The Official Blog of Evolve MMA

Weekend War: UFC 143: Condit vs. Diaz

2012-02-03T19:12:00.001+08:00

Get ready for UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit, going down this Saturday night in Las Vegas. The winner will be crowned the interim welterweight champion, and secure a date with Georges St. Pierre when he returns from injury. Both Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit are notorious for putting on fast paced, action packed fights, and Saturday night will be no different. This is a huge fight with interesting implications for the future. Georges St. Pierre has stated that he will be rooting for Nick Diaz on Saturday, telling the media that "I want this fight with Diaz so badly, as badly as I wanted the title shot when I got down on my knees." It is no secret that Diaz and St. Pierre do not like each other, and although it is hard to look past this weekends battle, fight fans can't help but be excited about a possible Diaz vs St. Pierre match up down the road. Check out UFC 143 Primetime Episode 2 below, which not only gives an inside look at Diaz and Condit's lives, but in a bit of foreshadowing follows an extremely focused Georges St. Pierre as he recovers from knee surgery.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

In Remembrance of Boxing Legend Angelo Dundee

2012-02-02T20:49:00.001+08:00

Legendary Boxing Coach Angelo Dundee and Muhammad Ali

Angelo Dundee, a true legend and ambassador for the sport of boxing, has passed away at the age of 90. Best known for his work as Muhammad Ali's cornerman, Dundee worked with a total of 15 boxing world champions during his long and impressive career, including names like Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman. Under Dundee's guidance Muhammad Ali won the heavyweight title three times. When asked about his work with Ali, Dundee once quipped, "I just put the reflexes in the right direction." He is considered by many to be the greatest motivator in the history of boxing, able to get the very most out of his fighters every time they stepped in the ring. He famously willed Sugar Ray Leonard to a 14th round victory over Thomas Hearns with his oft quoted words, "Your blowing it, son! Your blowing it!" In 1994 Dundee was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In a career that spanned nearly six decades, Angelo Dundee dedicated his life to the sport of boxing, and he will truly be missed. Rest In Peace Angelo.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Video Blog Jan 31 2012

2012-01-31T22:47:00.002+08:00

This episode features an inside look into the training camp of ONE FC fighters Alex Silva and Rodrigo "Ximbica" Ribeiro from the Evolve Fight Team for their upcoming fights at ONE Fighting Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 11, 2012.

Kron Gracie talks BJJ

2012-01-31T20:18:00.001+08:00

There is no single family in the world with a richer tradition and history in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts than the Gracie's. The Gracie name is synonymous with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and largely credited for the popularization of the sport of mixed martial arts in America. No matter where you train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu there is no doubt that the style has been greatly influenced by the Gracie's teachings. As a student of BJJ or an MMA fan you owe it to yourself to learn the sports history, and no history is complete without the Gracie name. Check out this discussion with Kron Gracie, the son of legendary Rickson Gracie and Grandson of Grand Master Helio Gracie, to hear his insights on the history of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and its philosophy.

Dana White's Latest Video Blog!

2012-01-31T12:59:00.003+08:00

Dana White, the President of the UFC, has some of the best video blogs in the business. If you are a fight fan, you need to subscribe to the UFC YouTube Channel. Check out Dana's latest video blog!

Student of the Month: 1/2012

2012-01-31T12:41:00.001+08:00

Jennifer Chadam is the first recipient of the Student of the Month award for 2012! A highly enthusiastic and dedicated martial artist, she is a 41 year old working mother with two sons. She's an executive at an educational center here in Singapore. Jennifer has improved incredibly in both Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in her time at Evolve MMA. Above all, she exemplifies the warrior spirit and humility of a true martial artist. She is an excellent role model for the Evolve Family.

ONE FC: Battle of Heroes!

2012-01-31T01:51:00.001+08:00

The countdown to ONE FC 2 has begun. After a highly successful first event in Singapore, ONE FC is now continuing on its quest to bring MMA to the masses in Asia. On February 11th in Jakarta, One FC will once again showcase some seriously talented fighters from around the globe including two of Evolve MMA's own, Alex Silva and Rodrigo "Ximbica" Ribeiro. With less than two weeks until showtime the excitement and anticipation is building all around Asia. Check out this awesome highlight video created by the folks over at MiddleEasy, and be sure to tune in on February 11th.

2011 ADCC Highlights

2012-01-29T20:54:00.002+08:00

The ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Submission Wrestling World Championships is the world's premier grappling competition. Started in 1998 by Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, the competition is held every two years in a different location around the world and features the world's best in jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, sambo, and a variety of other mixed martial arts. In order to compete in this prestigious event athletes must earn their place at an ADCC National Trials tournament or receive a special invitation of recognition from the ADCC. Although there have been exceptions over the years, the event is traditionally won by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners. Past champions include a who's who list of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legends. Check out this awesome highlight video from the 2011 Championships, and then get back to work on your BJJ game.

Mixed Martial Arts Arrives to the Mainstream

2012-01-29T20:50:00.002+08:00

This weekend marked another monumental step forward in the rise of mixed martial arts as a mainstream sport. UFC 2 on FOX was a huge event not only because of the exciting match ups, but because it will quite possibly be the most widely viewed mixed martial arts event ever in the U.S. It has been a long and bumpy ride since UFC 1 in 1993, but mixed martial arts has finally arrived on the biggest broadcasting network in the United States. The first UFC event on FOX back in November of 2011 averaged around 5.7 million viewers, which made it the most viewed professional fight in the U.S. since Lennox Lewis fought Vitali Klitschko in 1993. With a broadcast reach of over 99 million homes, this event will mark a major turning point in the history of not only the UFC, but mixed martial arts worldwide. Expect records to be smashed. Following up this big news, in just 2 weeks ONE FC will be holding its second event in Jakarta, which will reach a remarkable 500 million homes. Get ready sports world, mixed martial arts is taking over.

Evolve Video Blog Jan 28 2012

2012-01-28T23:23:00.001+08:00

This episode of the Evolve Video Blog follows several members of the Evolve Fight Team as they head to the offices of ONE Fighting Championship to sign coveted multi-fight contracts with Asia's largest MMA organization.

Preparation is EVERYTHING!

2012-01-27T21:49:00.001+08:00

Most MMA highlight reels feature spectacular kicks, punches, knockouts and victorious celebrations. Yet, they often neglect the back story. The preparation. Professional fighters face their greatest battles in the training leading up to a fight. Ask any professional fighter and they will say that the toughest part of a fight is the training camp. It is in training camp where fighters push themselves beyond their limits, mentally and physically. All doubts need to be destroyed in training. A fighter needs to believe 100% that they have done every single thing possible to prepare for the moment of battle. When the time to fight has come there is always one question lingering in a fighters mind. AM I PREPARED? If the answer is not a confident yes, they may be in for a long night. Check out the below training highlight video to see where fights are really won.

The Rise of Toquinho

2012-01-26T22:06:00.001+08:00

Rousimar Palhares is a rising star in the UFC middleweight division. Appropriately nicknamed Toquinho, Portuguese for "little tree stump", Palhares has earned a reputation as one of the most feared grapplers in the UFC. In his most recent outing at UFC 142 Brazil he quickly disposed of Mike Massenzio via heel hook submission. Everyone, including Massenzio, expected Palhares to go for the leg lock early and often, and so it went. He has now finished 4 of his last 6 UFC fights with his notoriously lethal leg lock submissions. The future of Toquinho now looks bright, but it wasn't always so. Born to a poor family in the Brazilian countryside, Palhares began working at the age of 7 in order to help his family survive. At times he went without food or a roof over his head. Yet, like so many great Brazilian champions, he found his way out of poverty and into a better life through martial arts. The story of Rousimar Palhares' is yet another inspirational testament to the remarkable power of mixed martial arts to transform lives. Check out the video below for an inside look at Toquinho's journey.

UFC: An Inside Look at Diaz vs Condit

2012-01-25T22:05:00.001+08:00

With UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre sidelined by injury for a minimum of six months, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit are set to throw down for the interim belt on February 4th. Both these fighters are coming off a string a very impressive outings, and believe it is their turn to rule the Welterweight division. This one is guaranteed to be an all out war. To get an idea of how these fighters have reached the elite level of MMA, and the sacrifices they make to become champions check out the UFC Primetime video below.

Preparation for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games

2012-01-25T00:53:00.001+08:00

Right about now elite athletes from around the world are narrowing their focus and bearing down on their final stretch of training to qualify for the 2012 London Summer Olympics. For many of these athletes qualifying for the Olympics and winning gold is the pinnacle of achievement in their sport. There are no professional leagues or multi-million dollar contracts in their future. Their pursuit is much more pure, they are chasing a lifelong dream for love of their sport, for love of competition. The sacrifices these athletes make along the way are unimaginable to most, and the reality is most of them will get only one shot at ultimate glory. Very few will make it to a second Olympic games, a fact that everyone competing is well aware of. In the Olympics all it takes is one stumble and lifelong dreams are shattered, but this is what makes the Olympics games so intriguing. Rarely will you see athletes compete with such a focused intensity and a true all or nothing mentality.

One of the greatest examples of this is Olympic Wrestling. For these athletes there is nothing beyond the Olympics, it is the final rung on the ladder of competitive wrestling. After the Olympic games there is no professional wrestling league. Most Olympic wrestlers will go on to become coaches of their sport or in a more recent trend enter the world of MMA. With the rise of professional MMA as a legitimate and potentially lucrative career, these athletes now have an avenue to continue their competitive careers. Although there is quite a bit of transition necessary, wrestlers much like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champions have proven to be quite adept at doing so. Check out the inspirational video below, which follows the lives of a group of wrestlers as they prepare to chase down their dreams at the 2012 Olympic Games. The intensity and passion in these men's eyes is the embodiment of what it takes to become a champion in any mixed martial art. Get excited to see these warriors compete this summer, but also get ready to see some serious athletes transitioning into MMA post Olympics.

Interview with US Olympian Heath Sims

2012-01-24T23:04:00.002+08:00

The Fight Nation interviewed Heath Sims yesterday. Heath Sims is the Head of Wrestling and MMA at Evolve MMA. The newest member of the Evolve Fight Team, he is a 6x US National Greco-Roman Champion, a US Olympian, and a former professional MMA fighter. In the last 20 years, Heath has been one of Dan Henderson's main training partners, coaches, and cornermen in MMA at the UFC, Strikeforce, Pride FC, etc. Before moving to Evolve MMA, he relinquished his ownership stake in Team Quest that he shared with MMA legend Dan Henderson. A copy of the interview by The Fight Nation is below.

Exclusive Interview with US Olympic Wrestler, Heath Sims

The Fight Nation is proud to be one of the first to interview the newest addition to the Evolve Mixed Martial Arts instructors team, Heath Sims! A US Olympic wrestler, Heath is MMA legend Dan Henderson’s long time coach, training partner, and lead cornerman. Before joining Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, he and Dan owned Team Quest in Temecula together, but he relinquished his ownership stake to assume his new role at Evolve Mixed Martial Arts in Singapore. A 6x US National Champion, Heath is a former US Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler and has won numerous national and regional wrestling titles in the US. He has been Dan’s training partner for over 25 years since they were kids. Heath has been a key part of Dan’s MMA team for many years and has trained, coached, and cornered Dan in Pride, UFC, Strikeforce, etc. He was also the head of the Team Quest Fight Team. A former professional MMA fighter, Heath still maintains his lead cornerman duties for Dan Henderson and flies out to corner Dan’s fights.

TFN: It’s a known fact that Freestyle wrestling was the mainstream norm in the US while Greco Roman wrestling was rare, especially during the time when you first got into it. What attracted you to pursue a career in Greco Roman wrestling?

Heath Sims: Like many wrestlers in the USA I wrestled Colligate style and Freestyle when I began wrestling. When I was 15 I found the best wrestling club and coach in the area. We trained all styles of wrestling in the off season. Freestyle, Collegiate, Greco, and even some Judo and Sambo. The main reason many wrestlers did not practice Greco was because they had no place to learn. I was very fortunate to begin training with my coach and training partner Gogi Parseghian when I was 17 years old. Gogi was a Russian Immigrant who was a former national and world champion competing for Russia. This created opportunities in Greco that many people did not have at the time.

TFN: It’s often been said that no one trains as hard as a wrestler. Being an Olympian in Greco Roman wrestling, can you say that statement is true?

Heath: I think wrestling is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports. A wrestler must focus on learning new technique, perfect old technique, stay in top physical condition, diet and make weight multiple times a year, implement a strategy when competing and learn the mental skills to find ways to win. This training very similar to MMA. I believe this is why wrestlers can adapt to the sport of MMA very quickly.

TFN: From what we understand, you will still continue your corner man duties for Dan Henderson even though you’re based in Singapore. Do you think that not training with him now will affect your ability to corner him? What has your professional relationship been like with Dan?

Heath: I will always be there to support Dan Henderson. We are best friends. My support may change now that I will not be directly involved with his training. Dan has a great group of coaches that work with him and he will continue to have much success.

TFN: Let’s talk about the main focal point and that is you being part of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts. How did you learn about Evolve Mixed Martial Arts?

Heath: I learned about Evolve from my friend Andy Wang. He contacted me about helping to look for wrestling instructors.

TFN: What made you decide to relinquish your part ownership of Team Quest Temecula and travel all the way to the other side of the world to take up the job of head wrestling coach at Evolve Mixed Martial Arts?

Heath: My decision to move to Evolve came after I talked with Chatri. I learned what an exceptional guy he was. He described the gym, the quality of instructors, fighters and his vision to create the best gym in the world. He sold me on the opportunity to be part of something great.

TFN: What are your thoughts on Evolve MMA, their facility and the level of talent that is present in Evolve?

Heath: Evolve has a beautiful facility. They have put together the best coaching staff in the world that I know of. I believe they will create the best fighters in the world with the foundation they have built.

TFN: As you might know, MMA has exploded in Asia is present in almost every part of it. From Dream in Japan to Legend FC in Hong Kong, Dare Championship in Thailand and to the biggest promotion in Asia now, ONE Fighting Championship, the sport has is red hot in this part of the world. With that being said, what are your thoughts on the Asian MMA scene?

Heath: the Asian MMA scene is ready to explode like many other parts of the world. What is interesting is the size and population that it will attract! It will become the largest market for MMA in 10 years.

TFN: Asia has always been a fight nation, with many martial arts originating from it. However, it’s been said many times that Asian mixed martial artists have always lacked in the wrestling department. What is your take on this?

Heath: I feel this is true for the sport of MMA. Asia has such a great tradition of martial arts from standing that wrestling has been neglected.

TFN: Are you familiar with any fighters currently competing in Asia? If so, who do you feel is a standout who has the skill set to make it big one day.

Heath: I am only familiar with Asian fighters that compete in UFC, Dream and other major organizations that are shown in the USA. I know their has to be many fighters with the potential to make it big. Put a fighter with the dedication in the proper training environment, with top coaches and training partners and they will succeed!

TFN: If Heath Sims didn’t get into wrestling and MMA, what would he be doing for a living?

Heath: This is a very difficult question. Wrestling has given me so many great life experiences and lessons that I continue to use today. I have spent a huge amount of time learning, training, and perfecting wrestling. One will always wonder what if I had spent my time differently? But I have no regrets!

TFN: Now that you’ve relocated to Singapore, what’s the one thing that you’ll find the hardest to adapt to?

Heath: I am anxious and excited to move to Singapore. I think the hardest part of the transition will be missing the California lifestyle. But one will give up benefits of one place for the benefits of another.

TFN: What’s your favorite Asian food and what’s the one Asian delicacy you’ll never try?

Heath: Sushi is one of my favorite foods along with Pad Thai. I love to try new foods and am very excited to try new foods! There has not been too many dishes that I will not try!

TFN: Any parting words to your team mates at Evolve, your Asian fans and your fans back home?

Heath: I am just glad for the opportunity that Chatri has given to me. I am excited to be part of such a great team and up to the challenge to help build Evolve into the world’s best gym with the best fighters in the world!

You may follow Heath Sims on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/heathlsims

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Interview with Wrestling Champion Jake Butler

2012-01-24T21:24:00.004+08:00

The Bleacher Report recently did an interview with Jake Butler, the newest member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 ranked professional fight team. He is a New Jersey State Wrestling Champion and a NCAA Division 1 wrestler. A copy of the interview is below.

Jake Butler: The NCAA Division I Wrestler

Set to Make His MMA Debut in Asia

NCAA Division 1 wrestler Jake Butler from the Evolve Fight Team

Jake Butler is a decorated wrestler who has been up against the likes of Mark Munoz, Phil Davis, Jake Rosholt and Chris Weidman and was a long-term training partner of Frankie Edgar. He was captain of the Varsity Team at Princeton University and an NCAA Division I Qualifier and New Jersey State Freestyle Wrestling Champion who also finished third at the Junior National All American Championship.

It is a distinguished background, but there are no shortage of decorated wrestlers in the UFC.

What makes Butler remarkable is that he has elected to learn his trade as a mixed martial artist in Asia, a place more readily associated with Kung Fu fighters than collegiate wrestlers.

Butler is the latest addition to the Evolve MMA fight team and will be working on both his stand-up and ground game with a team of trainers which includes multiple world champions in Muay Thai, boxing and BJJ. Holding pads for the New Jersey native will be the likes of Thai legends Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Anuwat Kaesamrit and Yodsanan Sityodtong while he will be rolling under the supervision of BJJ royalty Rafael "Gordinho" Correa de Lima, Leandro Issa and Zorobabel Moreira.

