2013 Muay Thai Authority Awards

2013 was another big year for Muay Thai and Kickboxing in North America. With the final events of the year officially over it’s time for the 2013 Muay Thai Authority Awards. In our effort to continue to push Muay Thai and Kickboxing in North America, we have decided to once again recognize the North American Fighter of the Year (male and female), Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Trainer of the Year, and Rookie of the Year.

The criteria for the awards are as follows: Recipients of Fighter of the Year, Breakthrough Fighter of the year, and Rookie of the Year, must be based in North America. To be eligible for Rookie of the Year, the fighter must not have had a pro fight before November 1st, 2012 (the time frame for the award is 14 months). For the Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year, the fights needed to have taken place on North American soil (a North American fighter scoring a KO in Thailand doesn’t count).

Here are the 2013 Muay Thai Authority Award winners:

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American Male Fighter of the Year: Simon Marcus
Repeating as the Male Fighter of the Year, 2013 was another big year for Simon Marcus. He continued his busy pace with eight fights on the year, two more than 2012. His biggest win of the year came against Artem Levin at Lion Fight 9; the win cemented Simon as the number one light heavyweight in the world. He added big wins over Dmitry Valent, Damian Bujan, and Suriya Prasarthinphimai. He ended the year 7-0-1 with the draw being very controversial in a fight many believe Simon won. His clinch game is as good as they come and he has made habit of exposing his opponents short comings in the clinch, in addition he has a never back down attitude and is willing to slug it out when necessary.

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American Female Fighter of the Year: Tiffany Van Soest
Van Soest is easily the most recognized female striker in North America. She went 4-0 in 2013 and passed every test put in front of her which has led to criticism from fans that they want to see her face stiffer opposition. The fact is Van Soest scored some wins over solid names in the female striking scene. Alexis Rufus was set to be a difficult fight to start the year and Van Soest knocked her out, then Lucy Payne was supposed to be the one to dethrone the “Time Bomb” and Van Soest knocked her out too. Yea she had a pair of fights where she was clearly on a completely different level than her opponents, but in the fights where she was supposed to finally lose and be exposed she didn’t just come away with wins she came away with dominant wins letting anyone with doubts about her skills know she is the real deal.

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Joseph Valtellini
Fight fans began to get a glimpse of Valtellini late in 2012, but it wasn’t until signing with Glory in early 2013 that the world got to see exactly what “Bazooka” could do. He quickly became a fan favorite because of his exciting style. Great combos, thudding leg kicks, and stoppages galore Valtellini made his presence felt. His year might not have ended as he had planned after losing to Nieky Holzken in the Glory Welterweight Tournament Final, but after going 4-1 on the year it is safe to say Joseph Valtellini has arrived.

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American KO of the Year: Jason Andrada
Elbow knockouts are as exciting as they come. Countering your opponent with a perfectly timed elbow in the middle of a flurry of punches he is throwing is even more exciting and that is exactly what Jason Andrada did at Lion Fight 12. In the final round of his bout with Mohammed Lemjerdine he was backed against the ropes and as Mohammed began to unleash a flurry of punches Jason countered perfectly with the fight ending elbow. Mohammed went crashing to the canvas and it was over. It is safe to say that Jason’s power levels were over 9,000 (if you are a Jason Andrada fan you will get that statement).

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American Fight of the Year: Liam Tarrant vs. Deshawn Robinson
One fighter coming in to knock his opponents head off and the other fighter having the heart and determination to survive and continue to fight are the perfect ingredients for fight of the year. Liam Tarrant and Deshawn Robinson met at the Friday Night Fights 2013 Season Opener in January of 2013 in a fight that was a roller coaster ride. Tarrant survived two knockdowns in the opening fame to fight his way back and take a majority decision on the judges’ score cards. Unfortunately most fight fans were unable to see the fight, but it was as crazy as they come. Tarrant stood victorious and in addition of surviving the two early knockdowns Tarrant had a dent the size of a baseball on his forehead. It was definitely a sight to behold as a he fought his way through the adversity and came out on top.

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American Trainer of the Year: Alex Palma
Alex Palma might not be known by many outside his circle, but he is the man who trains Tiffany Van Soest. Not one looking for attention he simply gets the job done and he does it well. Representing Blue Ocean Muay Thai in San Diego he has built a solid program out there and continues to train Van Soest to reach the top. His game plans, his in fight adjustments and his everyday coaching are the perfect complement to Van Soest’s skill and athleticism.
 

2013 Muay Thai Authority North American Rookie of the Year: Jason Andrada
Andrada has gone 4-0 since turning pro this year. Three of his four wins have come via stoppage and his exciting fight style has made him a fan favorite. It doesn’t seem Andrada seems to know how to move backwards because all he does is push forward and engage, so far it has paid off for him. His biggest win of the year easily came when he knocked out Mohammed Lemjerdine at Lion Fight 12 with a beautifully timed elbow. Lemjerdine has been considered one of the east coast’s top fighters for quite some time and Andrada looked great in their bout. It will definitely be exciting to see what Andrada continues to do in the ring in 2014.

2012 Muay Thai Authority Awards

2012 was another solid year for Muay Thai in North America. With the year complete it’s time for the 2012 Muay Thai Authority Awards. In our effort to continue to push Muay Thai in North America, we have decided to once again recognize the North American Fighter of the Year (male and female), Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Trainer of the Year, and Rookie of the Year.

