaxy and Payakaroon way back in the day, and neither of them was really ATG or top of the food chain in boxing and Sor Ringvasai recently, calling them boxing powerhouses is a stretch
Lol boxing power house? Keep dreaming.
@@JackTenrec-qk4zp
What about Chainoi Worawut? Have you heard of him? I looked it up and Thailand has indeed produced many world boxing champions.
@@vicentegeonixAfter doing some research, I found that Thailand has many top boxers such as Amnat Ruenroeng and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, who have won numerous championships. It can definitely be said that Thailand is a world boxing powerhouse.
can you talk more about haggerty technique? the guy is flawless, his technique is on point
In my thai gym we learn head movement and parrying so i think it is a lot better.
Could you do a video on how to the shell guard when wearing 4oz MMA gloves. Should your hands be opened or closed? How high up should your hands be relative to, say your eyes or ears? How much does the hand position change depending on whether they’re throwing strait punches or hooks/overhands? Thank you!
Look at how Petr Yan does it, that should help
Pretty sure he's made one already
gonna take a wild guess. It's the guard, and that they are encouraged to move forward all the time even if they get bonked the heck out in the face.
I think Tawanchai's boxing is strong, and he has very fast speed."
Rodtang counter this by just having a granite chin lol
few chins survive at the end...
Two Muay Thai fighters get knocked out by two other Muay Thai fighters on Friday and people are making it out to be a hole in Muay Thai. Nong-O dropped most of his competition including Lobo (who also trains in Thailand) with boxing. Haggerty got dropped by Rodtangs body punching too. It's just the nature of 4oz gloves.
Yeah. It's not like boxers came in off the street and did this to Nong-o.
Haggerty has an excellent teep with teep fakes(and elbows) that sets up his boxing.
I’m from Thailand and I wish this video could be shown to the camps
Without seeing the video im gonna say... the abuse of the long guard, the lack of follow up un combos (they use to throw 3 or maximum 4 shots, no more), and the lack of experience against spinning fancy shit haha
Im from ITF Taekwondo and i've been doing Muay Thai for 8 months and they eat spinning kicks like candy.
Yes. The spinning kicks can cause some frustration with muay thai fighters.
I've been seeing a few guys from Thailand training spinning kicks. The evolution is beginning
ONE WORD........ TEEP......... ITF'S BEEN GETTING BRUSHED BY THEM FOR DECADES. WESTERN THAI BOXING MORE DETAIL 2 PUNCHES THAI'S BORN INTO KICKING, WESTERNERS NO. YEAH YOU'LL CATCH THEM OUT AT FIRST WITH SOMETHING UNCONVENTIONAL BUT AFTER THAT BASIC BOXING, LOW KIK, GRAPLE KNESS, CLOSING THE DISTANCE AND ITS THE SAME RESULT FROM BLACK BELT TO WHITE QUICKER THAN YOU CAN SAY OOOOSE!!!. LOL
@@GabrielVargaOfficial Thats terrifying 👀
LMAO. I love it when visiting TKDers visit my Muay Thai gym and spin for spinning shit. One teep in the back and they are on the floor.
As Jack Slack said the only valid reason to spin is to catch someone coming in-otherwise you are exposing your back like Valentina Schevchenko in her last fight.
@Kadarr Do u have videos? i would like to see it
It's interesting Firas Zahabi was saying on one of his podcasts recently that when he trained under Sagat he made him do straight boxing 50% of the time.
Really evident why Rodtang adapted western striking and that is what makes him so dominant, because the thai package with legs and conditioning and endurance came with the territory allready
i think the root of the problem is lack of side to side movement very good at coming forward and going back but you’re just going to end up on the ropes or canvas if that’s all your good at
I get knocked down, but I get up again, You are never gonna keep me down.
Don't the 4oz gloves make it so that it is impossible to shell up? The holes in the guard are unavoidably so large...
Haggerty should have a rematch with Sperlek, and with 4oz gloves, he might have a chance to win.