Evolve MMA is the No. 1 MMA academy in Asia and is in many ways the perfect environment for someone with Butler's skill set to develop into an elite mixed martial artist. He will be learning from the very best in the business and in return will be able to bring his 20 years of wrestling experience to a fight team which includes Shinya Aoki and Rafael Dos Anjos.

Helping him make the adjustment from wrestling to MMA will be a man who has not only made the transition successfully himself but also has a proven track record of helping world class fighters like Dan Henderson do it. US Olympian Heath Sims has sold his share in Team Quest and moved to Singapore to become the head of the wrestling program at Evolve MMA.

If Butler has any potential at all as an MMA fighter, and given his wrestling credentials he clearly does, Evolve MMA is the perfect place for him to realize it.

He has already secured a contract with ONE Fighting Championship, Asia's most prestigious MMA promotion, and his takedowns promise to be a potent threat in their middleweight division.

If you wanted to create a blueprint for a fighter who could be devastatingly effective at ONE FC, which already has champions on its roster in every discipline except wrestling, then you would probably come up with someone who had a background like Butler's. And if you were looking to the perfect furnace in which that wrestler could be forged into an elite mixed martial artist you would probably pick Evolve MMA, which has a higher concentration of world champions in BJJ, boxing and Muay Thai than any other MMA camp in the world.

There is still a lot of work to do before he will be ready to make his ONE FC debut, but Butler is already loving life in Singapore and straining to be let off the leash.

How did you end up at Evolve MMA?

I spent some time living and working in Asia and through that started following the Asian MMA scene. Naturally, following the Asian MMA scene, I started to hear a lot about Evolve and the more I started reading about what Chatri was building the more I wanted to be a part of it. I have been looking for somewhere to train seriously and have really wanted to compete for a long time but things just never aligned or came together right, until I found Evolve. Short story, I reached out to Chatri, he invited me over to try out for the team, we talked about Evolve and his vision, and I am honored and grateful to be a part of the team now.

What is your wrestling background in terms of accomplishments, achievements etc?

I come from an area with a very strong tradition in wrestling and started at a very young age. At this point I have been wrestling for over 20 years. In high school my greatest accomplishment was earning All-American honors (third place) at the Junior National Freestyle Championships. I was a member of the New Jersey State Freestyle wrestling team for a number of years. In folk style wrestling I won a New Jersey Regional title, and placed third at the State Championship tournament. In university I was team captain of the Princeton Wrestling team and twice named Most Valuable Wrestler. I was a qualifier for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships and competed numerous times at the US Open of freestyle wrestling. I was also a member of a collegiate All Star team that toured Beijing, China.

Have you ever done any MMA in the past?

I have not yet competed in any MMA competitions. I have done some limited MMA training over the years, but nothing substantial and certainly nothing on the level of training and instruction I am receiving at Evolve. I consider myself a beginner and have a lot to learn. That being the case I think there is no better place in the world for me to learn MMA and compliment my wrestling background with the skills I'll need to compete.

How excited are you to be working with the world champion trainers at Evolve MMA?

Excited is a vast understatement. In just the short time I have been here I have learned so much. Chatri has put together such a diverse stable of instructors, each one has something unique to offer within their discipline. It is really quite humbling to work with these guys, and I am very honored to have the opportunity.

How excited were you to discover that Heath Sims would also be joining?

This is great news! On a personal level, I can't imagine a better person to work with in terms of leveraging my wrestling background to be successful in MMA. Heath has been doing this since the very beginnings of MMA and has competed against, trained with and coached the best in the world. Working with him every day is going to make my transition into MMA so much smoother and successful.

Heath is also going to have a massive impact on the team level. There are no MMA wrestling coaches in Asia anywhere near his level. He is one of the top coaches in the US which by default puts him in the top of the world. All the guys on the team are masters of their respective disciplines, and Heath is the last piece of the puzzle. He is going to add another dimension to everyone at Evolve's game, and add to an already very dangerous arsenal of skill sets at Evolve.

It's also great for MMA in Asia because Heath Sims is a very well respected name in the MMA world, and will bring a great deal of recognition to the Asian MMA scene.

Wrestling is not as prevalent in Asia as it is in the US. Do you think that will give you a big advantage competing in MMA here?

I wouldn't say it is a big advantage at this point, but sure, it could be advantageous. Right now my focus is really on Muay Thai and BJJ. Without them my wrestling is nothing in an MMA fight. If I can develop a strong Muay Thai and BJJ game, the wrestling combined with them will be a real threat. With Heath's instruction I am also going to benefit a lot as he is going to be able show me how to make my wrestling a big advantage.

Are you looking forward to making your debut for One FC? What weight class will you be competing in?

Absolutely! Everyone on the Evolve fight team was just over at the One FC offices signing contracts. As a team we are all excited and looking forward to preparing each other for our fights. Victor Cui is doing an amazing job, very professional, and One FC is going to be big. I will be competing at 84 kg.

How soon do you think you will be ready for your first pro MMA fight?

As soon as possible! As an athlete I am dying to get in there and compete. Luckily, I have coaches who can make that decision for me. This is completely Chatri's decision. My job is just to train hard and get better everyday. I have complete faith in Chatri's abilities to judge my development, and he will know much better than I when I am ready to get in there. I'd like to give you a date, but it is still too early to say. Chatri will decide when I am ready to compete and against whom.

How long have you been doing BJJ and when did you start and why?

Similar to my MMA training I have sporadically trained BJJ over the years, primarily no-gi. There are some really good schools where I'm from, New Jersey, and a lot of people I grew up wrestling with are now reaching black-belt level and opening their own schools. It seems like a pretty natural progression for wrestlers and requires many similar skills. After rolling with the guys at Evolve, though, I can see I have a lot of room for improvement.

You've wrestled against a lot of current UFC fighters. Have you followed their MMA careers and if so does that inspire you to compete yourself?

Definitely, watching these guys have great success in their transition to MMA is inspiring. I have been a huge fan of MMA for a long time. I watch all the fights, spend more time than I would like to admit on the blogs, and so naturally I keep a close eye on how my former teammates and opponents are doing. Just in the past year it seems a lot of very familiar names from my wrestling days have broken through to the top ranks of MMA. It is exciting to see and a source of motivation.

What do you think of the Evolve MMA facility? Were you surprised when you first saw it?

It is state-of-the-art, as good as it gets. You can instantly tell that a lot of thought and expertise was put into how it is designed. Chatri has obviously spent a lot of time around gyms, and as such has put together the ideal training facility. The supporting facilities like the reception area, lounge, locker rooms and juice bars are all amazing, but for me the most impressive part is the training areas. It has everything. I had seen photos and video footage of it prior to my arrival, but even then I was surprised by how nice it actually is.

Have you trained MMA at many camps in the US and if so how does Evolve MMA compare?

I have been to a few smaller MMA camps in the US, but not enough of the major camps to make a fair comparison. That being said, I would be surprised if any of them were as well run as Evolve. The excellent facilities at Evolve are great and it is run with incredible efficiency. But the thing that in my mind, as a fighter, stands out is the amount of world champion instructors who are actually there every single day working with us. Everyone at Evolve is very close. There are no egos. It really is operated like a family.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Interview with BJJ Black Belt Alex Silva

2012-01-24T21:03:00.003+08:00

MMA Mania recently did an interview with ONE FC fighter and BJJ Black Belt Alex Silva from the Evolve Fight Team. Alex will be making his ONE FC debut next month on February 11 in Jakarta, Indonesia against a very tough opponent (Geje Eustaquio) from Team Lakay. Team Lakay is the #1 MMA team in the Philippines. A copy of the MMA Mania article is below.

BJJ World Champion Alex Silva Set to Star
at ONE Fighting Championship 'Battle of Heroes'

BJJ World Champion Alex Silva from the Evolve Fight Team

ONE Fighting Championship have a policy of recruiting fighters who are already champions in their own right and so Singapore based Brazilian Alex SIlva was an obvious addition to the flyweight roster.

He is one of a number of BJJ world champions on the payroll at Evolve MMA and made a successful start to his MMA career last September, posting a first round submission win over top Thai Judoka Suchat Lukamkuha at DARE Championship 2/11 in Bangkok.

He is likely of face a stiffer test of his cage fighting credentials in Jakarta when he takes on Team Lakay's Geje Eustaquio at the BritAma Arena on February 11th. The Filipino is a Wushu fighter who has a professional MMA record of 2-1 with his only loss a dubious split decision.

Silva started out with Capoeira and Kung Fu before taking up BJJ at the age of 16 after watching Royce Gracie win UFC 1. He was awarded his black belt in 2007 and is now a veteran of over 300 BJJ matches who has finished first, second (twice) and third at the Mundials.

Now living and training at Evolve MMA, which is widely regarded as the number one mixed martial arts academy in Asia, Silva credits BJJ with completely changing his life,

"I am living my dream right now. I was born to fight, it's in my blood and I feel blessed. It has been a long hard road but I love BJJ and I devoted my entire life to it. I come from a poor family but I always had big dreams that I would fight MMA one day, now I am fighting for the biggest promotion in all of Asia."

It is an interesting match up because it pits Evolve MMA in Singapore against Team Lakay in the Philippines. While the former boasts world renowned fighters such as Rafael Dos Anjos and Shinya Aoki in its ranks the latter focuses exclusively on local Filipino fighters, who tend to have a background in Wushu.

It gives Team Lakay members like Eduard Folayang, Honorio Banario and Kevin Belingon as well as Eustaquio an unorthodox approach to fighting which Silva says he has already started preparing for,

"He's very tough with great skills and he's from Team Lakay one of the top MMA camps in Asia. Chatri has a lot of respect for them and he tells me every day to be ready for a very tough war. Chatri has me focused on my skills, he has a game plan for me and I will follow it. I am ready for anything."

It is no secret that Silva's skills are primarily submission based but there can be few better place for him to improve his stand up than Evolve MMA. He has been working tirelessly to become a better striker and believes the results will be there for all to see on February 11th,

"I work a lot with Daorung Sityodtong and Kongtoranee Payakaroon Sityodtong, they are very technical and I have learned so much from them. By learning from world champions I know that I am getting the best knowledge and I hope to show some of my new skills in the cage."

ONE FC has a very competitive flyweight division which contains world class fighters such as Andrew Leone and Roy Docyogen, Eustaquio's team mate who has an outstanding 9-0 professional record. There will be no easy fights for Silva who admits that he is very much a novice when it comes to MMA,

"I am still a beginner in MMA because I've only had 1 fight. At Evolve we have world champions in every discipline so my progress has been very fast. I learn so much every day, we have the best coaches here and they push me. Chatri helps me a lot with my Muay Thai, BJJ, and MMA."

The UFC has only just introduced a flyweight division and fans will soon find out that what the little guys lack in size they more than make up for with fast and frantic action. Being based in Asia ONE FC has access to a deep talent pool of 125 lbs fighters and with his world class submission skills Silva will be looking to show that he is good enough to compete with the best of them.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Fastest KO in UFC History

2012-01-21T00:01:00.001+08:00

Following Jung “The Korean Zombie” Chan-Sung’s remarkable 6.2 second knockout of Mark Hominick at UFC 140, the MMA rumor mills sparked a debate over who could lay claim to the title of “The Fastest Knockout in UFC History”. Courtesy of the UFC production analysts all rumors can now be put to rest. In a highly technical video analysis it was concluded that although The Korean Zombie’s 6.2 seconds was fast, Duane “Bang” Ludwig’s knockout of Jonathan Goulet was faster, 0.14 seconds faster. Here it is:

Although this is certainly a fun bit of trivia, the idea of fastest knockout also raises some other very fascinating points about the sport of MMA. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN! This phrase is thrown around in all sports, but in no sport is it as true as in MMA. There is no such thing as an easy fight, and no room for error. In sports like football or baseball, athletes can afford to make mistakes (in baseball they call them errors), sometimes huge mistakes and recover. In MMA, athletes are very rarely afforded such a luxury. Every single time a fighter steps into the cage he must exhibit razor sharp focus from bell to bell or risk suffering the fate of Mark Hominick and Jonathan Goulet. Mark Hominick was the heavy favorite coming into his bout against Jung, having just lost a championship fight to Jose Aldo, a highly competitive fight that saw the young Brazilian Champion challenged for the first time in his career. Yet, as this sport is so fond of reminding us past performance means very little once the cage doors slam shut. Mark Hominick made the smallest of mistakes, The Korean Zombie capitalized, and the lights went out. This is what makes MMA such a great sport, such an exciting sport, such a unique sport. When the fans sit down to watch a fight, they know not to blink or they may miss the fireworks. There is no sport as electrifying and explosive in the world.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The World's Oldest Sport?

2012-01-20T07:03:00.002+08:00

Although the title of “world’s oldest sport” is a matter of great debate among sports enthusiasts from all disciplines, proponents for the sport of wrestling have recently put forth an ancient text, which is being heralded as the world’s oldest written instruction manual on any sport known to man.

The ancient text was discovered on an archaeological dig in Egypt in the late 1800’s, in a region of Cairo that is known to have been inhabited by Greek colonists. Written in Greek on an 18-inch wide piece of papyrus, the text provides a list of instructions on how to wrestle, and is dated by experts to have been written between 100 and 200 AD. Repeated throughout the text is the Greek word “pleckson”, which can be translated to “fight it out”. Other interesting passages translated from the document include:

"Stand to the side of your opponent, and with your right arm take a headlock and fight it out."

"You underhook with your right arm. You wrap your arm around his, where he has taken the underhook, and attack the side with your left foot. You push away with your left hand. You force the hold and fight it out."

"You stand up to his side, attack with your foot and fight it out."

Although there is certainly a great deal of evidence supporting the development of sport prior to 100 AD, the sport of wrestling has now presented the earliest documentation of any such kind. Currently, the document is being housed at Columbia University in New York, which is appropriately home of the first college wrestling program in the United States.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve MMA named Best International MMA Gym!

2011-12-29T14:41:00.002+08:00

Evolve MMA was voted the Best International MMA Gym in the world for 2011 by the readers of MiddleEasy, one of the top MMA websites! For the full list of awards, please see the original MiddleEasy article here.

...But What?

2011-12-22T01:28:00.004+08:00

“I would like to be a __________, but...” “I always wanted to try __________, but...” “I wish I could do___________, but...” How many of us have said something like this to ourselves before? Go ahead and fill in the blanks with your own personal story. Chances are most of us have said things like this many times throughout our lives. Many of us probably said it yesterday, are thinking about saying it today, and will say it again tomorrow. These sentences are an all too common part of most peoples’ vocabulary. It is all too easy to give into our self imposed limits, to convince ourselves that we cannot be or do what we really want with our lives. Luckily, we have people like “Notorious” Nick Newel or Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius to remind us that we don’t have to be victims of our self imposed limits or to give in to preconceived notions. There are no limits on what we can achieve if only we can remove the “buts” from our vocabulary and start doing. If you don’t believe it, just take a look at the below videos.

Do you think Nick Newel ever said “I would like to be a professional Mixed Martial Artist, but I only have one arm"?

Do you think Oscar Pistorius ever said, “I would like to be an Olympic Sprinter, but I don’t have any legs"?

On December 2nd Nick Newell won his sixth professional fight maintaining his undefeated record. In the summer of 2012 we may very well see Oscar Pistorius represent South Africa at the Olympic Games in London. So next time you find yourself saying, “I would like to become all that I can be in life, but...” or “I would like to learn mixed martial arts, but...” or but anything, stop yourself dead in your tracks, think about these two men, have faith in the incredible power of the human spirit, and go do it.

Impossible is nothing.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Video Blog Dec 21 2011

2011-12-21T18:21:00.002+08:00

This episode features a behind-the-scenes look into the training camp of DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki from the Evolve Fight Team. A member of the Evolve Fight Team, he is scheduled to defend his title this coming New Year's Eve against Sengoku Champion Satoru Kitaoka at DREAM: Genki Desuka. For this fight, Shinya had a very tough 8 week training camp at Evolve MMA in Singapore with our World Champions in every key discipline of MMA. Led by Kru Chatri Sityodtong, the Evolve Fight Team is Asia's most decorated professional fight team with World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling.

The Importance of Strategy in MMA

2011-12-20T11:37:00.002+08:00

Last week, MSN Sports named Chatri Sityodtong, Founder of Evolve MMA, one of the best coaches in the world alongside legendary coaches such as Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United, Jose Mourinho from Real Madrid, Rick Carlisle from Dallas Mavericks, Greg Jackson from Jackson’s MMA, and a few others. The list included only 9 people and 2 were from the MMA world: Greg Jackson and Chatri Sityodtong. (For the complete list, please click here.) The recognition of two MMA coaches on a list normally reserved for football and basketball coaches marks a big shift in popularity for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Given the importance of strategy in sports, it is no surprise that legendary coaches such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho are highly sought after by athletes, teams, media, and sponsors.

