Dorian Price spent a year living in Thailand hoping that fighting and training in the Muay Thai mecca would help him not only progress as a fighter, but give him enough clout to be able to return to the U.S. and get fights in his home country. When Dorian returned to the U.S. in 2012 things were everything but what he had hoped. Not really located near any of the major promotions Dorian turned to training others while back in his home country. With over a year having passed by and still not able to get a fight in the U.S. Dorian decided to go back to Thailand and stay busy fighting over there, he was offered boarding by Sitmonchai gym. Dorian wasn’t going back to pay to train at Sitmonchai and take the occasional fight, he was going back as member of the gym fight team. They would let Dorian stay at Sitmonchai and he would fight as Dorian Sitmonchai in return.
“I have been nomadic during my career, fighting here and there training in one coast for a period of time then leaving. I know that a lot of promoters want the fighters to do there jobs and sell tickets. So maybe because I don't have a huge fan base in anyone place that it might scare them off cause I won’t sell tickets” said Dorian. “Or maybe they think I suck. LOL. Whatever the case is I get a lot of respect in Thailand and rest of Asia. So I guess I will continue to make my bones on this side of the world till the day comes that I am given another opportunity to fight on US soil.”
At this very moment you might be asking yourself why the name Dorian Price sounds familiar, you might even be jumping on google to look him up. Well if you aren’t a Muay Thai aficionado and the name sounds familiar it is probably because of The Ultimate Fighter. Dorian was one of the fighters that competed on the sixth installment of the UFC series, however, for Dorian MMA was not his passion. Muay Thai was where his competitive fire burned thus he decided to submerge himself in the art form by moving to Thailand. It’s a completely different world, no sponsors and no big pay days. You fight because you love to fight. Dorian constantly looks for sponsors to help pad the few hundred dollars he gets from fighting but finding a sponsor in Muay Thai that will pay you is like trying to find Big Foot.
“Yeah a lot of people recognize me from the camera man incident on the show. I enjoyed the experience of TUF and the UFC but my heart was never into MMA” said Dorian. “It’s amazing I made it as far as I did in the sport without really having a passion for it. I love Muay Thai it is the first martial art that I have done and it is my drug of choice. I am an addict since 1998 and without it I go through withdrawls. Plus life is about following your passion.”
Since returning to Thailand Dorian has gone 3-0 with all of his fights coming by stoppage. His most recent win was an impressive elbow knockout against Nuengtorani Mor.Rajabhatchaiphum at Lumpinee Stadium. As he has become accustomed too in Thailand, Dorian has taken fights with only two weeks rest. He has been in Thailand for almost two months and has already fought three times. His next test will come this weekend, once again at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.
Aside from looking to continue building his profile as a fighter and becoming the best fighter he can, Dorian is has his target locked on one man. During his last stay in Thailand Dorian spent four months in Malaysia and he was set to fight against Malaysian powerhouse Faizal Bin Ramli, but for one reason or another the fight never materialized. Dorian feels Faizal backed out and he wants his time in the ring against Faizal. A win against a fighter such as Faizal would be gigantic boost to Dorian’s career.
“I'd still be interested in that fight. Where i'm from you just can’t call a man out and then change your mind. They call him the golden elbow so since he took that one i've decided to call myself the rusty elbow” said Dorian. “Honestly I'm not sure why the fight never happened I was in Malaysia for 4 months and still couldn't get that fight to happen. He is good fighter. They would need to bring a lot of thread to that one cause for sure there would be cuts galore in that one.”
How long this tenure in Thailand will last for Dorian no one knows not even himself. As he mentioned before he feels he has been nomadic with his training. It could last a few months it could last a few years, but you can be assured that it doesn’t matter how long he stays he will be looking to leave his mark.
