Musings: Muaythai Premier League

The Muaythai Premier League has come and gone, since then we have had time to sit down and reflect on their "Stars and Stripes" event and make a few observations. The musings section will occur after Muay Thai events, so we can highlight a few different things regarding the event.

1. Muay Thai fans in California missed a great fight card
Muay Thai in the United States is very regional, for a successful show as far as attendance goes you do not need to bring in world class talent. All you need to do is bring in fighters that will sell tickets for you, which mainly consists of local favorites. It was disappointing to see a fight card stacked with so much talent not sell out. Artem Levin, Nathan Corbett, Buakaw, Julie Kitchen, Nieky Holzken, Marco Pique, and Simon Marcus are some of the best in the world. For them to all be featured on a fight card and it not sell out it insane, the opportunity to see a card stacked with so much talent is rare here in the United States. Yes, the ticket prices were priced a bit high, but people need to understand that it is not cheap to assemble a fight card of this caliber.

2. Baxter Humby keeps on proving "the only limits you have are the ones you put on yourself" Baxter Humby is most recognizable because he fights and only has one arm. Despite that being the first thing that most people notice it shouldn't be. With his amazing knockout of Zidov Dominik he once again proved as he says "the only limits you have are the ones you put on yourself". Humby now looks forward to the possible re-match he wants with Australian legend John Wayne Parr.

3. Simon Marcus is a monster

Simon Marcus is on his way to becoming North America's best fighter. Marcus is a scary, scary fighter, strong, fast, and technical. He has everything needed to dispose of any fighter that stand in front of him. He might not be recognized by most fans in North America, but he is on his way to the top and the fact that he has consistently fought solid international competition seperates him from the pack.

4. The production of an event changes the entire experienceThe Muaythai Premier League has made sure to only present some amazing fights to fans, but it has also made sure to provide quality production. The fights are one thing, but the production of the event, the set up and everything else that goes into making an event happen makes a difference. They did a great job with the production of the event, they made sure to make it feel like it was something amazing which is something that all promotions should strive for.

5. As scary as some of these fighters look in the ring they are the opposite out of it outside the ring

When you see a fighter in the ring viciously knocking someone out your first thought might be that they are a scary person, but that is hardly ever the case. All of the fighters from the Muaythai Premier League were great in and out of the ring. We not only spoke with most of the fighters we also observed them interacting with fans and despite their international status as the worlds elite they were all very approachable and great to talk to. Fans were able to easily approach them and they were more than happy to take pictures, sign autographs or just chat.