In the sport of mixed martial arts where so many styles and disciplines are at play, strategy is critical to success. A great game plan can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Just like a football team will alter its approach according to the opposition, a fighter needs to have a specific game plan for every individual opponent. Mixed martial artists use a vast array of tools and techniques from every martial art around the world. There are specialists, generalists, and everything in between. There are striker, grapplers, and everything in between. It is critical to know how to neutralize an opponent's strengths while capitalizing on your own strengths. Equally important, it is essential to know how to exploit weaknesses in an opponent. As a result, a great coach will review extensive footage on opponents in order to develop the correct strategy and game plan for a particular opponent. The game plan will shape what techniques are emphasized during the 8 week training camp prior to a fight. A great coach will also be able to alter the game plan and strategy as the fight unfolds.

The significance of strategy does not just apply to MMA, but to any combat situation. In an altercation on the street, a smart strategy can help you to avoid fighting altogether with the result that you walk away completely unscathed.

In boxing, fighters like Arturo Gatti and Marco Antonio Barrera are legendary because they were regularly involved in grueling wars. While putting on a show for the fans is important, these sort of fights really take a tremendous toll on the boxers and often cut their careers short. However, a boxer like Floyd Mayweather will have much more longevity because he is too smart to get sucked into high octane exchanges. In professional fighting, a good strategy can help prevent a fighter from getting badly hurt.

For amateur and hobby martial artist, strategy is also important for training and sparring. It is good to get in the habit of analyzing an opponent, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and recognizing any traits or habits they have which you could potentially exploit. For example, some people will habitually try to escape from a triangle attempt in a manner which leaves them exposed to an armbar while others may repeatedly drop their hands to defend body shots in a fashion which leaves their head unprotected in a striking exchange. It is important to learn to recognize these windows of opportunity when they arise. It is also essential to know what an opponent favors, whether it is a style, a position, a submission, or a strike.

Learning martial arts is a very physical process, but an incisive and analytical brain can be the most dangerous weapon a martial artist can possess. For any high level professional athlete, a great coach can hold the keys to the riddle of a tough opponent and can help to maximize the odds of success. Whether you train martial arts for fun or you fight for living, strategy is one of the key foundations to winning.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Don't feel like training? Watch this!

2011-12-07T23:29:00.005+08:00

If this video doesn't make you want to watch UFC all night and then go train martial arts all day, then something is wrong with the universe. Check out this hype video for the UFC. It's PURE ADRENALINE!!!

The Power of Green Tea!

2011-11-29T22:37:00.001+08:00

Modern medicine is constantly evolving and improving, but sometimes the old remedies are actually the best. Green tea has been around for something like 4,000 years and has been used to treat everything from depression to obesity.

There is solid scientific research to support the medicinal use of green tea. It contains salubrious polyphenols, in particular catechins and carotenoids, tocopherols, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), minerals such as chromium, manganese, selenium or zinc and certain phytochemical compounds.

Studies suggest that green tea can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, dental cavities, kidney stones, and cancer while also improving bone density and cognitive function. Ingestion of green tea extract increases fat oxidation during moderately intensive exercise. It also improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in healthy young men. It has also been proven to reduce the risk of esophageal cancer in men and women by nearly sixty percent. Researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells.

Green tea is inexpensive, easy item to incorporate into your daily diet and it has a wide range of health benefits. It truly is nature’s own supplement, helping to prevent cancer and to assist weight loss.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Student of the Month: 11/2011

2011-11-29T18:58:00.003+08:00

Our mission is to empower our students to achieve a happier, healthier, and more productive life through the platform of martial arts. Every month, the Evolve Instructor Team selects a student who best exemplifies the core values of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts®: integrity, excellence, humility, honour, respect, courage, loyalty, and teamwork. For this special award, the Evolve Instructor Team, Asia's largest and most experienced team, carefully chooses students who are on the path to unleashing their potential as human beings. These students often serve as role models to the entire Evolve Family.

A complete beginner in martial arts, 15 year old Nur Atikah Qistina is the Student of the Month for November 2011. She has only been a student at Evolve MMA for 3 months. To learn more about her, watch the video clip below.

Interview with 10x World Champion Roger Gracie

2011-11-25T23:58:00.002+08:00

10x BJJ World Champion Roger Gracie is the most decorated world champion in the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He visited Evolve Singapore earlier this year to give a seminar and to train some Muay Thai. Roger also trains at Evolve Brazil from time to time. Check out this interview from his most recent training trip to Evolve Brazil this month.

Evolve Video Blog Nov 21 2011

2011-11-21T01:54:00.001+08:00

This episode of the Evolve Video Blog features an inside look into the daily life of ONE FC fighter Brian "Polar Bear" Choi from the Evolve Fight Team and his training camp for his fight at ROAD Fighting Championship in his hometown of Seoul, Korea against fellow countryman, Bae Young Kwon. ROAD Fighting Championship is Korea's largest MMA promotion.

Highlights of ONE Fighting Championship

2011-11-18T19:24:00.002+08:00

Check out this highlight video that ONE Fighting Championship put out yesterday. Several fighters from the Evolve Fight Team have signed as ONE FC fighters. So you can expect the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's most decorated professional fight team, to be competing in future shows!

History of MMA

2011-11-16T19:19:00.002+08:00

A lot of people probably think that MMA began on November 12th 1993 when the UFC held its first ever event, but the roots of the sport can actually be traced back to 648 BC. The sport of Pankration, a sport that combines both boxing and wrestling, was introduced in the Olympic Games that year.

Although knockouts were common, most Pankration competitions were decided on the ground where both striking and submission techniques would freely come into play. Pankratiasts were highly skilled grapplers and were extremely effective in applying a variety of takedowns, chokes and punishing joint locks.

There are obvious parallels between Pankration and modern martial arts, but the Greek version of the sport had a slightly darker side. The Spartans were taught to use these techniques with the sole purpose of fighting and killing on the battlefield. As a result, the Spartans were banned from participating in Pankration competitions.

Although Pankration is widely regarded as the earliest example of MMA, the sport seemed to have fallen by the wayside for the best part of 2,000 years and the next recorded instances of MMA style competition didn’t occur until the end of the 19th century.

The first major encounter between a boxer and a wrestler in modern times took place in 1887 when heavyweight world boxing champion John L. Sullivan took on Greco-Roman wrestling champion William Muldoon and was slammed to the mat in two minutes.

Although MMA has advanced significantly under the leadership of the UFC, it is interesting to note that, wrestlers are still getting the better of boxers. It is possible that the match between Sullivan and Muldoon was broadly similar to the recent fight between Randy Couture and James Toney.

In the early 20th century, there were a number of competitions in Japan called Merikan because locals felt it was an American style of fighting. The rules varied wildly with contests sometimes settled according to the number of throws as well as by knockout or submission.

In 1935, Helio Gracie made headlines in Brazil for a brawl with a gymnastics teacher. The court took a dim view of this activity and sentenced him to a custodial sentence. Helio was subsequently pardoned by the President. Gracie’s fighting career officially began in 1932 when he submitted professional boxer Antonio Portugal in 30 seconds. The same year, he fought American professional wrestler Fred Ebert for fourteen rounds. The doctor eventually stopped the fight and Helio had to undergo an urgent operation the next day. Helio was very successful as an MMA fighter due to his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In the 1960s and 1970s, MMA began to make its way into the consciousness of the world through the movies of Bruce Lee. Although the term mixed martial arts would not be coined for another 30 years, Lee was actually demonstrating many of the techniques and his philosophy is still relevant today. Bruce Lee believed that, “The best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, to be formless, to adopt an individual's own style and not following the system of styles." Modern MMA has proven Lee’s point because no fighter can survive with only a single style. The key for success of MMA athletes is to possess a well-rounded game of striking, takedowns, and grappling.

Pankration was a bit more primitive than today’s sport of MMA in that there really were only two rules in Pankration; no biting and no eye gouging. Due to numerous rules to protect the fighters, the sport of MMA today has had an outstanding safety record for the last 20 years. There are many other differences; for instance, Pankration bouts were always fought outside, the contestants would be naked, and they would not be constrained by a cage or ring. The use of chokes and holds was nowhere near as sophisticated as it is in modern MMA. Interestingly, an early version of the rear naked choke appears to have been popular in Pankration. A Pankration bout could be ended via submission, but instead of a tap, the fighter would raise his index finger to signal defeat.

The two men behind the UFC, President Dana White and Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta, have led the revolution of modern MMA. They are responsible for turning the sport of MMA into a mainstream sport watched by millions of fans around the world. Today, it is widely accepted that the most effective combination of arts for MMA are Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, and Boxing. Muay Thai is known as the most devastating striking art while Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is considered the most effective grappling art. Wrestling is an excellent art to dictate where a given fight takes place.

So while the popular perception is that MMA is a modern sport, it is actually at least 2,669 years old. Next time you find yourself sitting there watching the UFC, you might like to pause and reflect that, in 648 BC, fight fans in Greece were doing more or less exactly the same thing!

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Student Profile: Kinaree Adkins

2011-11-12T20:42:00.005+08:00

An 8 year old child prodigy, Kinaree Adkins started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Evolve MMA in Singapore 2 years ago and has blossomed quickly under her world champion instructors. She is now a US National Champion with real potential to become a future world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kinaree is a 2011 Gold Medalist at both the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) Championship and Grappler's Quest. Equally important, Kinaree has inherited confidence, discipline, mental strength, a passion for excellence, and an unquenchable desire for continuous self-improvement. She has become a true martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is now a lifestyle for her. Kinaree's biggest dream in life is to become a World Champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The combination of her talent, work ethic, and her world champion instructors at Evolve MMA will hopefully make that dream come true one day. To maximize her chances of becoming a World Champion, she actively participates in both the Children's Program and The Evolve Acceleration Program (TEAP) at Evolve MMA.

For more on Kinaree, check out this video interview.

Fight Analysis: Velasquez vs Dos Santos UFC on Fox

2011-11-11T21:12:00.008+08:00

This weekend’s UFC Heavyweight World Championship title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos has been described as the biggest in UFC history. It is the first time that the UFC will be featured on the prestigious Fox network in the US, marking the entry for the sport of MMA into the mainstream of American media.

A cardio machine, the current UFC Heavyweight World Champion Cain Velasquez has a perfect professional record of 9-0 and has won seven straight fights in the UFC. A devastating striker, Junior Dos Santos is 13-1 with crushing KO power in his hands. Only one of these two warriors will go home with the UFC crown on November 12 this weekend.

Their list of victims reads like a who’s who of heavyweight mixed martial artists. Dos Santos has defeated Mirko Crocop, Shane Carwin, and Roy Nelson while Velasquez has vanquished Chieck Kongo, Antonio Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar.

Here is a look at the keys to victory for each fighter this weekend.

Keys to victory for Cain Velasquez:

• Wrestling
Velasquez is an NCAA Division I wrestler and there is no question that his wrestling is superior to that of Dos Santos. If he can take Dos Santos down, use his weight to hold him down, and then gradually wear him out with ground and pound, he will win the fight.

• Clinch work
Cain cannot afford to stay in punching range with Dos Santos. The last thing that he needs is to turn this fight into a boxing match. He must use his speed to close the distance when Dos Santos is about to fire off his punches. Once in the clinch, Velasquez must press Dos Santos against the cage and utilize cage work and dirty boxing to wear his opponent down.

• Footwork and Muay Thai
Velasquez needs to use his footwork to stay out of range. He is actually a more versatile striker than Dos Santos is. Dos Santos only uses boxing, but Velasquez has good boxing and good Muay Thai. So he has more striking weapons at his disposal. Velasquez must either maintain distance at kicking range to avoid punches or close the gap quickly to get inside of Dos Santos' punches. He cannot stay in the pocket and exchange punches. If Cain can stay on the outside and use his fast kicks, he can build up points and slow down Dos Santos.

• Unpredictability and Gas tank
Dos Santos will have worked tirelessly on his takedown defence and will be expecting Velasquez to shoot. Velasquez needs to set up takedowns in an intelligent manner by using strikes and feints. Cain must use his endless cardio tank to his advantage and work at a frenetic pace in each minute of every round. He must do his best to try to gas out Dos Santos.

Keys to victory for Junior Dos Santos:

• Boxing
Dos Santos is a powerful puncher. He outstruck contender Shane Carwin with pinpoint accuracy and is arguably the most accomplished boxer in the heavyweight division. If he can keep the fight standing and turn it into a boxing match, he should be able to stop Velazquez inside the distance.

• Takedown defence
It is absolutely vital for Dos Santos that he doesn’t end up on his back. Wrestling is Velasquez’s greatest weapon and Dos Santos will need to neutralize it if he is to win the fight. To do so, he will need to be vigilant about spotting the threat of a takedown and to be prepared to sprawl at the slightest hint of a level change by Velasquez.

• Stand Up
If Dos Santos does get taken down by Velasquez, he must try to get back on his feet immediately. If he wastes time trying to go for submissions, it is most likely that Velasquez will utilize ground and pound technique to crush Dos Santos. Cain has an excellent base and is very difficult to sweep or submit. And Dos Santos does not have good enough BJJ to submit Cain. In order to win, Dos Santos must get back quickly to his feet and make it a slugging war. At a very minimum, he must stall on the ground and keep Velasquez in his closed guard (with good head and arm control) to buy time for a stand up by the referee.

• Stamina
Velasquez is renowned for having a level of cardio which is virtually unheard of in the heavyweight division. So Dos Santos will need to pace himself carefully in order to preserve energy for the latter rounds. Even if he hurts Velazquez with punches early on, Dos Santos needs to be patient and resist the temptation to launch an onslaught.

While both fighters are world-class warriors, the edge goes to Cain Velasquez. Dos Santos' has a puncher's chance of a big KO. However, Velasquez has many ways to win this fight and more weapons in his arsenal. If this fight goes into the championship rounds, then Velasquez will win easily.

OFFICIAL PREDICTION: Velasquez by 3rd round KO

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Namsaknoi

2011-11-05T21:17:00.005+08:00

Muay Thai Legend Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn is a 4x World Champion and a member of the Evolve Fight Team. He has the distinction of owning the highest win percentage for any Muay Thai fighter in Thailand. He has competed in 300 professional Muay Thai fights, winning an astounding 285 of them. Namsaknoi also had one of the longest reigns as world champion. In Thailand, people call him the Emperor.

To learn more about him, check out this candid interview with Kru Must.

A Muay Thai Legend

2011-11-03T22:23:00.003+08:00

4x Muay Thai World Champion Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee

4x Muay Thai World Champion Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee from the Evolve Fight Team is one of the best fighters Thailand has ever produced. He retired just before the global explosion in the popularity of Muay Thai, but people who know the sport know exactly who he is.

He was one of the best Thai fighters of the 1990s, the Golden Age of Muay Thai as the Thais fondly refer to it. Lamnammoon remained one of the biggest stars in Thailand for an entire decade, a phenomenal achievement given the standard of opposition he consistently faced.

Lamnammoon, also known as Kru Yo, has over 300 professional Muay Thai fights. Given that there are many Muay Thai legends at Evolve MMA, it is no surprise that Lamnammoon has fought two fellow Evolve MMA instructors, Attachai Fairtex and Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn. Lamnammoon actually lost his Lumpinee World Super Featherweight title to Namsaknoi; the fight is still talked about in Thailand to this day. Lamnammoon is a 4x Lumpinee Muay Thai World Champion, winning the most prestigious title in multiple weight categories, a very rare achievement in Muay Thai. In history, only a handful of world champions have accomplished this feat.

The first title came in 1993 when a 21 year old Lamnammoon introduced himself to the world in spectacular style by defeating the reigning Fighter of the Year, Jaroensap Kiatbanchong, to win the Lumpinee Super Bantamweight title. At the time, Jaroensap was widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in Thailand whereas Lamnammoon was relatively new on the scene.

Unusually tall for a Thai fighter, he developed a ferocious, attacking knee style, maximizing use of his reach and height. Lamnammoon had an incredible knee attack and knocked out many opponents with repeated knees to the body and head. Muay Thai Legend Namsaknoi said that he has never felt knees as hard as those of Lamnammoon in his entire career. Lamnammoon’s nickname in Thailand was "Telegraph Pole Knees," and if you watch this fight against Lippidet Sor Ploenchit, you will probably see why:

The belts at Lumpinee Stadium are considered to be the most prestigious in Thailand. Most world champions are able to hold onto their titles for a year at most because the competition is so fierce at the highest levels of Muay Thai. However, Lamnammoon held the 122 lbs title for a full three years, beating all comers and only vacating it because he could no longer make the weight. He made the move up in divisions seamlessly and went on to win the Lumpinee Featherweight title by defeating Methi Jedapitak on points. Once again he defeated all challengers before vacating the title when he realized he was becoming too big to fight at 126 lbs. Lamnammoon found himself fighting at Super Featherweight and wasted little time in taking that title by beating another Thai legend Samkor Kiatmonthep. This fight is considered to be one of the greatest in the history of the famous Lumpinee Stadium.

Lamnammoon has now retired from professional fighting; he has an incredible amount of experience, knowledge, and wisdom. On the Evolve Fight Team, Kru Yo has taken Zorobabel Moreira under his wing and Zoro’s recent performance at ONE Fighting Championship is a display of their work together. It is a true honour to have this Muay Thai legend amongst the ranks of instructors at Evolve MMA.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

ADCC Highlight

2011-10-31T11:24:00.002+08:00

Check out this ADCC highlight. ADCC is widely regarded as one of the top submission grappling tournaments in the world with the best grapplers.

Interview with CEO of ONE Fighting Championship!

