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I've started a weekly recap of stadium Muay Thai fights that I thought might be of interest here.
Praewprao vs Phetrung (Rajadamnern 115lb Title)
Praewprao Petchyindee is one of the most exciting fighters in Muay Thai right now. An aggressive southpaw, Praewprao can put heat on his opponents moving forwards and backwards. He’s a versatile combination striker who enjoys walking his man down and battering them with kicks, punches, elbows, and knees in combination on the open-side. He’s also adept at hitting in transition, using his combinations to take him into the clinch where he looks for big elbows and knees.
A former Rajadamnern champion at 108lbs, Praewprao was 7-2 in his last 9, with one of those losses being immediately avenged. Praewprao has been fighting at 115lbs for the past couple years and this fight was his first title shot at the weight.
Phetrong Sitkhrunoth is a powerful outside kicker with sharp clinch elbows. He was 2-1 on the year coming into this fight, and he ended 2022 with two brutal elbow knockouts in a row.
Praewprao and Phetrung didn’t observe the usual feeling out process and instead got started early in the first round. Both fighters worked with hard kicks, Phetrung pairing an outside leg kick with powerful rear-leg body and head kicks, while Praewprao hunted the open-side body kick.
Both fighters were throwing exceptionally hard kicks. The stadium audio tends to be pretty poor on these broadcasts, but you could still hear a lot of the kicks rattling off the body or forearms.
In the second round, Praewprao looked to retreat and lead Phetrung into kicks, finding spots to clinch reactively and land elbows. Phetrung chased with his rear kick, looking to cut Praewprao off and herd him into the kick.
Praewprao would look to catch collar ties out of his long guard as Phetrung advanced or strike into them, setting up big elbows. Note how he angles out while lining up the elbow. If you can position yourself on the inside so you’re looking at an opponent’s ear, you have a bigger target to elbow, while they aren’t properly lined up to block or hit back.
Praewprao started using a “Thai Hop” to close distance on the longer man, picking up his lead leg and hopping in behind his attack. By hopping in with the lead-leg raised, not only is it threatening an attack off your lead leg, but it gives you a measure of protection against kicks and knees which would otherwise be wide open when covering so much distance.
Phetrung quickly picked up the timing on Praewprao’s hop and started countering it with stabbing elbows as his attack came. Praewprao had a clever adjustment in turn, however:
Anticipating the counter elbow that kept following his hops, Praewprao began blocking it proactively and pushing forward into his own elbow or a clinch exchange. Note the structure of Praewprao’s blocks here - a standard double forearm guard is easily split by the vertical elbows Phetrung was throwing, but by crossing the forearms over the head or “answering the phone” while the elbowing arm is outside, he covers more surface area on the elbow’s trajectory.
After three rounds, Phetrung was down and needed a big fourth round to swing the fight back in his favor. He pressured more aggressively, but that only lead him right into Praewprao’s wheelhouse. As he advanced, Praewprao would pivot to the open side and turn him into devastating counters.
This is excellent footwork and positioning from Praewprao. He pivots with every attack he makes, which leaves Phetrung playing catch up the whole time, having to turn to face Praewprao to return. After a couple of these sequences, Praewprao gets the Thai Hop going again. He pounds the body with a left hand and a knee that he converts into a collar tie, setting up a devastating elbow.
After dropping Phetrung, the finish was imminent. Praewprao went to work battering him with knees and elbows. Phetrung maintained his aggression as he needed multiple big moments to have a chance, but it only made Praewprao’s shots even more damaging.
The finish came as Phetrung tried to pressure into the clinch. Praewprao framed his head away, causing Phetrung to give him the push reaction he was looking for. Praewprao needed only collapse the frame and let Phetrung’s momentum run him onto a huge, fight-ending elbow.
Continued Here
Praewprao vs Phetrung (Rajadamnern 115lb Title)
Praewprao Petchyindee is one of the most exciting fighters in Muay Thai right now. An aggressive southpaw, Praewprao can put heat on his opponents moving forwards and backwards. He’s a versatile combination striker who enjoys walking his man down and battering them with kicks, punches, elbows, and knees in combination on the open-side. He’s also adept at hitting in transition, using his combinations to take him into the clinch where he looks for big elbows and knees.
A former Rajadamnern champion at 108lbs, Praewprao was 7-2 in his last 9, with one of those losses being immediately avenged. Praewprao has been fighting at 115lbs for the past couple years and this fight was his first title shot at the weight.
Phetrong Sitkhrunoth is a powerful outside kicker with sharp clinch elbows. He was 2-1 on the year coming into this fight, and he ended 2022 with two brutal elbow knockouts in a row.
Praewprao and Phetrung didn’t observe the usual feeling out process and instead got started early in the first round. Both fighters worked with hard kicks, Phetrung pairing an outside leg kick with powerful rear-leg body and head kicks, while Praewprao hunted the open-side body kick.
Both fighters were throwing exceptionally hard kicks. The stadium audio tends to be pretty poor on these broadcasts, but you could still hear a lot of the kicks rattling off the body or forearms.
In the second round, Praewprao looked to retreat and lead Phetrung into kicks, finding spots to clinch reactively and land elbows. Phetrung chased with his rear kick, looking to cut Praewprao off and herd him into the kick.
Praewprao would look to catch collar ties out of his long guard as Phetrung advanced or strike into them, setting up big elbows. Note how he angles out while lining up the elbow. If you can position yourself on the inside so you’re looking at an opponent’s ear, you have a bigger target to elbow, while they aren’t properly lined up to block or hit back.
Praewprao started using a “Thai Hop” to close distance on the longer man, picking up his lead leg and hopping in behind his attack. By hopping in with the lead-leg raised, not only is it threatening an attack off your lead leg, but it gives you a measure of protection against kicks and knees which would otherwise be wide open when covering so much distance.
Phetrung quickly picked up the timing on Praewprao’s hop and started countering it with stabbing elbows as his attack came. Praewprao had a clever adjustment in turn, however:
Anticipating the counter elbow that kept following his hops, Praewprao began blocking it proactively and pushing forward into his own elbow or a clinch exchange. Note the structure of Praewprao’s blocks here - a standard double forearm guard is easily split by the vertical elbows Phetrung was throwing, but by crossing the forearms over the head or “answering the phone” while the elbowing arm is outside, he covers more surface area on the elbow’s trajectory.
After three rounds, Phetrung was down and needed a big fourth round to swing the fight back in his favor. He pressured more aggressively, but that only lead him right into Praewprao’s wheelhouse. As he advanced, Praewprao would pivot to the open side and turn him into devastating counters.
This is excellent footwork and positioning from Praewprao. He pivots with every attack he makes, which leaves Phetrung playing catch up the whole time, having to turn to face Praewprao to return. After a couple of these sequences, Praewprao gets the Thai Hop going again. He pounds the body with a left hand and a knee that he converts into a collar tie, setting up a devastating elbow.
After dropping Phetrung, the finish was imminent. Praewprao went to work battering him with knees and elbows. Phetrung maintained his aggression as he needed multiple big moments to have a chance, but it only made Praewprao’s shots even more damaging.
The finish came as Phetrung tried to pressure into the clinch. Praewprao framed his head away, causing Phetrung to give him the push reaction he was looking for. Praewprao needed only collapse the frame and let Phetrung’s momentum run him onto a huge, fight-ending elbow.
Continued Here