As someone who has spent money and time to travel overseas to learn martial arts, I can say for me it’s been 100% worth it.
There is nothing like learning from high quality instructors who can share their experience with you.
Also as part of my own personal strategy for learning muay thai and martial arts, which is to learn online and visiting quality schools, gyms and academy’s around the world to seek live instruction and private lessons, I hope this post will assist those who wish to take a similar path.
So below are 10 of the best muay thai fighters in the world today who are available to teach and give private instruction to those who are willing to travel to visit them and have the means to be able to do so.
The fighters included in this list are not in order of success or of ranking who is and was the best. This is purely a list of 10 of the best muay thai fighters, both past and present who make themselves available to teach and give private instruction.
There are certainly many other well known muay thai fighters available to learn from but the 10 included here are a great place to start looking at.
As someone who is interested in learning muay thai you really do not need to seek out instruction from the best or former best in the muay thai world.
The best muay thai fighters dont always make the best teachers of the art and vice versa.
However if given the opportunity to work with some of the best in the world who also have proven teaching records I would say it would be an opportunity not to miss!
1. Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn
Dieselnoi is considered the best ever Muay Khao (knee specialist fighter) and even perhaps the greatest ever Muay Thai fighter, past or present.
His nickname was the “Sky Piercing Knee”.
Dieselnoi (The Little Diesel), between 1981 – 1985, was the undefeated lightweight champion (135 pounds) of Lumpinee.
It was during this time of his undefeated reign as Lumpinee champion that he was eventually stripped of his title and forced to retire because nobody wanted to fight him.
The legendary Nak Muay fought at a time when the best fought the best and still managed to reign over an extremely talented and formidable division of fighters.
Dieselnoi was very tall for his weight and was thus able to control distance, using his reach advantage to dominate whoever he faced in the ring.
As the best ever muay khao his fighting strategy was to clinch his opponents and rapid fire powerful knee strikes – an extremely effective and devastating style.
Where and How To train with Dieselnoi
Thanks to Sylvie von Douglass Ittu from 8 limbs.us who arranged for Dieselnoi to instruct at Petchrungruang gym in Pattaya, more of the muay thai world have access to this living legend of muay thai.
Anyone would be fortunate to for a chance to learn clinch and knees from this Golden Age Legend.
I would recommend getting in touch with Sylvie at 8limbs.us to get more information about how to train with Dieselnoi. Her contact is sylvie@8limbsus.com
2. Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtom
Known as “The Emperror”, Namsaknoi holds one of the highest winning percentages (95% wins in 300 fights), and one of the longest reigns as a Lumpinee Stadium Champion in history, remaining undefeated for the 135 lbs title between 2000–2006.
Namsaknoi’s reputation as a Muay Thai legend wouldn’t be justified if he hadn’t faced many of the best in his time.
Attachai Fairtex, Lamnamoon Sor Sumalee, Samkor Kiatmontep and Saenchai are some of the biggest names stamped on his fight record.
Where and How to train with Namsaknoi
Namsaknoi has moved around a lot between different regions in Thailand as well as teaching out of Evolve MMA in Singapore for a number of years.
He currently has his own gym Namsaknoi Muay Thai Club on Koh Samui Island Thailand and I believe he is available for private sessions.
The email contact is hello@namsaknoimuaythai.com
3. Sam-A Gayanghadao
Sam A (3 Aces) is known for his strong defense and counter offense and is a multiple time Lumpinee Super Flyweight World Champion, Lumpinee Bantamweight World Champion, Thailand Super Flyweight, Super Bantamweight, and Bantamweight Champion, and more.
He has over 20 years of fight experience and more than to 400 fights. He is still actively fighting under the ONE Championship organization and is known as one of the best muay thai fighters in the world today.
Sam A’s professional fighting record is 365-46-9, and he has been awarded Lumpinee Fighter of the Year, and captured multiple Lumpinee Stadium World Titles across two weight classes.
Where and How To Train with Sam-A
Sam A currently instructs at Evolve MMA in Singapore and is available for private instruction.
I have been able to take privates with Sam-A in 2016 and 2019 at Evolve in Singapore. Check out some footage from one of my privates with Sam-A below:
You can read more about my experience in Singapore here.