The criteria for the awards are as follows: Recipients of Fighter of the Year, Breakthrough Fighter of the year, and Rookie of the Year, must be based in North America. To be eligible for Rookie of the Year, the fighter must not have had a pro fight before November 1st, 2011 (the time frame for the award is 14 months). For the Fight of the Year and Knockout of the Year, the fights needed to have taken place on North American soil (a North American fighter scoring a KO in Thailand doesn’t count).

Here are the 2012 Muay Thai Authority Award winners:
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American Male Fighter of the Year: Simon Marcus
Simon Marcus established himself as a North American favorite this year. He went 6-0 on the year and was involved in fights not only in North America, but internationally. Simon’s 2012 campaign started off with a winner take all fight in February at Lion Fight Promotions “Battle in the Desert 5” against Joe Schilling. There was a lot of hype leading up to the fight, which he won by (T)KO. He followed up the victory with a win in Thailand over Kaoklai Kaennorsing for the WMPF Light Heavyweight World Title and then a few weeks later scored two victories in one night at Qianjiang World Muay Thai King Challenge in China. In May he defeated Schilling by Majority Decision in a re-match at Lion Fight Muay Thai 6 and then, after taking a few months off, returned to action in December at Muay Thai In America's “In Honor of the King," scoring a third round knockout over Sadibou Sy to end the year.
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American Female Fighter of the Year: Miriam Nakamoto
Nakamoto fought Muay Thai only twice in 2012, but the fights she was involved in were important for women’s Muay Thai. She wins the award for the second time in three years. In April she defeated Sandra Bastian by (T)KO at Legends Muay Thai Championship in San Francisco to become the first person (male or female) to simultaneously hold a WBC Muay Thai and WMC world title. In August she defeated Julie Kitchen under the WCK Muay Thai banner in what was easily the most anticipated fight in women’s Muay Thai history. Nakamoto walked away with a unanimous decision victory after a grueling five round fight.
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: Tiffany Van Soest
Tiffany Van Soest has made her presence felt in the women’s Muay Thai scene in the last year. Van Soest turned pro in October of 2011 and didn’t look back in 2012. She started the year off by defeating Vivian Leung at Lion Fight Promotions “Battle in the Desert 5” by unanimous decision. She then scored another unanimous decision victory over Heidi Otterbein at Lion Fight Muay Thai 6. In August, Tiffany fought to a controversial draw against Jemyma Betrian under the WCK Muay Thai banner in a fight many thought she won. She ended the year with a big win in October at Lion Fight 7 when she defeated Jeri Sitzes for the WBC Muay Thai 122 lb. International Title.
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American KO of the Year: Eddie Walker
Not many fight fans outside of Georgia were aware of who Eddie Walker was, going into his fight with Joe Schilling at Lion Fight 7; but his come from behind knockout victory over Schilling would make every one aware of the man they call “Showtime.” Walker endured two knockdowns in his fight with Joe Schilling before rallying from behind and connecting with a short right-hand that sent Schilling out cold in the second round. Not only was it a vicious knockout, but a thrilling one that couldn’t have been scripted any better for Hollywood.
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American Fight of the Year: Thanit Watthanaya vs. Andy Howson
You couldn’t find a more exciting fight in 2012 than the scrap that went down between Thanit Watthanaya and Andy Howson at Muay Thai in America's “In Honor of the King” on December 1st. After a close first round, Watthanaya scored a knockdown of Howson in the second round, but Howson would come back to score knockdowns of his own in the third and fourth. In the fifth round it seemed that Howson was getting the better of the exchanges but with a swift right hand from Watthanaya the bout ended. Howson tried to get back to his feet but stumbled before the referee stepped in to stop the fight. You can’t ask for more back and fourth action than what Watthanaya and Howson provided for the fans.
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American Trainer of the Year: Ajahn Suchart Yodkerepauprai
Ajahn Suchart wins the award for the second year in a row. Ajahn Suchart teaches out of Siam No. 1 in Toronto, Canada. In 2011 he made noise with two of North America’s top fighters coming into their own, Matt Embree and Simon Marcus. In 2012 Marcus and Embree continued to help Suchart establish himself as one of the best trainers in the North American Muay Thai scene. Embree and Marcus went a combined 9-1 in 2012. In addition to Marcus and Embree, Ajahn Suchart trains some very talented amateur fighters as well as fighters just starting off their pro careers. It’s not easy to train high caliber fighters; if it was, every gym in North America would have one. Having two active fighters currently who are considered among the best in North America is very impressive.
 

2012 Muay Thai Authority North American Rookie of the Year: Troy Sheridan
Sheridan went 5-1 in his rookie campaign. He made his pro debut with a (T)KO victory over Anthony Ford at the 2012 Friday Night Fights season opener. The Team Ultimate fighter then followed up his first pro win with a (T)KO victory over Ken Tran in the opening round of the 160lb Journey Fight Series tournament. In September he won the Battle of the Pros 8-man one night tournament, which included victories over Peter Kaljevic, Deshawn Robinson, and Villi Bello. Troy dropped a decision in his last fight of the year against Shane Campbell. Despite the decision loss to Campbell, he showed his true grit and toughness in the five round war.