2011-10-31T10:53:00.001+08:00

Check out this interview by Victor Cui, the CEO of ONE Fighting Championship.

Rafael dos Anjos trains for UFC 139!

2011-10-29T11:29:00.002+08:00

UFC Lightweight fighter Rafael dos Anjos from the Evolve Fight Team has been training very hard at Evolve Brazil for UFC 139. He will be facing a very dangerous Gleison Tibau, one of the division's biggest fighters in terms of size and strength.

Check out this video blog from Rafael dos Anjos!

Shinya Aoki Seminar!

2011-10-28T05:02:00.004+08:00

DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki from the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 professional fight team

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is pleased to announce that DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki from the Evolve Fight Team will be giving a special 2 day MMA seminar. Aoki is widely regarded as the #1 pound-for-pound MMA fighter in Asia. Shinya is a Black Belt in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Date: 3 Dec 2011 - 4 Dec 2011
Time: 1000am to 1230pm
Venue: Evolve Far East Square
Who: Shinya Aoki
Cost: 1 or 2 days, $100/$150 for Evolve students, $150/$200 for public

We expect this seminar to sell out quickly. To reserve your spot, please book your spot at the front desk of any Evolve location. Please note that all classes across all locations conflicting with the time slots of the seminar will be canceled.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Importance of Flexibility

2011-10-27T20:24:00.004+08:00

Muay Thai World Champion Yoddecha Sityodtong from Evolve MMA

Flexibility is a key ingredient for martial artists. For BJJ, it makes your guard virtually unpassable. For Muay Thai, it means you can throw a high kick with ease. The great thing about martial arts is that it naturally enhances your flexibility quite dramatically. That being said, it is also important to complement your martial arts training with stretching exercises on your own; it will greatly accelerate your gains in flexibility. In turn, increased flexibility will enhance your abilities as a martial artist as well as help you to prevent injuries.

While there are different schools of thought on stretching, the basic concept is simple. If you think of a rubber band, you can see that a short rubber band is much tighter than a long one. A tight rubber band is easier to rip. A long rubber band is flexible. The idea of stretching is to get your muscles to become long like a long rubber band. Every time you do a great stretching routine, your muscles will have microscopic tears in them; your body will then rebuild those muscles into longer muscles. Over time, your tight rubber bands will become long ones.

Here is a basic routine to follow:

Warm-Up
Before undergoing any rigorous stretching exercises, it is good to warm up the body and get your blood circulating. A warm-up can consist of a 15 minute jog, 10 minutes of skipping rope, or anything that can get your body to heat up and start sweating. By warming up the body before any rigorous stretching exercises, it will help you to minimize any chances of injury.

Dynamic Stretching
After a good warm-up, the next step is dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is the concept of stretching your muscles through action. For example, light shadow boxing is one form of dynamic stretching. By performing the kicks, punches, knees, and elbows of Muay Thai during shadow boxing, you are stretching the specific muscles needed for the upcoming pad session and heavy bag work. Another example of dynamic stretching would be doing straight kick-up motions with your leg like that of a cheerleader. This motion will stretch your hamstrings very well in a dynamic manner. After you undergo dynamic stretching, your body is ready to be pushed to its limit with a great workout.

Static Stretching
Static stretching is best used after a hard workout (ie after a class at Evolve MMA). Static stretching is the concept of stretching your muscles slowly into a position and holding it. For example, you can sit on the floor with your feet stretched out in front of you and lean over to touch your toes and hold the position. Try to hold for 30 seconds and repeat 3-5 sets. Static stretches are good as an after-workout cool down. Your body will be tired and your muscles will tend to tighten up after a class. Static stretching will help lengthen those muscles when your body's instinct is to tighten up those muscles.

Summary
If you want to improve your flexibility with specific drills, please feel free to ask your favorite instructor at Evolve MMA. As you will see, each instructor will have different drills and tricks to increasing flexibility. The most important thing is to experiment with your body and to see which stretching exercises are best suited for you. Either way, do your best to get into the habit of warming your body up and doing dynamic stretches before a hard workout. Along the same vein, be sure to end each hard workout with some static stretching.

As we age, we naturally become less flexible and this stiffness becomes a source of pain and injury. In the long run, if you have excellent flexibility, you will sustain less injuries and you will also age gracefully with minimal disruptions.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve MMA wins 1st Place

2011-10-25T12:31:00.009+08:00

Nicholas Lee from Evolve MMA accepting the 1st Place Team Trophy on behalf of Evolve MMA

Evolve MMA won the 1st Place Team Trophy for winning the most medals with the Gi at the SEA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open in Thailand this past weekend. It is the largest BJJ tournament in the region. We would like to give a special thank you to Master Renzo Gracie for all his love and support. Evolve MMA is the first and only Renzo Gracie Academy for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Asia. We are all deeply indebted to Renzo for his generosity, knowledge, and kindness.

We will be posting up the detailed individual results shortly. Congratulations to Professor Brodinho and Professor Almiro for leading our amazing group of students to victory! And congratulations to Evolve MMA's Global Head of BJJ, Professor Rafael Gordinho, for building one of the most incredible BJJ Programs in the world!

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Almiro Barros

2011-10-24T18:15:00.002+08:00

BJJ World Championship Silver Medalist Almiro Barros is a member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 professional fight team. He is an accomplished, elite-level Black Belt from Ubatuba, Brazil. In this video clip, Almiro shares his passion for BJJ and talks a bit about his personal history.

Martial Arts: Competition vs Self-Defense

2011-10-23T13:42:00.003+08:00

It is important to understand that there is no "right" reason to train in martial arts. Some people do it to learn self-defense. Some people do it to lose weight and to get into the best shape of their lives. Some people do it to compete and to challenge themselves. Some people do it simply because it's fun. Whatever your reason for training in martial arts, the beautiful thing is that martial arts gives you so many gifts such as confidence, mental strength, focus, discipline, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, and so much more. It encourages you to improve yourself continuously and to unleash your potential as a human being - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually - in every area of your life.

So what is the difference between martial arts for competition and martial arts for self-defense?

In competition, there are rules, safety measures, and time limits. Competitors train specifically to achieve optimal performance within those rules. To achieve optimal performance, your cardiovascular system must be ready to go for the entirety of the bout. Your technique must be fast because your opponent will presumably have the same knowledge as you do. So you have to be faster, better, and stronger than your opponent at utilizing those exact same techniques. Your reflexes must be sharpened into peak state through endless drills and repetition. Your mind must be strong for the specific occasion at the exact time that you are set to compete. The reason why professional fighters typically have 8 or 10 week training camps is precisely to do all of the above. Another important dimension for competition is experience. The more fights you have, the better you will become. You will learn better how to channel your mind, body, and spirit at the exact moment. Finally, the rewards of competition are great. If you ask any competitor, it is the greatest high in the world to know that your hard work paid off.

In a self-defense situation, there are no rules. In some ways, it is harder than competition. In some ways, it is easier than competition. It all depends on the situation. So you have to be prepared for anything. Also, most street encounters typically last less than 1 minute. For example, generally speaking, the person to land the first strike in a street fight usually wins. The reason is that, unlike professional fighters, most people are untrained to receive a blow. As a result, cardiovascular endurance is not as important too. Also, in self-defense situations, the knowledge and skill levels often differ vastly. If an expert martial artist faces off against someone who knows nothing, it will likely be a quick and easy fight for the martial artist. On the flip side, if the situation involves knives and/or guns, it does not matter what kind of training you have. Unless you are a current and active US Navy SEAL or an Israeli Special Forces Commando, the odds of survival are very low in a situation where your assailant has a gun or a knife (and you do not have any weapons). It does not matter if you are Krav Maga expert, a BJJ World Champion, or a Karate master. The reality is that there is nothing like actual combat experience involving guns and knives. If you have never fought with a knife or you have never fired a gun at a live target, you are simply fooling yourself if you think you can do well in a self-defense situation where someone is pointing a gun at you and/or trying to stab you with a knife. The best self-defense is never to put yourself in those situations.

At Evolve MMA, we are 100% focused on reality-based technique. We only teach what works in real-life situations. Our international team of world-class instructors has had tens of thousands of fights - literally - in the ring, on the mats, and in the streets. So whether you are learning martial arts for self-defense or for competition, you will learn authentic, reality-based martial arts for the real world. Equally important, you will see excellent benefits such as weight loss, fitness, mental strength, confidence, and so much more.

Ultimately, martial arts is the journey of continuous self-improvement.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Real Treasure of Martial Arts

2011-10-21T08:13:00.002+08:00

Most people mistakenly believe that martial arts is about power or violence. Those myths could not be farther from the truth. At Evolve MMA, martial arts is the journey of continuous self-improvement...physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We believe that martial arts is a wonderful platform from which you can unleash your full potential in every area of your life as a human being. Simply put, martial arts is about the quest to becoming the best person that you can possibly be.

While you will definitely learn self-defense moves for the real world and you will get into the best shape of your life, the real benefit of martial arts is what happens inside of you. It literally transforms you from the inside out to better prepare you to achieve your dreams in life. Every time, you train hard and break through your limits, you will feel yourself grow and develop. With every new technique mastered, your understanding of your mind, body, and spirit will be sharpened. And as you achieve higher and higher proficiency, your confidence will soar; it is all-empowering to know that you can take care of yourself in most real-life situations. Martial arts gives you confidence, mental strength, focus, work ethic, and discipline. It gives you a desire for excellence, a habit of self-improvement, and an unbreakable will. All of this attributes will enable you to unleash your potential in other areas of your life, be it work, love, friendships, health, etc.

Yes, you will lose weight and burn fat. Yes, you will learn to kick butt - literally. And yes, you will feel like a million dollars about your health and fitness. However, the real treasure of martial arts is what you carry inside of you for the rest of your life.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Evolve Fight Team heads to battle again!

2011-10-20T20:09:00.003+08:00

In the next three months, the Evolve Fight Team will be competing again at some of the world's top events: UFC, DREAM FC, ROAD FC, DARE FC, and ONE FC. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, the Evolve Fight Team is Asia's #1 professional fight team. It also has the highest win percentage (92%) in Asia.

Here are some members of the Evolve Fight Team, from left to right: BJJ World Champion Zoro Moreira, BJJ World Champion Leandro Issa, DREAM World Champion Shinya Aoki, Muay Thai World Champion Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Muay Thai World Champion Orono Wor Petchpun, and Muay Thai World Champion Yoddecha Sityodtong.

Interview with Kyra Gracie!

2011-10-16T14:03:00.007+08:00

Kyra Gracie is a 5x BJJ World Champion and a 3x ADCC World Champion. She is also the first and only female from the legendary Gracie Family to have earned a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kyra is a true pioneer for females and combat sports. In this interview from last week, Kyra talks candidly about her love for BJJ, her personality off the mats, and a few other topics. This year, Evolve MMA in Singapore has been fortunate enough to host Renzo Gracie, Roger Gracie, Igor Gracie, Rolles Gracie, Gregor Gracie, and Kyra Gracie.

Check out this interview with Kyra Gracie in Singapore.

A Tribute to Muhammad Ali

2011-10-14T01:14:00.004+08:00

World class boxers have come and gone over the course of the last century, but none of them are as fondly remembered as Muhammad Ali. His career ended 30 years ago, but his reputation as the greatest of all time remains intact.

His strategy was simple, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," and Ali used it to bamboozle the best heavyweight boxers of the era. Here you can see him showing off some of the fancy footwork with which he was able to outwit opponents by consistently making them miss:

Ali defeated every top heavyweight in an era which has been described as the golden age of heavyweight boxing. He was named "Fighter of the Year" by Ring Magazine more times than any other fighter, and was involved in more Ring Magazine "Fight of the Year" bouts than any other fighter.

Although there was no doubt that Ali was elusive, he was also involved in some incredible wars; these wars eventually began to take their toll and were almost certainly a contributory factor towards him being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years after his retirement.

Ali achieved all that he did despite being inactive for three years during what should have been his prime. In 1966, at the age of 25, he was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but was stripped of all his titles for refusing to be drafted into the US army to fight in the Vietnam War.

The case captured the attention of the entire nation and Ali was able to repeatedly put forward his reasons for refusing the draft in an extremely succinctly manner,

“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”

This act of principled courage definitely increased his profile and made him a hero in most eyes and a traitor in some. While Ali’s profile as a spokesman and political campaigner went through the roof, his boxing career was put on the sidelines; he was stripped of his world titles when he refused to enter the military draft. The US Government pursued Ali vigorously to make an example out of him, trying to throw him in prison and effectively ending his boxing career. Ali battled the US Government, risking his entire livelihood by standing by his principles and values. He was eventually convicted for a crime punishable by five years in prison, only to have the conviction overturned by the Supreme Court a few years later.

Three years after getting convicted for dodging the military draft, Ali made a triumphant return to the ring. He won a couple tune up fights before facing then world champion Joe Frazier. The fight against Joe Frazier was billed as the "Fight of the Century" as both fighters were undefeated and considered the best. At the time, Ali had a record of 31-0 and Frazier had a record of 26-0. Frazier won by unanimous decision in a hard fought battle that left both men in the hospital after the fight.

It was the first loss of Ali’s career, but he bounced back to win his next 10 fights, and in 1974, he won the rematch with Frazier. However, despite defeating Frazier, Ali was still not in possession of the either the Ring, WBC or WBA World Heavyweight titles.

George Foreman held all three titles, courtesy of a spectacular second round stoppage victory over Frazier in Jamaica in 1973. The stage was set for a huge battle in what to this day is widely regarded as the most momentous event in the history of boxing. The "Rumble in the Jungle" took place in Zaire in front of a crowd of 60,000. At the time, George Foreman had a record of 40-0 with 37 KOs and was viewed as the hardest puncher in the world. Most experts predicted that Ali would get slaughtered. People were genuinely worried for his safety.

However, Ali pulled off a remarkable upset and KO'd Foreman in the 8th round. His strategy was considered insanity and suicide at the time. In the first round, it was clear that Ali's normal style of speed and footwork would not work against the young lion, Foreman. So Ali invented another strategy in the 2nd round by simply leaning against the ropes and taunting Foreman into unleashing punches. Ali taunted Foreman into punching him until eventually Foreman gassed out. Ali’s strategy worked and Foreman ran out of steam and was stopped in round eight, but not before the champion had dished out an unbelievable amount of punishment to the challenger. Ali showed incredible courage and heart to hang in there and to take Foreman’s best shots; his performance is still considered electrifying to this very day. You can see some highlights of it in this compilation which also demonstrates Ali’s incredible punching power:

Ali successfully defended his title on three occasions before the time came to face his old adversary, Joe Frazier, in a rubber match the following year. On October 1st 1975, the two men met for the third time in the "Thrilla in Manila." The fight left both men completely wiped out physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Ali taunted Frazier throughout the build up to the fight, and fervently believed he would be able to beat him as decisively as Foreman had done a few years earlier. Such was his confidence that he did not put in a proper training camp, preferring to spend his time entertaining his growing entourage.

Frazier had supported Ali throughout his suspension from boxing during the Vietnam War, even giving him financial assistance, and was extremely upset to find himself on the receiving end of so much derision from the champion. He chose to keep his own counsel, but trained very, very hard for the fight. It was the best Joe Frazier the world had ever seen.

Ali barely bothered with the fancy footwork and instead set to knock Frazier out as quickly as possible. For four rounds, he battered him in the intensive heat, but to the amazement of everyone, not least Ali himself, Frazier refused to go down.

Frazier came on strong, dominating the middle rounds. It wasn’t until the tenth round that Frazier began to tire and the momentum started to swing back towards the champion.

By round 14, Frazier was almost totally blind due to the swelling around his eyes and his trainer made the decision to throw in the towel before the final round. Unbeknownst to him, Ali was also about to quit in his corner too. Afterwards Ali described the experience as "the closest thing to dying."

There has not been a boxing match of that magnitude since, nor has there been a boxer with the same sort of aura and appeal as Muhammad Ali. His fights had a significance which simply transcended the sport and he more than earned the monikor by which he will forever be known, "The Greatest." In and out of the ring, Muhammad Ali defied all odds and accomplished the extraordinary.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Another Evolve Movie Night!

2011-10-13T15:56:00.005+08:00

Evolve MMA is pleased to announce another Evolve Movie Night with a private screening of the new movie, WARRIOR, a critically-acclaimed movie about MMA. In addition to the private screening, there will also be a cocktail hour beforehand.

It is complimentary for Evolve members and their friends...and popcorn and nachos are included! Please note that space is limited to the first 600 people that sign up. To join the Complimentary Evolve Movie Night, you can simply register at the front desk of any Evolve location.

Come join the Evolve Family for a fun night out!

Date: 6 Nov 2011
Time: 800pm
Venue: GV Max at Vivo City
Who: Evolve members + friends
Cost: Complimentary

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve MMA named #1 in Asia again!

2011-10-12T04:48:00.002+08:00

Fighters Only Magazine, one of the top MMA magazines in the world, named Evolve MMA as "the most outstanding MMA academy in Asia," echoing similar accolades and rankings by CNN, Tokyo Times, ESPN StarSports, The Bleacher Report, MMA Mania, Bloody Elbow, MiddleEasy, MMA Japan, and other top news organizations.

The full article courtesy of Fighters Only Magazine is below.

