Fairtex was once the flagship of Muay Thai at least to the West. Wha hoppen?

[Shaolin Bushido]

I know many of the old fight factories have changed their focus to mainstream marketability be they Gracie Academy, Brazilian Top Team, Chute Boxe, etc ... It's become a less than profitable to focus so much into fighters who more often than not become demanding prima donnas with success or alternately butthurt blame shifters i.e. Ronda Rousey and others.

I know Fairtex has several entities that cater to fans and less than competitive practitioners these days, hotels, resorts, etc .. have they totally withdrawn from the highest levels of competition these days in favor of their high profile ventures these days?

If so, who has taken their place? Or have many camps filled the void created by their company's shift? Any insight is welcome.

 

[tru3f4n]

Philip Wong said a few years ago that once the last batch of fighters like Yodsanklai and Kaew are done they aren't going to be bring up new fighters whatever that means.

 

[JohnMc]

I know many of the old fight factories have changed their focus to mainstream marketability be they Gracie Academy, Brazilian Top Team, Chute Boxe, etc ... It's become a less than profitable to focus so much into fighters who more often than not become demanding prima donnas with success or alternately butthurt blame shifters i.e. Ronda Rousey and others.

I know Fairtex has several entities that cater to fans and less than competitive practitioners these days, hotels, resorts, etc .. have they totally withdrawn from the highest levels of competition these days in favor of their high profile ventures these days?

If so, who has taken their place? Or have many camps filled the void created by their company's shift? Any insight is welcome.

They've been on the decline sine Alex Gong died.

 

[Sanchoy]

I was just at Fairtex a few months ago. They are still seeking new talent and have a lot of young kids training there, however the talent is clearly not yodsanklai, Kaew, jonsanan , attachai level. They recently focused more on the Chinese scene and have a lot of Chinese tourist visitors training there. Since promotions venues in China are gaining steam and will be the future for their brand. Phillip Wong eldest son has taken over the business side of things.

They just remodeled there training area will have a huge mma / cross fit area coming soon. On the state side, they gave up on that location since the Alex gong days.

 

[tru3f4n]

I was just at Fairtex a few months ago. They are still seeking new talent and have a lot of young kids training there, however the talent is clearly not yodsanklai, Kaew, jonsanan , attachai level. They recently focused more on the Chinese scene and have a lot of Chinese tourist visitors training there. Since promotions venues in China are gaining steam and will be the future for their brand. Phillip Wong eldest son has taken over the business side of things.

They just remodeled there training area will have a huge mma / cross fit area coming soon. On the state side, they gave up on that location since the Alex gong days.

After what Cross Fit did to Yod I'd figure they'd hate that. As for the MMA hopefully they will get some decent coachs and get some younger kids training in grappling.

 

[Shaolin Bushido]

After what Cross Fit did to Yod I'd figure they'd hate that. As for the MMA hopefully they will get some decent coachs and get some younger kids training in grappling.

Crossfit had a negative impact on Yodsanklai?

 

[Snubnoze707]

Used to have two Fairtex camps in the Bay Area but they shut down years ago.

They still make awesome gear tho. The Thai Pads are the best, still using mine 10 years later.

 

[oyvindt]

Crossfit had a negative impact on Yodsanklai?

fucked up his knee,stopped for a year,had surgery but was not the same so he retired

 

[Sanchoy]

The vibe at Pattaya fairtex camp is surely different without Kaew or Yod smashing the pads. They are focusing on foreign fighters such as Yohann and recently signed northern Thailand champ fighter Saemetpetch. Many young thai boys training there also. Yodsila is no longer there and he use to be very active on the stadium scene. I hope they turn things around soon.

 

[shincheckin]

I never was a fan of fairtex gear. Fairtex brand is like the "tapout" of muay thai IMO.

I dont know anything about the camp/gym or what their business plans are however after reading through this post, if they became something more like Tiger Muay Thai I wouldnt be surprised.

 

[Snubnoze707]

I never was a fan of fairtex gear. Fairtex brand is like the "tapout" of muay thai IMO.

They've been making gear for a long time. Couldn't disagree more. The Thai Pads, mits, belly pads, kick shields, shin gaurds, everything is top notch.

Not really a fan of the gloves due to the fit though. I prefer Boxing gloves anyways.

 

[shincheckin]

They've been making gear for a long time. Couldn't disagree more. The Thai Pads, mits, belly pads, kick shields, shin gaurds, everything is top notch.

Not really a fan of the gloves due to the fit though. I prefer Boxing gloves anyways.

i know they have been around forever, I just never really liked their gear. We have fairtex pads at the gym they are good quality, I just have never liked fairtex. I will buy twins or topking before i buy fairtex. We mostly use Tocha pads at my gym as our kru is good friends with him. The Tocha pads are actually very nice quality btw. My fav pads to kick.

what i meant by comparing them to "tapout" wasnt the quality of the gear, more like how "fairtex" was the cool thing to have. When in reality they are overpriced and twins and topking make just as good quality. so now fairtex has finally died out, and is not the cool thing to have anymore, much like tapout, thats what I was getting at, not the quality. They are good quality.