You can learn more at the Evolve website where you can also book privates with the many former world muay thai champions who now reside and teach in Singapore – https://evolve-mma.com/
4. Sagat Petchyindee
Sagat can be considered one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters of all time. He was a 3 time Lumpinee Champion, 3 time Rajadammern Champion and Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion.
Sagat also inspired one of the most fearsome video game characters as one of the major final villain bosses in Street Fighter the arcade game.
His overall fight record in all disciplines is 317 bouts, 266 wins, 40 losses and 11 draws, according to the online Siam Fight Mag.
More than 150 wins were by knockout.
Sagat is also well known for his powerful hands and he has a total of 14 professional boxing fights with 12 victories (8 KO/TKO) and 2 defeats. He also fought Diselnoi three times and defeated him twice.
Sagat was both muay Thai and kickboxing world champion and won the Lumpinee championship three times.
In boxing, he was world champion across three associations, with a professional record of 14 fights and 12 wins.
Where and how to train with Sagat
For those interested to meet the legend, the real-life Sagat now coaches at Boost Boxing Gym in Bangkok giving instruction to both group classes and private training.
You can learn more at their website : https://boxing-stg.boostbkk.com/
5. Samart Payakaroon
Samart is considered the ‘Muhammed Ali’ of muay thai, the all time great. He is labelled by many to be the greatest Muay Thai fighter of all time, becoming a multiple time Lumpinee stadium champion and a WBC world champion in boxing.
Many in Thailand regard Samart as a national treasure.
He was known as a master technician with lightning-quick reflexes and speed that made it looks as though he was seconds ahead of his opponents’ attacks.
Samart’s style often would be to lure and bait his opponents and catching them in poor positions before using their momentum to launch his own attacks.
Samart’s distance management, control and superior defense made him one of the greatest if not the greatest of all time.
His fight IQ applied to both an offense and defense that were miles ahead of most other fighters.
Of his many achievements, Samart was Lumpinee Champion in four different weight classes, 3 times fighter of the year and in addition to that he was the WBC World Super Bantamweight Boxing Champion in 1986.
Where and how to train with Samart
The chance to learn Muay Thai with the world renowned Muay Thai champion, Samart Payakaroon is one not to be missed.
He can be found at his gym in Bangkok and through the website http://samartpayakaroon.com/
6. Nong-O Gaiyanghadao
Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, formerly known as Nong-O Sit Or, is considered to be one of the best pound for pound Muay Thai fighters in the world today.
Nong-O is known for the incredible speed, power and precision behind all his strikes.
Nong-O is a five-division multiple-time World Champion, 5x Lumpinee Muay Thai World Champion, 1x Rajadamnern Muay Thai World Champion, 2x Thailand National Champion, 3x Fighter of the Year, and more.
Where and How to train with Nong O Gaiyanghadao
Nong-O can be found instructing at Evolve MMA in Singapore.
Check out the post below by Evolve MMA titled, ‘5 Reasons Why Training Under Nong-O Gaiyanghadao Will Take Your Game to the Next Level’ and you will see why taking private lessons with him or even group classes at Evolve in Singapore is a an opportunity not be missed for sure.
7. Burklerk Pinsinchai
Burklerk Pinsinchai is an extremely accomplished Muay Thai fighter. He’s a 2x lumpinee champion, 2x Thailand champion and he won the “fighter of the year” award.
Most importantly though, he’s a very technical trainer who likes to show a lot of unique techniques.
Burklerk Pinsinchai was a legendary technical fighter known for his lightning fast kicks and his ability to sweep opponents off of their feet. He hailed from the famous Pinsinchai Muay Thai camp
Burklerk won Lumpinee titles in two different weight classes
According to Siam Fight Mag he has a record of 170 fights with 162 wins and 8 losses which is one of the highest winning percentages in Thai history.
His style is technical/muay femur.
Where and how to train with Burklerk
Burklerk runs his own gym out of Lampang. You can contact the gym and make bookings through their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/burklerkmuaythaigym/
8. Karuhat Sor Supawan
Karuhat was a technician (muay femur) and elbow specialist. He fought a total of 190 times (165 victories) and won 3 Lumpinee titles in two different weight classes. Karuhat was an extremely elusive fighter.
Karuhat was known for fighting on the back foot almost the entire fight and inviting his opponents to attack him so he could perform a rapid counter-strike.