Shinya Aoki has firmly cemented his status as the top fighter in Asia with six straight wins in the last 15 months. It has also been a good year for his new team, Evolve MMA in Singapore; the Evolve Fight Team has registered a 12-1 record for 2011 in the UFC, DREAM Fighting Championship, ONE Fighting Championship, and DARE Championship.

In an effort to upgrade his skills in every area of MMA and to transform his game completely, Shinya Aoki joined the Evolve Fight Team in Singapore. Evolve MMA takes a unique approach in the world of mixed martial arts. The philosophy is a simple one: to acquire world champions in all of the main disciplines of MMA, to throw them under one roof and to have them train together day-in and day-out.

Evolve MMA is unlike almost any other camp in the world in that it is run like a professional sports team. Fighters are actively recruited from around the world and invited to become a part of the Evolve Fight Team.

They receive a hefty monthly salary, enjoy free corporate housing, and train under world champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. The facilities are enormous, state-of-the-art, and world-class; the fighters also benefit from a strength and conditioning coach to look after their fitness needs.

Instead of a loose group of mixed martial artists drifting in and out of training, Evolve MMA has a hand-picked, professional team from across the globe, working together constantly regardless of whether they have an upcoming fight or not. The Evolve Fight Team trains together 2x a day, 6 days week, all year round.

After a recent training visit to Evolve MMA, legendary MMA coach Matt Hume said that, “Evolve MMA is probably the best MMA school that I have ever seen. It has the deepest talent pool in the world. There is no doubt that they will be producing champions in the UFC, in DREAM, and other organizations in the future.”

Renzo Gracie echoes that sentiment, “For sure, there is no other academy like Evolve MMA in Asia. It has an unbelievable collection fighters and world champions. You will be hearing a lot about these guys.” Lastly, after training there,

UFC Legend Rich Franklin said in a recent interview that, “Evolve MMA is world championship level. The talent…especially the Muay Thai World Champions and BJJ Black Belts…are on another level. It’s only a matter of time before they start producing world champions in MMA.”

This all-year-round approach to training paid dividends when DARE Championship in Thailand asked Evolve MMA to find two suitable opponents on 10 days notice to face Ferrid Kheder, one of the most experienced 155 lbers outside of the UFC, and Sebastian Garguier, a top French fighter, on their main card.

Garguier and Kheder probably thought they were travelling to Thailand for an easy pay day and neither made any effort to even step onto the scales at the right weight. They got a rude awakening from Zorobabel Moreira and Brian Choi from the Evolve Fight Team. Moreira and Choi accepted the last minute call and registered convincing victories over Kheder and Garguier.

The leader of the Evolve Fight Team, Chatri Sityodtong, believes that the success of his team is due to the incredible teamwork at Evolve MMA.

“While most people believe that professional fighting is an individual sport, it is the farthest thing from the truth. In fact, fighting is probably one of the most intense team sports in the world. It takes an entire team to produce the results of a single fighter - coaches, managers, mentors, training partners, cornermen, students, etc," he said.

Moreira is a BJJ world champion from Brazil and Choi is a wrestler from Korea. As part of their development as MMA fighters, Chatri Sityodtong made Moreira and Choi compete in professional Muay Thai and professional western Boxing fights in Thailand. Chatri believes that it is critical for an MMA fighter to have actual combat experience in each of the single disciplines of MMA.

The pre-event publicity for DREAM 17 featured footage of Aoki hitting pads at Evolve MMA and working on both his boxing and Muay Thai. A few people expressed surprise at how much his stand up skills had improved and Aoki attributes it to the coaching he has received in Singapore,

“I feel very blessed to be a part of Evolve MMA. It is the top MMA camp in Asia by far and it is my belief that many of my teammates on the Evolve Fight Team will become MMA world champions in the future. Chatri and I have spent many hours trading our thoughts and ideas about martial arts. He is the main reason why I joined the Evolve Fight Team. Chatri is brilliant when it comes to fighting and martial arts,” he said.

Although he would love to avenge his disappointing loss to Gilbert Melendez, Aoki is all set to make an appearance at Bellator in 2012. His prospective opponent, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, is the only other top ranked 155 lber not under the Zuffa banner. It will be a rematch of the 2008 fight in which Aoki won with a first round heel hook. Alvarez has won seven straight since that loss to Aoki.

Another member of the Evolve Fight Team is Rafael dos Anjos, a UFC lightweight fighter. He recently enjoyed a KO victory over George Sotiropoulos and will be competing at UFC 139 in November in San Jose, California. He spends a few months a year training at Evolve MMA in Singapore and the rest of the time at Evolve MMA in Brazil.

While Aoki and Dos Anjos are already well-established fighters, the Evolve Fight Team also has plenty of up-and-coming fighters (who are already world champions and/or national champions in single disciplines) such as Fabricio Monteiro (19-7), Leandro Issa (9-2), Zorobabel Moreira (5-1), Brian Choi (5-1), Eddie Ng (4-1), Mitch Chilson (2-1), Alex Silva (1-0), Yodsanan Sityodtong (1-0), Radeem Rahman (1-0).

Yodsanan Sityodtong is a former WBA Super Featherweight world champion while Leandro Issa and Zorobabel Moreira are BJJ world champions.

Evolve MMA is also home to legendary Muay Thai world champions Orono Wor Petchpun, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Attachai Fairtex, Kongtoranee Payakaroon, Anuwat Kaewsamrit, Yoddecha Sityodtong, Lamanammoon Sor Sumalee, and many others.

While these Thai names might not mean much in the world of MMA, these Muay Thai legends are national heroes in Thailand and rank among the greatest in history. A couple of magazines in Thailand have gone as far as to label Evolve MMA’s team as the most decorated Muay Thai team in history.

Chatri has spent a lot of time and money acquiring this impressive array of talent,

“I handpick all of the fighters and instructors at Evolve MMA. I choose the members of the team based on a combination of personal/professional characteristics such as integrity, honesty, athleticism, gameness, humility, work ethic and teamwork. I believe in this formula so much so that I have even kicked out fighters and instructors from Evolve MMA for displaying behaviour which was counterproductive to the team,” he said.

It is interesting to note that no fighter has ever left the Evolve Fight Team voluntarily since its inception in 2008. This search has taken him all over the globe with fighters coming from as far as Brazil, Korea, the US, Hong Kong, Thailand and, of course, Singapore. Chatri spends a long time looking at prospective candidates,

“The formula is easy to talk about, but very difficult to execute. I get flooded with incoming emails, probably around one hundred emails or so per week from fighters around the world (mostly Asia) who want to be a part of the Evolve Fight Team as a fighter or instructor," he said.

I try my best to select every person for the Evolve Fight Team with extremely careful thought and consideration because I only want to invest myself in people that I believe in for the long run."

With upcoming fights all over the world, the Evolve Fight Team is busy training as always. The Evolve Fight Team has a hectic schedule lined up in 2012 in the UFC, ONE Fighting Championship, DREAM Fighting Championship, DARE Fighting Championship, and many other organizations.

Evolve MMA has already forged a reputation for being the most outstanding MMA academy in Asia with a 90%+ win record. The US has Jackson’s Submission Fighting and Team Cesar Gracie. Brazil has Blackhouse and Brazilian Top Team. And Asia has Evolve MMA.

The sport of MMA has truly become a global game.

-Fighters Only Magazine

Evolve Fighter Profile: Alex Silva

2011-10-08T00:03:00.002+08:00

A member of the Evolve Fight Team, Alex Silva is a Copa do Mundo BJJ World Champion. Alex is an elite, world-class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt with excellent results in the Mundials World Championship, the Brazilian Nationals, and many other national and regional competitions in Brazil. He has deep experience in BJJ, training 5-6 hours per day almost every day for the last 14 years straight. His favorite techniques are the armbar and the choke. Alex has been training very hard on his striking with all the Muay Thai World Champions at Evolve MMA. Alex recently made his professional MMA debut in September 2011 at DARE Fighting Championship, winning in the 1st round via rear-naked choke.

To learn more about Alex, please watch the video profile.

UFC 136: Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian

2011-10-07T03:27:00.001+08:00

UFC World Champion Jose Aldo is widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world. This weekend, he defends his title against Kenny Florian at UFC 136. In this video clip, Aldo talks about his incredible journey from the slums of Brazil to the pinnacle of MMA.

The Crazy Ones

2011-10-07T02:19:00.002+08:00

In 1997, many experts believed that Apple was destined to go bankrupt. It had just lost over $1 billion dollars that fiscal year and it was getting destroyed by the Windows-based competition. At that time, Apple was a small company (with a measly 3% market share) in an industry of giants. It was rapidly losing market share and customers. It lacked innovation, products, and people. It was a company on the brink of disaster.

1997 was also the year that Steve Jobs returned to Apple to become its CEO once again after getting fired from the Company 12 years earlier. By 2011, he turned Apple into the largest company in the world by market capitalization and turned it into a cash machine with a net cash balance greater than that of the US Treasury. He went from being an adopted child who dropped out of college to becoming the greatest inventor of the modern era. Above all, he changed the world and touched millions of lives with incredible products.

Incredibly, Steve Jobs narrated this original ad below in 1997 before he achieved his greatest accomplishments...

Unleash the Warrior Within You

2011-10-06T01:21:00.001+08:00

Mitch Chilson, Monica Josephine, and Eddie Ng from Evolve MMA

At Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, we are firm believers in the value of cross training across all the major reality-based martial arts such as Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, and Boxing. Even if you are a Muay Thai purist, you will benefit greatly by doing some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Likewise, even if you are a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fanatic, you will benefit greatly by doing some Muay Thai. At Evolve MMA, we offer a comprehensive selection of courses such as Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, Submission Grappling, Wrestling, Yoga for MMA, FightShape, and much more. There are multiple reasons why cross-training across all of our different courses is excellent for you.

Here are the major reasons:

FITNESS
Different martial arts use different muscles at different rates of intensity. A concept in fitness is to shock the body with new movements and exercises. The logic is that the body tends to adapt very quickly to routine and you end up burning less calories by doing the same thing over and over. The body is an efficient machine and quickly figures out the easiest way to do something. By cross training though, you do not let your body get comfortable. For example, a Muay Thai workout is a highly intense cardio workout with elements of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. It really pushes your cardiovascular system. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is equally hard, but in a different way. You are constantly pushing your own weight (and someone else's). Every muscle in your body is working in a resistance type format. In Boxing, the aerobic workout is far less intense than in Muay Thai, but equally effective for getting fit. (3 minutes of Muay Thai is more taxing on the body than 3 minutes of Boxing simply because more body parts and muscles are at work). In any case, the point is that you should try to put your body in different situations. You will burn fat more effectively, you will get fitter more quickly, and you will build a better body.

SELF DEFENSE
If you are taking martial arts because you want to learn the art of self-defense, then you should really learn the art of self-defense. Unfortunately, 95% of martial arts that are taught around the world are ineffective in a real life situation. This is the sad truth. After 15 years of the UFC, it is now widely accepted around the world that the most effective systems are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, and Wrestling for real life hand-to-hand combat situations. For better or for worse, the traditional martial arts (such as Karate, Taekwondo, etc) have not done well in real life situations. (There are many logical reasons why, but it will not be addressed here). However, even in the UFC, there are limitations due to all the rules. As we all know, if you are in a situation where you need to defend yourself or your loved ones, there are no rules. So why should you train in Muay Thai if you are phenomenal at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or vice-versa? Because every martial art has its own limitations! In a self-defense situation, there are 4 primary ranges of combat: the kicking range, the punching range, the clinch range, and the ground range. The truth is that you cannot always dictate where the fight will start or end up. If you are in a crowded nightclub in Bangkok, are you really going to jump guard and try to submit your foe with an armbar when his friends can easily gang up on you? What if someone sucker punches you? Or what if an intruder is in your home trying to strangle you? The point is that self-defense is about being prepared for ANY SITUATION and having the TOOLS to increase your odds of survival. If you are a pure Muay Thai stylist, then what happens if you and your foe accidentally fall to the ground together? If you have no tools, then you will simply be flailing away with terrible odds against you. Or if you are only a wrestler and there are 2 foes against you, what will you do? By cross training in different martial arts, you will pick up some tools to be effective in different situations.

MENTAL DEXTERITY
At Evolve MMA, our style of martial arts is about intelligence, technique, and knowledge. Rather than rely on brute force or strength, we strongly prefer technique. Why? Because the point of martial arts is for the smaller person to defend himself/herself against a larger opponent. Technique is the secret to achieving that goal. If you have the correct technique, you will automatically generate incredible results in terms of speed, power, leverage, etc. Because our approach to martial arts is very cerebral, you will need to sharpen your mind in order to learn all the various techniques. In many ways, it is like doing a cross word puzzle or solving a puzzle. It is mental yoga. If you cross train across the different martial arts, your brain will be forced to think differently and to adapt to new situations, problems, and techniques. Cross training is an excellent way to wake up those brain cells and to activate your body. It will also increase your mental toughness and toughen your spirit. Every training session at Evolve MMA is designed specifically to push your limits mentally and physically.

ATHLETICISM
By cross training in another martial art, you will learn more about your body and how it moves. It sounds silly, but it is true. By putting your body in unfamiliar poses and movements, you end up using different muscles and different thought processes. In doing so, you will end up becoming more in tune with your body and its capabilities. It eventually becomes self-reinforcing and you will become even better at your core martial art. The analogy we like to use is that of driving a car. If you only drive a car on a highway, how will you know how well the car turns or how well it performs on a dirt mountain or in the snow? By driving in different situations, you become more in tune with your car and you become a better driver too! At Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, we strongly encourage everyone to take classes in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Street Self Defense, and more. It does not matter if you are a complete beginner or a seasoned professional. The benefits of cross-training are for everyone!

VARIETY AND FUN
The longer you do something, the more repetitive it gets. To keep things fresh and exciting, you need variety. As they say, variety is the spice of life! And there is no better place than Singapore to exemplify that spirit with all of its diverse culture, its vast array of foods, its cosmopolitan vibe, and its sense of adventure. Quite frankly, all of the Evolve Instructors cross train in different arts because they want to have fun too! Humans have an innate curiousity. We all want to learn and to grow. We also all want to have FUN. And cross-training is the answer!

Given the benefits of cross-training, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts is committed to giving you a wide array of courses to help you evolve into everything that you can be. Evolve Mixed Martial Arts offers classes in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Wrestling, and more. For more details on the classes, you can check our website at www.evolve-mma.com.

The point of life and the martial arts is to keep evolving and to grow continuously - physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. So here is to evolving into everything that you can be!

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Champion Wrestlers Wanted!

2011-10-05T02:01:00.010+08:00

Evolve MMA is offering a US$5,000 finders fee for each successful introduction to a qualified wrestler who receives an offer from Evolve MMA and who joins the Evolve Fight Team for a minimum period of 12 months. Do you know an NCAA Division 1 Champion wrestler from the US and/or a World Champion wrestler from Eastern Europe/Russia? We are looking for top notch, world-class wrestlers to join the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 ranked professional fight team.

If you are interested, please email us at fighters@evolve-mma.com

With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is Asia's top martial arts training organization. According to MiddleEasy, Evolve MMA has the highest concentration of world champions on the planet. We have world champions in every major discipline of mixed martial arts, except for one...wrestling. Evolve MMA has the largest instructor team in Asia with 51 instructors and 17 world champions. And we are continuing to add to our team every month.

While we have some outstanding wrestling coaches, none of them have reached the absolute peak in wrestling. Evolve MMA is currently looking to recruit two to three NCAA Division 1 champions and/or World Champions in wrestling. The ideal candidates would be in their early to mid 20s in terms of age.

If you are an elite world-class wrestler and you are serious about professional MMA, then Evolve MMA is an excellent platform to accelerate your career dramatically. At Evolve MMA, you will learn under our world champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. In other words, you will be able to work on every area of your MMA game and learn under the best of the best in the world. Some pro MMA fighters from the Evolve Fight Team include DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki, UFC fighter Rafael dos Anjos, ONE FC Superstar Zorobabel Moreira, MCFC Champion Leandro Issa, ONE FC fighter Brian Choi, ONE FC fighter Ximbica Ribeiro, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, MCFC Champion Mitch Chilson, Total Combat FC Champion Eddie Ng, and many others. Some Muay Thai World Champions from the Evolve Fight Team include Orono Wor Petchpun, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Attachai Fairtex, Chaowalith Jockey Gym, Yoddecha Sityodtong, and many others. Some BJJ World Champions from the Evolve Fight Team include Rafael Gordinho Lima, Roberto Gordo Lima, Zorobabel Moreira, Leandro Issa, and many others.

In addition to our world-class training, you will also receive an invitation to join the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 ranked professional fight team. The Evolve Fight Team regularly competes in the biggest MMA events in the world such as UFC, ONE Fighting Championship, DREAM FC, etc. Over the last 3 years, the Evolve Fight Team has compiled a 90%+ win rate in professional MMA. In 2011, the Evolve Fight Team is 12-1 for a 92% win rate. These wins were achieved in the UFC, DREAM FC, ONE Fighting Championship, DARE Fighting Championship, etc in the US, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. As a member of Asia's largest MMA team, you will automatically receive a fight contract from one of the major MMA organizations in Asia. To enhance your MMA game, you will also be eligible to compete in professional Muay Thai, professional Boxing, etc in Asia.