I dont like boxing gloves at all, i need the wrist movement. I had some of those twins power ranger looking gloves and gave them away. didnt like not being able to move my wrist.

 

[Snubnoze707]

Well while all the d-bags were rocking Tapout and Affliction I was looking low key in my Fairtex shirt so I can't roll with that but I get what you're saying to a degree, but that's only within the Muay Thai community. Nobody else knew what the hell Fairtex was.

My trainers trained under Alex Gong, Jongsanan, and Bunkerd so I do have bit of a Fairtex bias. They were very important in bringing Muay Thai to the Bay Area.

 

[Snubnoze707]

I dont like boxing gloves at all, i need the wrist movement. I had some of those twins power ranger looking gloves and gave them away. didnt like not being able to move my wrist.

I used Top King for YEARS, made the switch to SABAS SS which are Winning clones and never looked back. In fact, I have more mobility in the SABAS. Quit fucking around and experience top level quality. You may be fighting for a Glory belt next time.

 

[shincheckin]

I used Top King for YEARS, made the switch to SABAS SS which are Winning clones and never looked back. In fact, I have more mobility in the SABAS. Quit fucking around and experience top level quality. You may be fighting for a Glory belt next time.

lol I wish!

I have seen sabas around quite a bit, dont know much about them other than that they are supposed to be good quality.

 

[shincheckin]

Well while all the d-bags were rocking Tapout and Affliction I was looking low key in my Fairtex shirt so I can't roll with that but I get what you're saying to a degree, but that's only within the Muay Thai community. Nobody else knew what the hell Fairtex was.

My trainers trained under Alex Gong, Jongsanan, and Bunkerd so I do have bit of a Fairtex bias. They were very important in bringing Muay Thai to the Bay Area.

tru dat tru dat.

Yeah, no one even knew what muay thai was for so long. Tapout and affliction are the biggest douche ever. No one really wears tapout anymore, and the only people I see wearing affliction are like 50+ white guys that are trying to be cool but a little late..lol.

I actually used to know/train with Tom Atencio, he is the guy or one of the guys that started affliction. Dude was also kinda a douche, I remember he tried to start a fight at the gym with this like 19 yr old gay kid, who was trying to sweep him in the clinch, he got all mad and was like wassup bro i know bjj too, Tom was probably in his 30's at the time. I thought that was lame. He was also never very friendly to me so maybe I am biased...lol

 

[warmaster86]

They now focused more on business than the competition side.

They are now more like a sports brand than a fight camp now.

 

[Sanchoy]

Yes, Fairtex brand is over-priced for sure. Even in their shop in Thailand most items were expensive compared to top-king and others. I was thinking the price will be cheaper in Thailand to my disappointment its almost the same just a tad lower than amazon or ebay.The glove feels clunky. Their thai pads are nice though. They are marketing towards mma more now a days and have overpriced rash guards and mma style shorts.

this year Fairtex signed an exclusive deal with American promoter Lionfight, and supplies all the gear for the lion fight shows. Fairtex used to be a reputable gym back in the early 90's and resurged when Kaew and Yodsanklai rose up. Recently, there younger fighters are not getting the recognition at all. Fairtex in Pattaya is almost the same as Tiger in Phuket, with less mma fighters.

 

[agibmxmma]

I was just at Fairtex a few months ago. They are still seeking new talent and have a lot of young kids training there, however the talent is clearly not yodsanklai, Kaew, jonsanan , attachai level. They recently focused more on the Chinese scene and have a lot of Chinese tourist visitors training there. Since promotions venues in China are gaining steam and will be the future for their brand. Phillip Wong eldest son has taken over the business side of things.

They just remodeled there training area will have a huge mma / cross fit area coming soon. On the state side, they gave up on that location since the Alex gong days.

All the AZ and SF Fairtex guys are at mma gyms in the Bay Area, of not back in Thailand.. Fight and Fitness, El Nino, Pacific Ring, KOA, CSA, TAM, Diaz Academy, etc etc.. and some are still fighting thai boxing and kickboxing. Bunkerds son Boi (Roy) is still my head mma coach and kickboxing trainer.

 

[agibmxmma]

Well while all the d-bags were rocking Tapout and Affliction I was looking low key in my Fairtex shirt so I can't roll with that but I get what you're saying to a degree, but that's only within the Muay Thai community. Nobody else knew what the hell Fairtex was.

My trainers trained under Alex Gong, Jongsanan, and Bunkerd so I do have bit of a Fairtex bias. They were very important in bringing Muay Thai to the Bay Area.

Did you ever train at Fairtex SF? If so, when? We def know each other if you trained there or your trainers trained there.. who are your trainers? Bunkerd was my first Thai trainer.. so you remember Faber, Cariaso, Castillo, Irvin, Munoz, Diaz bros, etc etc.. training there and Jake plus Gil teaching grappling classes there and kids classes?