Karuhat was almost always the smallest fighter in each contest and learnt to use his technical prowess expertly to beat the bigger fighter.
Some of the big stars that Karuhat beat include Nungubon Sitlerchai, Kaensak Sor Ploenjit, Lamnamoon Sor Sumalee, Mathee Jadeepitak, Kruekchai Kaewsamrit, Veeraphol Sahaprom, Chatchai Paiseetong and Hippy Singmanee.
Karuhat Sor Supawan, known by many to be the greatest of his weight class in the golden era of Muay Thai,
Where and how to train with Karuhat
Karuhat is available for private training at ROMPO Muay Thai Gym in Bangkok.
You can learn more at https://www.facebook.com/karuhatofficial/?tn-str=k*F which is KAruhats Facebook page.
9. Kem Sitsongpeenong
Kem Sitsongpeenong is known as one of the best fighters of his generation. He has a record of 160 fights with 130 wins (23 by KO), 26 losses and 4 draws.
Kem has collected a number of prestigious titles including 2006 Rajadermnern Super Featherweight Champion, 2009 Thailand Super Welterweight Champion, 2009 MTA Muay Thai World Champion, 2011 Thai Fight Tournament Champion and 2012 WBC World Muay Thai Super Welterweight Champion.
He is known for his powerful and technical style.
In 2008 Kem would be purchased by the internationally famous Fairtex gym and would stay there for two years until he moved onto Sitsongpeenong where he would be trained by Moonlit Sitphodaeng. Moonlit is a well regarded trainer who has also helped bring up Sittichai Sitsongpeenong and others.
Fighting regularly in Bangkok he fought Saenchai PK Saenchai Muay Thai Gym several times winning one of their three matches. Saenchai was able to take the rubber match win on KO in the fourth round.
Where and How to Train with Kem Sitsongpeenong
You can learn more and book sessions with Kem at Brothers Sitsonpeenong Muay Thai at the website http://sitsongpeenong.com/muay-thai/
10. Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke
Unlike the other 9 muay thai fighters included in this post, Dejdamrong has taken up MMA and currently competes in the ONE Fighting Championsip while training and instructing out of Evolve MMA, Singapore.
In fact he is probably the most accomplished muay thai fighter in all of MMA whether it be the UFC, Bellator or ONE FC.
He is a ONE Strawweight World Champion and a 3x Lumpinee Muay Thai World Champion with a professional Muay Thai record of 282-65.
Kru Rong is also a Thailand National Champion and Omnoi Stadium Champion. Dejdamrong is known as a technical fighter with quick hands and lightning feet.
He has some of the most unique and creative striking combinations in the sport of Muay Thai. Dejdamrong is a certified Muay Thai instructor from Thailand.
Dejdamrong was given the nickname “Fierce Eyes” because of his intense stare during fights and Dejdamrong made his MMA debut at the age of 35.
This takes a lot of guts and self belief to take on a completely new combat sport. He is a true warrior.
Where and How to train with Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke
Kru Rong can be found teaching and fighting out of Evolve MMA in Singapore. The video above shows him teaching one of his students in a private session.
You can learn more and book sessions with him at https://evolve-mma.com/
Bonus Resource
Now given that travelling and paying for private sessions is not something everyone can do and as stated learning from the best of the best is really not absolutely necessary to becoming a decent muay thai practitioner, I want to give you one bonus resource.
This resource alone collects private lessons from the past legends and is available completely online. The resource is one that I use a lot and some of the videos of private lessons have been included in this article.
This is the muay thai library collected and collated by Sylvie von Douglas Ittu which can be accessed through her patreon page.
For a mere $5 dollars USD a month you can watch her latest privates with some of the greats.
For $10 USD a month you have access to her full collection of privates with greats such as those included in this post, i.e Dieselnoi and Karuhat but also a lot more private sessions she has filmed with other greats of the Golden Age including Chatchai Sasakul, Rambaa Somdet M16, ํYodkhunpon – The Elbow Hunter Pransokroikem and many many others.
Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/sylviemuay/posts it is highly recommended. And you can support Sylvies efforts to ‘Preserve the Legacy’.
Hi, I would like to subscribe for this blog to take latest updates, thus where can i do it please
assist.
Hi, thanks for your interest! There is a subscribe button on the sidebar where you can enter your email. Thanks again!