Members of the Evolve Fight Team receive excellent monthly compensation that is considered among the highest packages in the world. They also receive free corporate housing paid for by Evolve MMA. The strong compensation package reflects the seriousness of purpose of Evolve MMA's mission to recruit the absolute best athletes, fighters, and martial artists in the world.

To be eligible, you will need to relocate to Singapore for a minimum of 12 months to train out of the headquarters of Evolve MMA. Singapore is a super modern, international city with all of the bells and whistles of any major international capital with excellent restaurants, shopping centers, nightlife, recreational activities, travel opportunities, and much more. In the video clips below, you can see what legends like Rich Franklin, Matt Hume, and Renzo Gracie have to say about Evolve MMA and Singapore.

Introduction to Evolve MMA

2011-10-04T19:20:00.003+08:00

"Evolve MMA is Asia's number one martial arts organization." - CNN

"Evolve MMA is one of the best MMA schools in the world." - UFC Legend Rich Franklin

"Evolve has the greatest concentration of world champions on the planet." - MiddleEasy

"For sure, Evolve MMA is the best school in all of Asia." - BJJ Legend Renzo Gracie

"Evolve MMA is Asia's top MMA camp...by far." - DREAM FC Champion Shinya Aoki

"No other MMA academy in Asia, and possibly even the world, can boast of such an impressive team of world champions, fighters, and instructors." - Bloody Elbow

"Evolve MMA is the best MMA gym that I have ever visited. The talent on the instructor team is the deepest in the world." - MMA Legend Matt Hume

"Evolve MMA is the Greg Jackson's Camp of Asia. It is the best without a doubt." - MMA Japan

"Evolve MMA is shooting up the ranks as one of the best teams in the world." - Bleacher Report

"There is no academy in the world like Evolve MMA. It is the top." - Kru Yodtong Senanan

To learn more about Evolve MMA, check out the intro video below.

Interview w/ Chatri Sityodtong, CEO of Evolve MMA

2011-10-03T22:39:00.010+08:00

MMA Mania recently did an interview with Chatri Sityodtong, the leader of the Evolve Fight Team. The interview is below. Or to read it on MMA Mania, you can click here.

Thai businessman Chatri Sityodtong is the Founder and Chairman of Evolve MMA. He spoke exclusively to MMA Mania about how he founded Evolve MMA and how he has taken it to the point where it is widely recognized as being the top MMA academy in Asia.

Evolve MMA in Singapore is home to some top talent such as Shinya Aoki and Rafael Dos Anjos and is also developing an entire crop of up and coming fighters like Brian Choi, Eddie Ng, and Zorobabel Moreira. The Evolve Fight Team's 2011 MMA record stands at 12-1 with wins at the UFC, DREAM FC, ONE Fighting Championship, and DARE Championship.

The Evolve Fight Team has a staggering 92% win rate and very few teams in the world can rival that win ratio, especially given that these wins were generated at the highest levels of competition at the world's biggest shows. The last wins came a couple of weekends ago when Alex Silva and Rodrigo Ribeiro both won by first round submission at DARE Championship while Aoki defended his DREAM lightweight title by defeating Rob McCullough. Next up is Dos Anjos who will be looking to move up the lightweight ladder when he takes on Gleison Tibau at UFC 139.

What is your martial arts background?
I'm from Thailand and I've been doing Muay Thai for almost 25 years as a student, a fighter, a teacher, and a coach. Kru Yodtong Senanan (the Grandmaster of Sityodtong Camp in Thailand) has been my teacher since I was a kid growing up in Thailand. I've grappled for about 3 years. I'm not very good at it, but I love it. I have a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie. As an MMA coach, I have taught and cornered fighters such as DREAM FC Champion Shinya Aoki, UFC fighter Rafael dos Anjos, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, BJJ World Champion Zorobabel Moreira, MCFC Champion Mitch Chilson, BJJ World Champion Leandro Issa, ONE FC fighter Eddie Ng, and many others.

The Evolve Fight Team has had a very successful year. Why do you think that is?
In fighting, you are only as good as your team. For me, I believe that the best attract the best and the best produce the best. At Evolve MMA, we have a great family of world-class teachers...51 full-time instructors to be exact...17 of whom are World Champions in their discipline. Evolve MMA is the only MMA academy in Asia with current or former world champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. As the leader of Evolve MMA, I try my best to foster a strong cross-learning environment. I don't believe in MMA as a stand alone art. I believe that you have to learn each discipline deeply before applying it to MMA.

Where do you find fighters and trainers and what is the selection process?
In the early days of Evolve MMA, it was much harder to recruit and I had to travel a lot to find talent. We've been lucky in that our win streak has given us a good reputation. Today, I get about 100 emails a week from fighters and coaches asking to join the Evolve Fight Team. It's mostly around Asia, but we've even gotten inquiries from the US, Australia, and Europe too. Every day, I spend a couple hours a day scouring the globe for new talent. When I spot talent, then we usually invite them to train with us for a tryout process. Other times, professional fighters just show up without any advance warning to try out for the team. In a nutshell, I am looking for fighters that Evolve MMA can turn into World Champions. So I look at natural athleticism, gameness, coachability, humility, work ethic, body type, etc. Luckily, our retention rate has been 100%. We've never had a fighter or instructor leave us voluntarily. I try my best to invest my time in people that I truly believe in for the long run. Right now, I am still looking to recruit 2-3 wrestling champions for the Evolve Fight Team...NCAA D1 champion caliber.

Chatri Sityodtong and Shinya Aoki with their teammates from the Evolve Fight Team at DREAM 17

Who devises the Evolve MMA fighter training program? Is one person in overall charge?
I am the leader of the Evolve Fight Team and I am ultimately responsible for everything. That being said, our day-to-day training is taught by our 51 instructors. When we have fights, I am the one who comes up with our game plan and strategy for each of our fighters. I've had some great input from friends who visited Singapore to train with us such as Renzo Gracie, Matt Hume, Rich Franklin, etc. We regularly share knowledge with each other. And of course, all of our World Champions at Evolve MMA are walking encyclopedias on fighting. The wealth of knowledge at Evolve MMA is incredible. There is really so much cross-learning here. The Fighters Program at Evolve MMA is a constant work-in-progress; we are constantly trying to incorporate new methodologies into the training. I believe in continuous improvement. If you don't evolve, you wither away.

You send your MMA fighters to compete in Muay Thai fights, boxing matches and BJJ competitions, why is that?
I don't believe in MMA as a discipline. I believe that, to be truly great at MMA, you need to learn each discipline in depth. So I strongly encourage all of our fighters to compete in every discipline. The results have been quite good. For example, BJJ World Champion Zorobabel Moreira has fought a few times in professional Muay Thai in Thailand. His confidence in his standup game has skyrocketed. I mean if Zoro can hang in Muay Thai with a Thai fighter in Thailand, what can an MMA striker do to Zoro that he hasn't seen before? Those invaluable minutes in actual striking combat, coupled with his training under our Muay Thai World Champions, has translated into his excellent performances in MMA.

Are you looking to recruit any more fighters or trainers at the moment?
Yes, of course. I am constantly looking for new fighters and instructors every day. It's one of my top priorities. Evolve MMA has been growing rapidly and I am constantly looking for world-class talent. I can't say his name yet, but I just recruited a 21 year old Lumpinee Muay Thai World Champion to come train full-time in MMA. As a full-time employee at Evolve MMA, his only job will be to train and to fight for us. He will be training every day in BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, and Wrestling. He will be arriving to Evolve in late October.

How exciting an opportunity is One FC for the Evolve MMA fighters?
ONE FC is an excellent opportunity for our fighters. I hope the show succeeds because Asia is missing a world-class organization like ONE FC right now. I love DREAM FC and I hope it does well too.

Chatri Sityodtong and Rafael dos Anjos with Roberto Gordo and Rafael Gordinho celebrating at win at UFC

How much difference has Shinya Aoki made to the fight team since he joined earlier this year?
I always look for win-win situations. Clearly, Shinya is one of the top lightweight MMA fighters in the world. But if he wants to take his game to the next level, he needs a team like Evolve MMA. Here at Evolve MMA, Shinya is exposed to the best of the best in the world in each discipline. As a result, every aspect of his game has really improved dramatically - his striking, his takedowns, his ground game, etc. Shinya and I get along very well...we both share the exact same philosophies in martial arts. We are both martial artists, not fighters. A fighter only trains when he has a fight. A martial artist trains every day with the purpose of perfecting his craft. We both believe strongly in continuous improvement. On the flip side, Evolve MMA is also lucky to have Shinya; he has shared his wealth of MMA experience with the rest of the Evolve Fight Team. He's a very unselfish teammate. He's always trying to help everyone on the team. This incredible cross-learning environment is the heart of what the Evolve Fight Team is about. As the saying goes, iron forges iron.

How many months a year does Rafael Dos Anjos spend in Singapore?
Rafael spends a few months a year in Singapore. His Muay Thai game has really skyrocketed. I truly believe that he has what it takes to become a UFC World Champion.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Best Supplements for Performance

2011-10-02T08:49:00.001+08:00

You spend a lot of time and effort exercising your body and it is just as important to ensure that you put the right things into it. For optimal performance, you should combine a healthy diet with daily supplements. However, please remember that supplements are not a substitute for fruits, vegetables, etc.

Here are some supplements which you might consider introducing into your daily meal plan:

Multivitamins
Multivitamins are a bit of a no brainer. With the recommended daily dose of just about every vitamin packed into a single tablet or pill, the question is why wouldn’t you take them?
A good multivitamin should contain vitamins A, B, C, D, and E as well as folic acid.

Fish Oil
Fish oil is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help with both your brain and your heart. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect and will be particularly beneficial to anyone who has a specific injury or is simply sore after exercise. If you don’t eat a lot of fish, then you might consider consuming up to 3 grams of fish oil a day. If fish is already a regular fixture on your menu, you can reduce this to one gram. Look for a brand that contains the two key healthy fats in fish, EPA and DPA.

Probiotics
Probiotics are live microorganisms that are similar to beneficial microorganisms found in the human gut. They are often referred to as ‘friendly bacteria’ or ‘good bacteria’ and can aid with overall gut health and enhance your immune system. You can get probiotics in your diet by eating things like yogurt and fermented milk. Probiotics aid you in digesting food, particularly hard-to-digest foods. A good probiotic supplement should enhance the synthesis of B vitamins and improve calcium absorption, helping you to keep a healthy balance of intestinal microflora and to support your overall immune system.

Boron
Boron is a mineral which can help to reduce the risk of prostate cancer and block the enzymes that cause pain and inflammation. It is naturally contained in raisins and almonds and supposedly helps to improve memory and concentration too. The suggested daily dose of boron in a supplement is 3-6 mgs.

Coenzyme Q10
Your body produces coenzyme 10 naturally and it helps your cells to manage your body's energy supply. As you get older production decreases, and the only way you can compensate is to take a supplement. Studies suggest that coenzyme Q10 may fight cancer, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease, and heart disease. Q10 is also packed with free-radical-fighting antioxidants, which can help to slow the signs of aging. The recommended daily dose is 100 mg and you are unlikely to get this in your normal daily diet so a supplement is essential.

Calcium
Calcium strengthens your bones, but most people don’t get the recommended 1,000 mg daily dose. 1,200 mgs of calcium citrate a day is a sensible dose for people who don’t already consume plenty of calcium. However, beware that the maximum daily intake is 2,500 mgs.

Chromium
Chromium is a muscle-building supplement which can also help to reduce the risk of diabetes by regulating your insulin levels. Chromium improves the body's sensitivity to insulin, making it easier to keep blood-sugar levels under control. 35 mgs a day is recommended and chromium picolinate is the form which studies have found to be the most effective.

Glucosamine
Glucosamine is particularly popular as a supplement amongst older people because it effectively helps to grease the joints. It is made from the shells of crabs and it reduces joint pain and stiffness. It also helps prevent the progression of osteoarthritis in the knees. 1,500 mg a day is the recommended dose.

Recovery shake
After a workout, your body needs to recover. Within 60 minutes after your workout, you should have a drink with high protein and fast absorbing carbohydrates.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Pictures from DREAM 17

2011-09-30T17:50:00.003+08:00

Last weekend, the Evolve Fight Team competed in DREAM 17 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki successfully submitted former WEC Champion Rob McCullough with a rear-naked neck crank in the 1st round. The entire fight went exactly according to plan. Prior to the fight, his coaches (Kru Chatri Sityodtong, Yuki Nakai, and Ryo Chonan) had devised a game plan for Shinya to apply forward pressure to keep Rob McCullough backpedaling before taking him down. Given that Rob was physically stronger than Shinya, the game plan also included some ground and pound to soften up Rob before going for a submission.

Here are some pictures of the Evolve Fight Team. Pictures are courtesy of DREAM.

Yuki Nakai, Chatri Sityodtong, Shinya Aoki, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Muangfalek Kiatvichian, Ryo Chonan

Shinya with his teammates Namsaknoi, Yuki, Chatri, Muangfalek, and Ryo

Shinya is ready to go

Shinya Aoki submits Rob McCullough with a rear-naked neck crank

Shinya gives his victory speech to a thunderous crowd

2011 ADCC World Champion Kyra Gracie!

2011-09-28T12:01:00.004+08:00

Kyra Gracie will be coming to Evolve MMA Singapore in 3 days to give a seminar as well as to train here for a few weeks. A multiple time World Champion, Kyra Gracie is a 2nd degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and the most famous woman from the legendary Gracie Family. She trains out of Evolve Brazil under Roberto Gordo Lima. This past weekend, she produced flawless and courageous performances to win another ADCC world title. Other Gracie family members who have made the trek to Evolve MMA Singapore include Renzo Gracie, Roger Gracie, Gregor Gracie, Igor Gracie, Rolles Gracie, and Mauricio Gomes.

Details for her seminar at Evolve MMA in Singapore are below.

Date: 8 Oct 2011 - 9 Oct 2011
Time: 1000am to 1230pm
Venue: Evolve Far East Square
Who: Kyra Gracie, 5x BJJ World Champion
Cost: 1 or 2 days, $100/$150 for Evolve students, $150/$200 for public

Here are some of Kyra's titles.

4x World BJJ Champion (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
5x Pan American BJJ Games Champion (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007)
5x Brazilian BJJ Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004)
5x New York State BJJ Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
3x ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion (2005, 2007, 2011)

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Evolve Fight Team in 2011

2011-09-27T12:57:00.007+08:00

The Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 ranked professional fight team, is currently 12-1 in professional MMA for 2011 so far. Of those 12 wins, it has a 75% finish rate with 5 KOs and 4 submissions. The Evolve Fight Team produced these results in 4 different countries (US, Singapore, Japan, and Thailand) and at the top MMA organizations in the world (UFC, ONE Fighting Championship, DREAM Fighting Championship, and DARE Fighting Championship respectively). The UFC is the world's top MMA organization. ONE Fighting Championship is the largest MMA organization in Asia. DREAM Fighting Championship is the largest MMA organization in Japan and is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Asian MMA. DARE Fighting Championship is the largest MMA organization in Thailand. Additionally, the collective fight record of those opponents is 124-72-2 with an average of 15 fights and 10 wins.

THE EVOLVE FIGHT TEAM in 2011

FIGHT RECORD in 2011
Wins-Losses: 12-1
Win Percentage: 92.3%
KO Wins: 5
Submission Wins: 4
Finish Percentage: 75%

OPPONENTS in 2011
Fight Record: 124-72-2
Average Number of Fights: 15
Average Number of Wins: 10

EVENTS IN 2011:
UFC
ONE FC
DREAM FC
DARE FC

COUNTRIES IN 2011:
US
Singapore
Japan
Thailand

With a 90%+ win record in professional MMA over the last 3 years, the Evolve Fight Team also has World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. Some pro MMA fighters from the Evolve Fight Team include DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki, UFC contender Rafael dos Anjos, MCFC Champion Mitch Chilson, Total Combat FC Champion Eddie Ng, ONE FC Superstar Zorobabel Moreira, MCFC Champion Leandro Issa, ONE FC fighter Brian Choi, ONE FC fighter Ximbica Ribeiro, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, and many others. Some Muay Thai World Champions from the Evolve Fight Team include Orono Wor Petchpun, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Attachai Fairtex, Chaowalith Jockey Gym, Yoddecha Sityodtong, and many others. Some BJJ World Champions from the Evolve Fight Team include Rafael Gordinho Lima, Roberto Gordo Lima, Zorobabel Moreira, Leandro Issa, and many others.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Interview with Kru Yodtong Senanan

2011-09-26T17:50:00.004+08:00

Kru Yodtong Senanan is widely regarded as the greatest teacher of Muay Thai for producing the most number of world champions in history. He recently came to Singapore to support his students, Chatri Sityodtong and Yodsanan Sityodtong, and the Evolve Fight Team at ONE Fighting Championship. The majority of his top students such as Kongtoranee Payakaroon Sityodtong, Yodsanan Sityodtong, Yoddecha Sityodtong, Yodchatri Sityodtong, Saknarong Sityodtong, Yodthira Sityodtong, Daorung Sityodtong, and many others currently teach Muay Thai at Evolve MMA. Kru Yodtong Senanan is called the Grandfather of Muay Thai in the Kingdom of Thailand.

To learn more about Kru Yodtong Senanan, please check out the video interview.

