USA vs. UK

With all of the excitement after Team America defeated Team Thailand at this past weekends M-One event in Los Angeles, the talks have now shifted to Team USA vs. Team UK. We have to give a disclaimer that none of the bouts listed are happening as of yet and that this is just our minds at work here at Muay Thai Authority, nothing is officially happening yet with any of these bouts.

If there were a Team USA vs. Team UK event, what would the match-ups be? We compiled what we think would be ten great match-ups pitting some of the best from the USA against some of the best from the UK. Below is a list of the fights that we feel would make one amazing USA vs. UK Muay Thai event.

Joe Schilling vs. Steven Wakeling
Schilling's preferred fight weight is at 168lbs, the current WBC Muay Thai world champion at that weight just happens to be the UK's Steven Wakeling. In January of this year Wakeling won his WBC Muay Thai title, but has yet to defend it. Schilling has stated he doesn't like interim titles and realistically a bout with Artem Levin seems very unlikely right now that he is fighting for the MPL. Schilling vs. Wakeling for the WBC Muay Thai super middleweight title makes the most sense. Schilling prefers to fight at 168lbs, Wakeling is the champion and needs to defend his title and with the talks of USA vs. UK heating up a title fight without the interim tag is perfect. Schilling's aggression and power vs. Weakling's technique and power, not much more needs to be said about that.

Kevin Ross vs. Liam Harrison
Ross and Harrison have both fought Saenchai and Sakkedao with neither being able to beat the Thai's. A fight between Ross and Harrison makes the most sense as they are basically neck and neck as far as skill level. Both fighters look to entertain the crowd and their styles are fairly similar, this bout would likely be a back and forth affair.

Romie Adanza vs. Andy Howson 2
Howson and Adanza fought back in 2010 at "Muay Thai in America" and Adanza took home a very close split decision. The two fighters went at each other for five rounds and it was clear Howson was not happy with the decision and felt he should have been declared the winner. Howson announced his retirement not too long ago, but it seems he is now ready to return to action. With Adanza's stock being higher than ever right now, a re-match with Howson would make sense as it would give Adanza the opportunity to try and silence anyone that criticizes his previous win over Howson. It is a safe assumption that Howson would welcome this fight with open arms.

Ky Hollenbeck vs. Jordan Watson 2
It might be a bit premature with them just having fought a month ago, but the fact is that despite Ky Hollenbeck earning a unanimous decision victory over Watson enough noise was made by Watson and his teammates that it somewhat marred the victory for Hollenbeck. A re-match is more than fitting to close the issue on this, plus these are two of the best 160lb fighters in the world and nothing bad could come from them fighting again, it will simply create more excitement for the fans.

Jose Palacios vs. Andy Thrasher
Andy Thrasher is a veteran Muay Thai fighter from the UK and won the Toyota Cup this past September to the surprise of many. Thrasher is as tough as they come and a fight against the up and coming Jose Palacios would be the perfect fit. Can the cagy veteran (Thrasher) tame the young lion (Palacios)? It would be an exciting fight as Palacios has proven to have fight ending power as well as ring savvy, he can end a fight in one round or out work you and out score you for five rounds.

Miriam Nakamoto vs. Julie Kitchen
One of the most obvious must happen fights at some point is Nakamoto vs. Kitchen. The two were set to meet in December of 2010, but an injury to Kitchen prevented the fight from happening, then it seemed both would collide at some point as part of the MPL and an injury to Nakamoto put a halt to those plans. Nakamoto's strength and power vs. Kitchen's finesse and technique, the real winners if this happens are the fans.

Chaz Mulkey vs. Richard Fenwick
Mulkey is starting to establish himself as one of the top American Muay Thai fighters, Fenwick is on of the top fighters at the 154lb weight class from the UK. Both fighters are technical and have a similar style, that should provide some great back and forth action.

Michael Mananquil vs. Michael Dicks
Dicks is shown he has what it takes to hang with tough opposition and Mananquil is one of the legitimate fighters the USA has at the 147lb weight class. Both have fought some tough opposition in the past including Sudsakorn for Mananquil and Tim Thomas and Andrei Kulebin for Michael Dicks. Mananquil likes to keep a high work rate while Dicks likes to pick his shots and has proven to be pretty accurate. An interesting match if it were to ever happen.

Anthony Nieves vs. Michael Wakeling
Michael Wakeling, the brother of Steven Wakeling is a very talented fighter as well. He he is a bit more aggressive than Steven, but like Steven is highly skilled and can finish a fight or just beat you up for five rounds. Nieves is a young talented and aggressive fighter from Atlanta, GA who make sure he puts on a show for the fans. Both of these guys would likely move forward, meet in the middle of the ring and exchange nothing but vicious blows until someones lights were turned out.

Chike Lindsay vs. Craig Jose

Atlanta's Lindsay is one of the top American super welterweights, he is technical and strong. Jose has tangled with some of the best in Europe and has proven he has the skills to contend with highly skilled opponents. He is a WMC MAD title holder and Lindsay is a WBC Muay Thai international title holder, this clash would be nothing but excitement through and through.