It’s 10:30pm at a small gym in Bangkok.
A lone figure is finishing up his last set of exercises before retiring to bed. The four-hour session has left him bruised, yet hungry for more.
It was the second session of the day, a light load compared to his usual routine of up to four workouts. Getting punched in the face and letting his arms become accordions all day is just part of being a professional MMA fighter.
At 24-years-old, Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai is the face of Thailand in the mixed martial arts world. His four-fight professional career has seen two wins in the Bangkok-based promotion Dare Fight Sports. He defeated the Panjabutra brothers decisively.
This led to a contract with Asia’s biggest MMA promotion, ONE Fighting Championships.
In a country that refuses to sanction cage fighting, Wiratchai is one of a handful of Thai pioneers. Along with other Thai MMA fighters, Yodsanon Sityodtong, Rambaa Somdet, and Ngoo Ditty, Wiratchai is hoping to open more eyes to the sport in his home country.
“Always one of my goals is to make a good amateur level in Thailand, to make a good base of MMA here,” he says, “To change the vision that Thai people have of a fighter. I want to show that MMA is the way of the specialist, of the artist, to fight like a man and not just in one way. Fighter should be a hero, not a machine or a toy for a rich guy.”
As the national sport of Thailand, Muay Thai is one of the most brutal martial arts in the world. Wiratchai is different from your standard Thai fighter in that he lacks any professional Muay Thai experience and has only been training that aspect of his game for about four years – a far cry from the usual Thai fighter who would typically start training at 13.
“I was bullied in school, so I asked my mom to learn a martial art like Muay Thai – she really, really did not like that. So I train Judo in a local school and fell in love with it. I was eight.” Wiratchai says.
Instead of the Art of Eight Limbs (Muay Thai’s more poetic moniker) Wiratchai learned the Art of Throws and is nearly at black belt level. He studies grappling in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is also a specialist in a Chinese martial art called Baguazhang. Muay Thai did not come into his life until he was 20-years-old, very late in the eyes of professional Thai boxing.
“When I first did Muay Thai, I caught the leg and threw my opponent but his kick really hurt,” he says, “I fought in NAKSU, the amateur MMA tournament here at the time, and lost to Muay Thai striking. From there, I knew I had to learn Muay Thai.”
His two fights for ONE FC have been a mixed bag. The first saw him take on American veteran Mitch Chilson. Wiratchai originally won the fight with a soccer kick to the head (a rule that sets them apart from the UFC, which bans all kicks to the head). The win was later overturned on a technicality that forced the promotion to clarify their rules on soccer kicks to the head.
“ONE FC officials have decided that Wiratchai landed an illegal leg kick to a grounded Chilson in round two, and referee Moritaka Oshiro incorrectl stopped the fight as he determined at that point that Chilson could not properly defend himself,” an official statement read.
The decision to overturn the win into a “No Contest” disappointed Wiratchai, who was an underdog heading into that fight. He vowed his next bout would go differently – but things did not go as planned.
The back-and-forth battle between Wiratchai and Pakistan’s Bashir Ahmad saw the Thai lose a decision for the very first time, dropping his record to 2-1. No biggie, he says, the loss taught him what he needs to work on: striking, striking, striking.
In fact, he is even considering fighting a professional Muay Thai fight in order to work on his striking in a combat setting.
“It’s just something I think about and would not mind doing,” he says, “Many Muay Thai fighters that I talk to want to do MMA. In Buakaw’s camp, he’s got guys who want to fight MMA and many of them believe takedowns will open their opponent up to knee strikes.”
Wiratchai is an anomaly in Thailand. A professional fighter with no Muay Thai experience and a background in throwing people. Stuck between a national sport that is, for the most part, dictated by gambling and the machinations a governing body that refuses to sanction the new school in the name of “national identity.”
The fact that Muay Thai fighters in the both Rajadamnern and Lumpinee stadium, two prestigious halls of the sport that take years to fight your way into, are paid less than professional MMA fighters still in their first ten fights says a lot. The money is out there for Thai’s that can strike and train enough grappling to avoid submissions.
At the moment, Phuket is home to several MMA gyms that hosts top level training and is a frequent stopover for well-known fighters from the UFC, M-1 Global, Invicta, and other big-time promotions. Wiratchai believes that MMA in Thailand can only survive if more gyms open up in Bangkok.
“Bangkok has to be a place where everybody can train after work, where kids can train at any gym,” he says, “Bangkok is easier to get to than Phuket and it has to be popular here first as fitness, then get people educated on the rules and show them it is not barbaric. It is a sport.”
So far, things are going slowly. Wiratchai’s BurnShell MMA Team, based at his alma mater Chulalongkorn University, signed off another fighter to ONE FC – Weerayuth “Monkey King” Pinyoporn. Amateur tournaments, like War in the Cage, and podcasts “Live from Bangkok” are helping promote the city as the next destination for MMA in Asia.
As the day draws to a close, Wiratchai finishes his final set of abdominal crunches and pull ups, and heads to the showers. He walks past a Muay Thai fighter who is shaking hands with a fan, and nods his head in respect to his fellow sportsman.