Not an expert but I totally agree here. I’m not a good boxer but I when I spar with Muay Thai guys my punches are the only thing that can get through when they have a wide guard
I always get hate for this from muy Thai people (whom I respect) when I say most of my training outside of ground game is traditional boxing classes due to the fact that I believe boxing and grappling arts are the two most important bases to have for MMA. I just haven't decided to take more kick boxing classes or muy Thai as my third but I am leaning towards muy Thai as I can't kick too high but I can knee up to a six ft person's chin no problem and have heavy elbows lol
@Anthony DeAngelo Everybody needs the boxing fundamentals, u should train like an amateur boxer for a couple of years, you need to get an amateur license
@@Bartron_Flat_Earth wym? Yeah you need license for MMA from athletic commissions in my state too. I train to box every week but also go to MMA in general. I'm fitting to go on rough and rowdy highly trained but lie so I can take three k off em
That's how Lethwei fighters dominated top thai fighters mostly ( not every fight of course ). With a double KO rule ( due to injury timeout , second chance in lethwei if u got KO , u will be asked weather u want to keep fighting or not , if you are willing , you can have a second chance , so no easy win there ) , lethwei fighter's conditioning are on another level ( no easy win , no early stoppage , knock down counting is super slow ) and they are heavy punchers ( might not as graceful as western boxers or kickboxers ) , but they did KOed many MT fighters. They fought completely bare knuckle in the past , hand wraps were used just 6 decades ago or so. With extensive clinching , throws , wrestling and head butting , lethwei is the closet striking sport u can get similar to street fighting. The only downside is they don't have enough training , equipment , sport diet knowledge and support like thai fighters as Myanmar is under dictatorship ( more than 70 years now , but in 2021 one of the worst military coup happened and millions suffered ) and the whole country is busy fighting with the evil military ( they are in survival mode , fighting for freedom ) , so lethwei fighters are mostly farmers who sometimes test their skill in the ring , only a handful fighters make it to the top level ( even pro lethwei fighters train less than thai fighters and they only train when there are guaranteed upcoming fights ). So these days, there are no full time lethwei fighters left and only part time semi-pro fighters are waiting to get their next fight contract. Imagine if Myanmar was a free country 70 years ago.
I've been thinking about how I can make my body stronger to take body shots. I'm about Ryan Garcia size 5'11, and I float around 136 to 152 a lot. After taking some body shots in the past during training, I realized I needed to make it stronger.
Garcia needs to make his body stronger too lol 😅
Do hill sprints with waited vest and alot of Seated rows and leg raises
Lots of crunches
nothing can condition your rib cage or a liver, if the shot lands in perfect spot that's a wrap
you can turn yourself into a Butterbean and thus become completely immune to a body punch though........
A proper body shot will drop you no matter how hard you try. It's like a shot to the head. It has nothing to do with your toughness.
Great insight!
What was your view of the Haggerdy fight? He was a big underdog but completely destroyed Noon-O.
Who do you think would be favourite in a rematch, or if Haggerdy fought Harrison? Or even Petchtanong or another Rodtang.. ?
Great channel ty!
Haggerty needs to fight Tawanchai..
For those 3 fighters, could be they're just out of their prime and slower to react, age in the 20s is already out of prime for most Thai fighters
Thanks my man
Hey Gabriel I am searching for one of your Bellator fights in which you fought against a southpaw.. knocked him out too i think. Do you know where to find it?
I am training to fight a southpaw, thanks! And awesome video, I personally love all the fighters that got Ko‘d recently, which is why I really got to think about their mistakes 😂
Watch the promotion Thai fight the Thais knock everyone out in the rope wraps.
Very useful content
Great video. How would you nuance this with those 4oz gloves?
Shame all the jockey gym guys have retired. That boxing cross training would be for the 4oz fights. 👌
Although traditional Thai training with cheuk is the same
I also get knocked down, but I get up again, because you're never keep me down.