Bruce Lee: The First Mixed Martial Artist

2011-09-21T05:10:00.002+08:00

Bruce Lee is a martial arts legend. He pioneered the idea of cross-training in different martial arts in order to find the truth. At the time, in the 1960s and 1970s, it was scandalous and blasphemous to do so; he was hated by many people in the traditional martial arts community because his ideas were considered crazy. For Bruce Lee, he wanted only to incorporate techniques that truly worked in real life. He had a strong distaste for silly theory and techniques that only worked in a staged setting. In fact, he believed that 99% of techniques in traditional martial arts like Karate, Kung Fu, and Taekwondo were complete junk. His argument was that traditional arts had not evolved with time and their training methods were ridiculous. He is famous for saying, "wooden boards don't hit back" at a time when Karate practitioners were breaking wooden boards to prove how devastating their techniques were. Bruce held the strong belief that every individual had to find his/her own path by uncovering what truly works and what doesn't work in real life. As such, he cross-trained in every martial art possible. He kept the techniques that worked for him and threw out the rest. Today, professional MMA fighters incorporate this exact same philosophy to succeed in the cage. It is no coincidence that, after 18 years of professional MMA and thousands of matches, the combination of martial arts that has risen to the top are Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, and Wrestling. They are all reality-based martial arts that only use techniques that work in real life.

Check out this clip from a few of his movies and you can see how Bruce Lee was already incorporating striking, clinching, and grappling techniques in his repertoire.

While he is best known as an action movie star, Bruce always considered himself to be a martial artist first and an actor second. Fans of MMA might find the flips in the above video clip to be a little far fetched. As a sequence from a movie, it is clearly not intended to be completely realistic. However, it is interesting to see the array of different technique (from different martial arts) that Bruce uses. It is also worth noting that, despite being a striker, Lee finishes the fight with a submission hold. In the 1970s, no one outside of Brazil was aware of the existence of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. In fact, the first time that an entire generation witnessed an armbar was in the opening scenes of "Enter the Dragon" when Lee uses the technique to force a training partner to tap. Lastly, those gloves in the clip are actually his own gloves that he had custom-made for his personal training. It is not a coincidence that the gloves looks almost like the ones used in MMA today.

At Evolve MMA, we believe in reality. Like Bruce Lee, we are very focused on techniques that work in reality. We only teach techniques that would actually work in a real self-defense situation. We also do not believe that a single system is the correct way. It is the blend of different, reality-based martial arts that creates the complete martial artist. Ultimately, our underlying philosophy in martial arts (and in life) is to evolve, to progress, and to improve continuously in everything that we do. We believe that martial arts is the journey of continuous self-improvement physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It is one of the greatest vehicles in life to unleash the potential in human beings in every area of life.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Video Blog Sept 3 2011 Part 2

2011-09-20T18:46:00.002+08:00

Part 2 of this episode of the Evolve Video Blog features a behind-the-scenes look at the Evolve Fight Team as it competed in ONE Fighting Championship at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3, 2011. The Evolve Fight Team went 5-1 with 4 KOs. Led by Kru Chatri Sityodtong, the Evolve Fight Team is Asia's #1 professional fight team with the highest winning record. It has World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling.

To watch the action at ONE Fighting Championship, check out the video blog below.

PART 2

To watch Part 1 of this episode of the Evolve Video Blog, please click here.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Power of Martial Arts

2011-09-19T23:01:00.001+08:00

April 21, 2010 marked a very special day in the history of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts®. The Evolve Community Outreach Program came to life after lots of hard work. The primary goal of the program is to help underprivileged children and orphans by making a lifelong positive impact on their lives through the martial arts.

The inspiration for the Evolve Community Outreach Program is Kru Yoddecha Sityodtong. Kru Yoddecha is a Muay Thai World Champion and Instructor at Evolve MMA. At 7 years old, he became a homeless orphan and lived on the streets alone. He was eventually ensnared into a mafia gang and forced into child slavery for four years. By a pure miracle, he was rescued at 11 years old by a Muay Thai fighter named Vichai Sityodtong. For Kru Yoddecha, Muay Thai saved his life - literally and figuratively. Kru Yoddecha would later go on to become an international superstar and Muay Thai World Champion before joining Evolve MMA. (For an article by Men's Health magazine on Kru Yoddecha's life, please click here.)

Today, Kru Chatri, Kru Yoddecha, Kru Lamnammoon, and Papa Rich Wee gave a motivational talk to the orphans and troubled kids at The Boys Town Home. They talked about their own life stories and how they went from living in poverty to achieving their dreams. Last year, the program started by offering free training at Evolve MMA to a small group of kids. The results have been dramatic in terms of changing the children's lives for the better. Growing on the success of last year, more children from Boys Town Home have been invited to receive free training at Evolve MMA as a way to help them to change their lives in a positive way.

Kru Chatri Sityodtong, Kru Yoddecha Sityodtong, and Kru Lamnamoon Sor Sumalee with the boys at Boys Town Home

Without the help of two remarkable students at Evolve MMA, this dream of launching the Evolve Community Outreach Program would not have been possible. 58 year old Rich Wee and 40 year old Terence Chin demonstrated extraordinary leadership and undying passion; they worked vigorously with Kru Chatri Sityodtong and Kru Yoddecha Sityodtong to launch the Evolve Community Outreach Program last year. Evolve is eternally indebted to both Rich Wee and Terence Chin for their invaluable help and contributions to the Evolve Family. For Kru Chatri and Kru Yoddecha, this program has deep personal significance; they have a very special bond because they started Muay Thai together at the legendary Sityodtong Camp in Thailand almost 25 years ago. Sityodtong Camp is well-known in Thailand for taking in orphans and underprivileged children and transforming their lives. So the circle of life continues with the Evolve Community Outreach Program.

Kru Chatri Sityodtong with Kru Yoddecha Sityodtong and Kru Lamnamoon Sor Sumalee giving a talk to the kids

MISSION
The Evolve Community Outreach Program is a multi-faceted approach to helping children in need. For its first partner, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® has joined hands with The Boys' Town Home. The Boys' Town Home is a charitable institution focused on helping troubled children and orphans who have been forgotten by society. The children live at Boys' Town Home, a sanctuary dedicated to enriching their lives with love and life skills. Many of these children are unwanted by their own families and/or have been completely abandoned by their families and society. In other cases, their families simply cannot afford to care for the children. In their first visit to Boys' Town Home last year, Kru Yoddecha and Kru Chatri were both brought to tears when they gave emotional speeches to the children. This year, a new batch of kids will be starting their journey at Evolve MMA, and more importantly, their journey of unleashing their potential as human beings.

Kru Yoddecha Sityodtong and Kru Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee with some of the kids at Boys Town Home

Kru Chatri Sityodtong with some of the kids at Boys Town Home

Evolve MMA has become a family to these children and has made a lifelong positive impact on their lives through the martial arts. The Evolve Instructor Team serves as life mentors and has been teaching martial arts to the kids on a pro bono basis at Evolve MMA. It is our goal to transform the lives of these children by nurturing them with the benefits of martial arts. They have inherited confidence, mental strength, self-discipline, a pure work ethic, self-defense skills, and much more. Above all, they have been taught to dream and to unleash their potential in every area of life.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Mike Tyson and the Power of the Mind

2011-09-18T22:38:00.003+08:00

Mike Tyson is widely regarded as the greatest KO artist of all time. Tyson was a ruthless boxing world champion, striking fear into the hearts of his opponents before they even stepped into the ring. He possessed incredible speed and monster KO power. However, as Mike Tyson explains in this video clip, his greatest strength was his mind.

Evolve Video Blog Sept 3 2011

2011-09-15T08:56:00.004+08:00

This episode of the Evolve Video Blog features a behind-the-scenes look at the Evolve Fight Team as it competed in ONE Fighting Championship at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3, 2011. The Evolve Fight Team went 5-1 with 4 KOs. Led by Kru Chatri Sityodtong, the Evolve Fight Team is Asia's #1 professional fight team with the highest winning record. It has World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling.

To watch the action at ONE Fighting Championship, check out the video blog below. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this episode!

PART 1

Top 10 Superfoods!

2011-09-11T22:08:00.005+08:00

At Evolve MMA, one of our key missions is to inspire people to live healthy and productive lives and to help them to unleash their potential in life. Our superstar team behind the scenes did a ton of research to come up with the top 10 superfoods in the world. Inject these foods into your daily diet and become superhuman! :) Well, you might not become superhuman, but you will be well on your way to becoming the best you that you can be!

Green Tea
Green tea is a superdrink. It is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly EGCG. EGCG is a powerful antioxidant and kills cancer cells. Green tea also lowers total cholesterol and improves the ratio of good HDL cholesterol to bad LDL cholesterol.

Goji Berries
Goji berries are also known as wolf berries. They are indigenous to Southern Asia and are exported all over the world. They are shrivelled red berries that have been used by herbalists for thousands of years. Goji berries are rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. They contain many nutrients and phytochemicals. Goji berries are known to help bolster the immune system, protect the liver, and improve eyesight.

Apples
Apples are loaded with the powerful antioxidants (such as quercetin and catechin) that protect cells from damage. The apple peel contains 5x more polyphenols than the flesh alone. Apples also contain plenty of vitamin C. It is also an excellent source of fiber to keep your digestive system healthy.

Garlic
Vampires might be famously averse to garlic, but it works wonders on the human body. Garlic lowers total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, helping to prevent clogged arteries. Garlic can supposedly help to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. Whole baked garlic helps detoxify the body of heavy metals like mercury (from fish) and cadmium. Garlic also acts as an antibacterial and antiviral, boosting resistance to stress-induced colds and infections.

Fish/Fish Oil
You can’t go wrong wish eating fish. It helps cut the risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, diabetes, and arthritis. The fatty varieties may also help alleviate depression. The American Heart Association recommends that adults eat at least two fish meals per week. All fish is a source of good-quality protein, vitamins, and minerals. Oily fish such as salmon also contains omega 3 fats that reduce blood clotting and inflammation. Studies show that eating oily fish dramatically reduces the risk of having a heart attack, even in older adults. Omega 3 fats also help to prevent depression, and to protect against the onset of dementia.

Broccoli
Broccoli is loaded with tons of nutrients and vitamins. It contains high amounts of vitamin C. It also contains potassium to aid high blood pressure. It also has calcium to help combat osteoporosis. The health benefits of broccoli have been linked to preventing and controlling the following medical concerns: Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, calcium deficiencies, stomach and colon cancer, malignant tumors, lung cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and even the aging process.

Acai Berry
Acai contains several substances called anthocyanins and flavonoids. Anthocyanins and flavonoids are powerful antioxidants that help defend the body against life's stressors. They also play a role in the body's cell protection system. Free radicals are harmful byproducts produced by the body. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants may interfere with aging and the disease process by neutralizing free radicals. By lessening the destructive power of free radicals, antioxidants may help reduce the risk of some diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.

Almonds
Almonds are full of protein, potassium, magnesium, vitamin E, and vitamin B2. They protect your heart and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Almonds also contain flavonoids that are excellent antioxidants to protect the body. Almonds contain healthy fats too.

Blueberries
Blueberries are very rich in anthocyanin, vitamin C, vitamin B complex, vitamin E, vitamin A, copper, selenium, zinc, and iron. Blueberries boost up your immune system and prevent infections. Equally important, blueberries help to prevent cancer by inhibiting cancer cell development.

Papaya
Papayas are an excellent source of vitamin C as well as a very good source of vitamin E and beta-carotene, three very powerful antioxidants. These nutrients help prevent the oxidation of cholesterol. Only when cholesterol becomes oxidised is it able to stick to and build up in blood vessel walls, forming dangerous plaques that can eventually cause heart attacks or strokes. Papaya's fibre is able to bind to cancer-causing toxins in the colon and keep them away from the healthy colon cells. In addition, papaya's folate, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and vitamin E have each been associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer. These nutrients provide synergistic protection for colon cells from free radical damage to their DNA.

Other Nominees
Other superfoods include ginseng, sweet potato, bananas, oranges, avocados, pomegranate, cabbage, mushrooms, coconuts, and honey.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Interview with Kyra Gracie

2011-09-10T00:00:00.001+08:00

Filmed at Evolve MMA Brazil, this interview uncovers the journey that BJJ World Champion Kyra Gracie has taken to reach the top of her profession. (Credit for this interview goes to Hywel Teague) A multiple time World Champion, she is a 2nd degree BJJ Black Belt and the most famous woman from the legendary Gracie Family. Kyra Gracie will be coming to Evolve MMA Singapore in October to give a seminar as well as to train. Other Gracie family members who have made the trek to Evolve MMA Singapore include Renzo Gracie, Roger Gracie, Gregor Gracie, Igor Gracie, Rolles Gracie, and Mauricio Gomes.

To learn more about Kyra, please watch the video clip below.

DREAM 17 Shinya Aoki Promo Video!!!

2011-09-09T13:49:00.003+08:00

Check out this brand new DREAM 17 promo video on DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki. A member of the Evolve Fight Team, Aoki will be defending his title in a few weeks against Razor Rob McCullough in Tokyo, Japan on September 24. Kru Chatri Sityodtong, Kru Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, and Kru Muangfalek Kiatvichian will be cornering Shinya for this fight.

An Interview with Renzo Gracie!

2011-09-09T03:50:00.003+08:00

Renzo Gracie came to Singapore to help the Evolve Fight Team with its preparation for ONE Fighting Championship. He also cornered his family member, Gregor Gracie. The Gracie Family is the Royal Family of Fighting. Renzo Gracie is widely regarded as the toughest Gracie alive today due to his aggressive fighting style and his willingness to fight anyone, anywhere. He is a BJJ and MMA legend and is also one of the top MMA coaches in the world today. Evolve MMA is the first and only Renzo Gracie Academy in Asia.

Check out this interview with Renzo Gracie to learn more about one of the greatest legends.

An Interview with Saenchai Sor Kingstar!

2011-09-08T02:30:00.000+08:00

Saenchai Sor Kingstar (or Saenchai Sinbi Muay Thai as he is known now) is arguably one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters in history. He stopped by Evolve MMA to give a seminar alongside our World Champions such as Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Attachai Fairtex, Orono Wor Petchpun, Kongtoranee Payakaroon, Lamnamoon Sor Sumalee, and many others.

In this interview, Saenchai talks about the secrets to his success as well as a few other topics. For the interview, please click on the video clip below.

ONE Fighting Championship: Post Fight Analysis

2011-09-06T22:59:00.010+08:00

Today, it is Kru Chatri Sityodtong writing in the Evolve Blog. I will try to give you some behind-the-scenes information and analysis of the Evolve Fight Team's performance at ONE Fighting Championship this past weekend.

A view of ONE Fighting Championship at the Singapore Indoor Stadium

ONE Fighting Championship held its first event in the Singapore Indoor Stadium this past weekend. The Evolve Fight Team went 5-1 with 4 KOs. As Asia's #1 professional fight team with a 90%+ win ratio, the Evolve Fight Team always has a big target on its back. The Evolve Fight Team had an extra tough 8 week training camp for this event and I spent many hours reviewing footage of our opponents. As the leader of the Evolve Fight Team, I devise the strategy and game plan for each of our fighters. However, I am a believer that a strategy and game plan must be flexible and open-minded (instead of detailed and rigid). The reason why is that you never really know how fast or strong or technical your opponent really is. My opinion is that a detailed and rigid game plan is a recipe for a complete breakdown in the event that the fight does not unfold as expected. It is the job of the cornermen to adapt the game plan and strategy to the actual conditions during a fight. I believe that 80% of the game plan and strategy must be tweaked during the fight as it unfolds.

Leandro Issa firing a low leg kick at Soo Chul Kim

Leandro Issa vs Soo Chul Kim
This battle proved to be a very tough fight with a lot of back-and-forth action. Leandro sustained a shoulder injury 10 days before the fight and we opted to take a cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation and to numb the pain a day before the fight. The game plan was to keep the fight standing and to utilize Leandro's newly improved Muay Thai skills to KO Kim. We were not going to force the takedown. However, if the fight went to the ground, then we would be flexible and let Leandro use his BJJ skills, given that he is a BJJ World Champion. However, our strategy was to outstrike Kim and go for a KO in the later rounds. That being said, Kim proved to be a lot tougher both in striking and on the ground than we anticipated. Additionally, that night, Leandro did not perform as well as he does in practice in all areas. Leandro won the fight by decision because he is a more well-rounded martial artist than Kim is. Luckily for us, Leandro was able to win most of the exchanges on the feet and on the ground.

To watch the fight again, please click here.

Yodsanan Sityodtong looking for an opening inside of the half-guard of Daniel Mashamaite

Yodsanan Sityodtong vs Daniel Mashamaite
This fight proved to be a little easier than expected. Daniel is a Muay Thai Champion with solid striking skills and we anticipated him to be more aggressive than he was in the fight. The game plan was to use occasional takedowns to nullify Daniel's ability to load up on his strikes while allowing Yodsanan to utilize his powerful punches. As most of you know, Yodsanan is a former WBA Boxing World Champion with a 58-3 record with 47 KOs. He has monster one punch KO power. We knew that Yodsanan would be much stronger than Daniel in the clinch because Yodsanan is freakishly strong for his size. Most of our BJJ blue and purple belts have a hard time submitting him simply because of Yodsanan's raw strength. We also drilled takedown defense a lot with Yodsanan for his training camp, but he sustained a knee injury about 6 weeks before the fight. He had to take 2 weeks completely off training. We almost pulled out of the fight. In the last few weeks, Yodsanan could only train his boxing and nothing else. Before and during the fight, we were very worried about his knee. Nevertheless, the game plan worked perfectly and Yodsanan was able to score the KO.