Same thing happened to Ferrari Fairtex against Reis (I think he got straight flatlined, but he did clearly get hurt before the KO, and his reaction was to try that same long guard)
Shelling up with MMA gloves never really works well
It does work, just gotta use it effectively.
@@Prime_Legend Can it work? Yes. Effectively? Minimally. Not nearly to the degree that boxing gloves work when covering up. It's much easier to sneak shots through.
True. The transition to smaller gloves definitely hurts fighters who avoid boxing offense/defense
@@GabrielVargaOfficial I would even go further and say it hurts fighters that don't take the time to understand the difference with small gloves. Small gloves require you to be a lot more active in your defense than with boxing gloves.
Hey Gabe,
So I like and agree with everything you said here in this video. Although I’d like to share my opinion on the matter and hear what you think.
So in general I always felt that in pure Muay Thai the fact that the hands have gloves, and the elbows knees and shins have no padding, it historically has lead to Muay Thai fighters not always placing such massive emphasis on throwing hand combinations. However when you think about it technically, it IS a very good reason not to. I mean the hands are literally at a disadvantage in that specific format.
But now let’s think of mma. Most knockouts seem to come from punches when compared to other strikes on the feet. Now is that indicative of mma fighters not having good Muay Thai? I personally always felt it’s because this limiting factor in the big gloves is now removed, and the hands are the quickest most accurate way to strike. Statistical Data analysis doesn’t always hold real world proof, but the history of mma knockouts does make a good case that using the first to secure KOs just seems to be the quickest way to victory vs elbows, knee, clinch knees, elbow KOs or cuts via elbow, knee or kick. Infact most submissions that are landed are very often after a fighter is rocked by a punch in the feet or ground.
I am in no way claiming boxing is the automatic superior martial art, I’m just making the case that in a ring with boxing gloves, the less restrictive striking styles always seem to superceed each other (example: kickboxer low kicks boxer, Muay Thai fighter clinches kickboxer) but once it’s small gloves, and a bigger fighting space such as an octagon and a different scoring system that doesn’t take points away for moving back, the whole game changes.
So overall I think my main point is to defend a puncher who’s wearing boxing gloves in the context of Muay Thai by using punch defense, counters and clinches, it’s just not the same as what it takes to defend yourself from those mma gloves and punch heavy style.
I mean heck I feel like the general consensus of people agree the best Muay Thai fighters of all time debates have always been some “muay khao” vs a “muay femur.” Yet in caged Muay Thai in ONE FC you see guys getting dropped with punches left and right. Makes you wonder if punches really are the most objective way to land knockouts in the context of the cage
I have watched the first5s and I know that you are gonna mention lack of tricky hands, distance footwork for hand set-ups and the like. :'D
Great points. I agree with you.
Most guys in martial art forums discredit boxers turns out they have the best defense and can actually take a punch not forgetting switching your lights out
Would love to see you colab with Morning Kombat and Luke Thomas specifically to discuss contemporary striking tendencies, and developments.
this might sound like a fighting sports myth but I do feel like it works. at least it did for me and my friends: we would do training drills where one guy spins around (we would hold a weight plate at the back of our head and neck during spin to save time, the extra weight messes ur sense of balance faster) until they are uncomfortably dizzy and then do light sparring with emphasis on blocking, dodging, defence and strike accuracy in counter shots.
the easier someone found it to avoid hits the harder we would make it by adding one more guy against him and if he could still avoid everything then we would add yet another guy against him. Or get him to spin more on the next round to be even more dizzy.. i remember it working, because the very first times we hard sparred and got rocked we would lose a loooot of our accuracy and sharpness in reflexes, missing shots and catching opposing shots because our sense of depth, direction was messed. and after we were doing these drills it was like we were a looooot more used to ''rocky boat vision/balance'' and with muscle memory and being used to fighting while ''rocked'' we were doing much better overall.
Hello. Could you make a video for some sort of one size fits all striking defense to help grapplers enter the clinch safely? Thank you.
I also agree that they should not stop so many punches with there face. Yes.