To watch the fight again, please click here.

Radeem Rahman fires a jab at Susovan Ghosh

Radeem Rahman vs Susovan Ghosh
Despite the outcome of the fight, Radeem was a huge underdog before the fight. Susovan is an India Karate Champion with 6 amateur MMA fights and 7 years of martial arts experience. Prior to this fight, Radeem had zero experience in MMA and only a couple years of martial arts experience. I was also very concerned about Radeem's ability to handle the pressure of being the hometown hero, given that he is so new to martial arts and Singapore's 1st professional MMA fighter. Our game plan was to utilize Radeem's reach and height advantage and to keep the fight on its feet. The game plan worked exactly as I had hoped. I really underestimated Radeem's mental strength and he outperformed all expectations. To be frank, when we accepted the fight, I thought that the only way Radeem would win was via a decision. No one on the Evolve Fight Team expected Radeem to win via KO in the 1st round, including myself. It was a pleasant surprise indeed.

To watch the fight again, please click here.

Eddie Ng delivers a left hook to Yuan Chun Bo

Eddie Ng vs Yuan Chun Bo
This fight was probably the most surprising to us. Our game plan was to stay conservative on striking and to take the fight to the ground. We incorrectly assumed that Yuan Chun Bo's ground game would be weak. Eddie has Black Belt level grappling abilities and we were confident that Eddie would be able to submit Bo on the ground. So we were all shocked that Bo caught Eddie in a guillotine and an armbar within 30 seconds of the fight. Luckily, Eddie is a superb athlete and an excellent martial artist. He quickly switched gears and applied some awesome ground and pound to win via KO. Eddie has a very bright future and he is going to improve at an astronomical rate at Evolve MMA. He has serious potential to become an MMA World Champion in the future.

To watch his fight again, please click here.

Zorobabel Moreira launches a high push kick at Andy Wang

Zorobabel Moreira vs Andy Wang
Our strategy and game plan was to keep the fight on its feet and go for a KO in the 2nd or 3rd round. At 6 foot 3 inches, Zoro is enormous as a lightweight. He is easily in the top 1% of lightweights in the world in terms of sheer size and strength. So our plan was to utilize his size and reach advantage. Also, most people do not realize how much Zoro has been training on his Muay Thai since his KO loss to Joe Ray a year and a half ago. Even though he is a BJJ World Champion, Zoro has good Muay Thai now. Also, Andy Wang is a good BJJ Black Belt and we did not feel that he would be easy to submit. We watched video of him competing against Kron Gracie in a No-Gi match and Andy has excellent submission defense. In any case, the fight went exactly as planned due to our game plan and strategy. The only minor difference was that we were hoping for a spectacular head kick KO, but we got a TKO instead.

To watch his fight again, please click here.

Mitch Chilson prepares to launch a straight right punch at Eric Kelly

Mitch Chilson vs Eric Kelly
When we accepted this fight, we knew that it would be a very tough and close fight. Eric Kelly is the current URCC Champion and he is undefeated with all of his victories coming by submission. That being said, I did not think that Eric Kelly would be able to submit Mitch, a 2x MCFC Champion. I underestimated how fast Eric is. Also, Mitch made a small error in the fight by going for a single leg takedown on the far leg. It turned out to be the error that Eric needed for a submission. Our game plan was to utilize Mitch's superior striking to win the fight via decision or late round stoppage. If Mitch had not made that error, I believe that it would have been a very close battle for 3 rounds. Nevertheless, Mitch will come back stronger, better, and faster than ever. I still consider Mitch to be one of the top featherweights in Southeast Asia. He is very athletic with excellent Muay Thai and decent BJJ.

To watch his fight again, please click here.

The Evolve Fight Team will be competing again in a few weeks on September 24. DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki will be defending his title at DREAM 17 in Tokyo. I will be cornering Shinya. Also on the same day, Alex Silva and Ximbica Ribeiro will be competing at DARE FC in Thailand.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Leandro Issa

2011-08-30T00:56:00.001+08:00

BJJ World Champion Leandro Issa is a member of the Evolve Fight Team. He will be competing in mixed martial arts in 5 days at ONE Fighting Championship on September 3 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. His teammate, DREAM FC World Champion Shinya Aoki, believes that Leandro Issa will become an MMA World Champion in the future. Kru Chatri Sityodtong calls Issa one of the top 135 lbs fighters in the world today.

To learn more about Leandro Issa, please watch the video below.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Shinya Aoki

2011-08-28T22:50:00.006+08:00

DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki is a member of the Evolve Fight Team. Shinya is widely regarded as Asia's #1 MMA fighter. Led by Kru Chatri Sityodtong, the Evolve Fight Team is Asia's most decorated professional fight team with World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. In this video clip, Shinya talks about his upcoming fight in DREAM 17 against Rob McCullough and his training camp at Evolve MMA. He also shares his thoughts on his coaches and teammates at Evolve MMA. Shinya will also be cornering some of his teammates at ONE Fighting Championship on September 3, 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

To learn more about Shinya Aoki, please watch the video below.

Alistair Overeem: A True Superstar

2011-08-27T18:11:00.001+08:00

In 2010, Alistair Overeem won the K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix, beating three of the top heavyweights in the world in kickboxing in a single night. It is an impressive achievement because he was also the reigning Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion in mixed martial arts. Overeem has achieved something that no one in history has ever done. He was world champion in both kickboxing and mixed martial arts. It is a truly remarkable accomplishment.

K-1 World Champion and Strikeforce World Champion Alistair Overeem

Without a doubt, UFC World Champions Jose Aldo and Anderson Silva are two of the best pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the world. They have incredibly well-rounded MMA games and they are devastating Muay Thai strikers in the world of MMA. MMA fans might look at Muay Thai fighters like UFC World Champions Jose Aldo and Anderson Silva and assume that they are the best stand up fighters in the world. However, nothing could be further from the truth. If they fought in the kickboxing world, they would be considered average at best. Simply put, neither man has ever come even close to winning a world title in Muay Thai. Of course, they are the best mixed martial artists in the world with excellent Muay Thai as their bread and butter.

As a point of comparison, Aldo’s Muay Thai skills might be the best in the UFC’s featherweight division, but they are nowhere near the level of a legitimate Muay Thai World Champion such as Evolve MMA instructors Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Attachai Fairtex or Orono Wor Petchpun for example. It is also highly doubtful that Anderson Silva’s much vaunted stand up skills would be good enough to match the best Muay Thai fighters in the world at his weight, let alone win a world title. Even the world’s quickest footballer couldn’t beat an actual Olympic sprinter in a race. Likewise, the best stand up fighters in MMA are nowhere near as good at striking as a Muay Thai or kickboxing world champion is.

Given all of this perspective, it is easy to say that Alistair Overeem is truly a rare diamond in a field of phenomenal diamonds. While it is too early to call him the best MMA heavyweight fighter on the planet, he is definitely in the top 3.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Evolve Fight Team and ONE FC

2011-08-26T02:35:00.003+08:00

Several members of the Evolve Fight Team get set to compete in ONE Fighting Championship at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3, 2011. As the hometown team representing Singapore, the Evolve Fight Team plans to bring home the gold for everyone in Singapore. Led by Kru Chatri Sityodtong, the Evolve Fight Team is Asia's most decorated professional fight team with world titles in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. The 6 fighters below will be competing at the inaugural event for ONE Fighting Championship in front of 12,000 fans and 500 million viewers across Asia.

From left to right: BJJ World Champion Zoro Moreira, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, Total Combat FC Champion Eddie Ng, Founder and CEO of Evolve MMA Chatri Sityodtong, MCFC Champion Mitch Chilson, Singapore's 1st pro MMA fighter Radeem Rahman, BJJ World Champion Leandro Issa

Evolve Fighter Profile: Eddie Ng

2011-08-26T00:29:00.003+08:00

Eddie Ng is the newest member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's top professional fighting team. Originally from Hong Kong, Eddie moved to Singapore from the UK to train permanently out of Evolve MMA after an invitation from Kru Chatri Sityodtong. He is a Total Combat FC Champion with a professional MMA record of 3-1. He is also a 2x Revolution No Gi Champion. Kru Chatri Sityodtong believes that "Eddie is easily the best MMA fighter from Hong Kong and China based on his skills today. And he will only become scarier under the Evolve system with all of the world champions at Evolve MMA." With over 12 years of grappling experience, Eddie has a very high level ground game and has no problems rolling no-gi with most BJJ Black Belts. His striking is also decent. Above all, he is superbly athletically gifted and has incredible balance, speed, instinct, and gameness. Eddie will be fighting in ONE Fighting Championship on September 3 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

For more on Eddie, please watch the video below.

Evolve MMA: Facts and Figures

2011-08-25T00:07:00.011+08:00

Before learning from any teacher, it is prudent to enquire about their experience. You don’t want to waste your valuable time learning from someone whose knowledge or ability is not as extensive as it should be. In the academic world, a person’s knowledge is generally measured by their qualifications. It is no different in the martial arts world. One of the key measuring sticks is actual real-life experience on techniques taught by the instructor. By any metric, Evolve MMA has one of the most experienced instructor teams and professional fight teams in the world. Many of the leading MMA media around the world such as MiddleEasy, ESPN StarSports, MSN Sports, MMA Japan, The Bleacher Report, Bloody Elbow, and many others, have named Evolve MMA the top MMA camp in Asia.

Here are some current facts and figures about Evolve MMA:

51 Instructors
17 World Champions in Muay Thai, BJJ, MMA, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling
625 years of championship experience
370 championship titles
4,000+ professional Muay Thai fights
20,000+ BJJ matches
200+ professional MMA fights
130+ professional boxing fights
300+ wrestling matches
300+ street fights

The Evolve Instructor Team and the Evolve Fight Team might not have taken too many exams in school, but they are real-life, battle-tested, street-proven, ring-hardened, world-class experts in their respective fields. There is no substitute for experience and Evolve MMA has one of the most experienced teams in the world. Evolve MMA is literally a sea of knowledge and experience from some of the best martial artists in the world. If you are serious about your personal growth and learning, there is simply no substitute for the best.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The History of Muay Thai

2011-08-22T11:11:00.003+08:00

Muay Thai World Champion Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn

To the Thai people, Muay Thai is an important part of their nation’s history and a source of real patriotic pride. Ever since the eighteenth century, Thais have prided themselves on being better at stand up fighting than any other nation and this is largely thanks to the legend of Nai Khanomtom.

Two hundred years ago, Thailand as we know it today did not exist. In its place was the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, which stretched all the way from Sukothai in the North to Malaysia in the South. The crown in the jewel of this 600 year old Kingdom was the city of Ayutthaya.

Foreign traders flocked to Ayutthaya from all over Asia and as far as Europe. The capital was one of the most prosperous cities in the East. Bangkok, by contrast, was just a small trading community on the banks of the Chao Phraya river.

Muay Thai, or Muay Boran as it is known in its ancient form, was an important part of culture in the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. It was also a means of social advancement for young men, just as Muay Thai is today. The best fighters were invited into the Royal Palace and responsibility for the King’s protection was given to a group known as as Muay Luang (Royal Muay).

While Ayutthaya was prosperous, it was far from peaceful and wars were almost constantly waged with neighbouring regimes in Cambodia and Burma. In 1765, a 45,000 man strong Burmese army invaded the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. In 1767, the actual city of Ayutthaya finally fell and was burned to the ground, destroying all evidence over the origins of Muay Thai.

The Burmese took a number of prisoners and amongst them was a sizeable contingent of Muay Boran fighters. In 1774, the Burmese King Hsinbyushin decided to organize a festival in Rangoon and the entertainment on offer included a contest between the best Muay Boran fighter and the champion of Lethwei, the Burmese stand up fighting sport.

Nai Khanomtom was the Muay Boran fighter selected to face the Burmese champion and he easily defeated him. However, the Burmese King was suspicious of the Wai Kru dance which Khanomtom performed before the fight and accused him of using black magic to overcome his opponent.
In order to truly prove himself, Khanomtom was asked to face another nine Burmese fighters. He defeated them all, one after the other. King Hsinbyushin was sufficiently impressed to grant the Muay Boran fighter his freedom and this occasion is commemorated every year in Thailand on March 17th.

The Wai Kru is still performed before Muay Thai bouts to this very day. Prestigious annual awards are given to the fighter with the best Wai Kru. Evolve MMA instructor Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn has received the Wai Kru of the Year award from the Sports Authority of Thailand on two separate occasions and is renowned for having one of the best Wai Krus in the history of the sport. Here you can see Namsaknoi performing his Wai Kru before a fight with Nuengpichit Sityodtong:

There might be almost two hundred and fifty years separating Namsaknoi and Khanomtom, but they actually have much in common. They both had eye catching Wai Krus and they were both among the very best fighters in their respective Kingdoms.

To this day fighters from Thailand are renowned for being totally fearless and for having an almost unshakeable confidence in their own ability. Much has changed since the eighteenth century. However, when it comes to Muay Thai, certain things are still very much the same.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Evolve Fight Team prepares for ONE FC!

2011-08-20T17:11:00.002+08:00

ONE Fighting Championship is just around the corner! It's going to be the biggest MMA event that Asia has ever seen and it will be held in the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3. The Evolve Fight Team kicked off its 8 week training camp at the beginning of July. It is now towards the end of the training camp with only 2 weeks left until the big fights. The Evolve Fight Team has been training incredibly hard and everyone is in phenomenal shape for this point in the training camp. Everyone on the team is fully aware of how big this opportunity is. The media has labeled ONE Fighting Championship as the "UFC of Asia" with over 500 million viewers. For many of our fighters, it is the biggest fight of their lives. You can read about the expert predictions for the fights by clicking here. A few of our fighters are heavy underdogs in their matchups. So the training has been particularly tough. If you haven’t already done so, please be sure to support the Evolve Fight Team and get your tickets for ONE Fighting Championship by going online here. Even though the Evolve Fight Team has the highest win percentage (94%) in Asia and is widely recognized as the #1 fight team in Asia, it needs your support on the biggest night in history for our fighters!

As the Evolve Fight Team heads into the final weeks of preparation, there will be some legendary guests flying to train with the Evolve Fight Team.

Master Renzo Gracie

Master Renzo Gracie
First, MMA Legend Renzo Gracie will be flying into Singapore and will be working intensively with Kru Chatri Sityodtong to help Evolve MMA fighters Mitch Chilson, Leandro Issa, Radeem Rahman, Zorobabel Moreira, Yodsanan Sityodtong, and Eddie Ng. Kru Chatri was recently named the top MMA coach in Asia by a few of the leading MMA online magazines such as MMA-Japan, The Bleacher Report, Bloody Elbow, etc. Renzo is one of the top coaches in the world and will be working closely with Kru Chatri to lead the Evolve Fight Team. In his prime, Renzo was one of the greatest MMA fighters of his generation and faced a who’s who of opponents, including Frank Shamrock, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn and Dan Henderson. His professional career lasted a staggering 18 years. His knowledge and experience inside the cage is unrivaled. Evolve MMA is closely affiliated with Renzo Gracie because Kru Chatri received his blue belt in BJJ under Renzo Gracie while he lived in New York. (Evolve MMA is currently the only Renzo Gracie Academy for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Asia.) When Renzo heard that so many members of The Evolve Fight Team were going to be involved in such a prestigious and high profile event, he immediately offered to fly down to Singapore to help the team to prepare.

Gregor Gracie

BJJ Champion Gregor Gracie
Second, representing Team Renzo Gracie at ONE Fighting Championship, Gregor Gracie will be doing his finishing touches of his training camp at Evolve MMA. Gregor is one of the most promising fighters of the new generation of Gracies and sports a professional MMA record of 5-1. A pioneer in Asian MMA, Renzo made huge name for himself in Japan by fighting everyone. Gregor is following in the footsteps of Renzo as he gets set to make his Asian debut against Sanda champion Wang Sai.

DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki

DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki
Third, both Dream Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki and UFC Lightweight contender Rafael Dos Anjos will also be back training in Singapore in early August. They are both members of the Evolve Fight Team. Shinya Aoki will kick off his training camp on Monday August 8 in Singapore under the guidance of Kru Chatri Sityodtong and the rest of the world-class instructor team. He will be defending his title in Japan at DREAM FC 17 on September 24 against former WEC Champions Razor Rob McCullough. Shinya is looking to upgrade his Muay Thai aggressively under all the world champions at Evolve MMA such as Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, Attachai Fairtex, Anuwat Kaewsamrit, Orono Wor Petchpun, Kongtoranee Payakaroon, and many others.

UFC and Pride FC Veteran Phil Baroni

UFC and Pride FC Veteran Phil Baroni
Lastly, representing AKA (one of the top MMA camps in the US), Phil Baroni is a UFC and Pride veteran who will be coming to Evolve MMA to finalize his training camp for his fight against UFC veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida at ONE Fighting Championship on September 3. Baroni contacted Kru Chatri last month and graciously asked if he could train with the Evolve Fight Team for the last part of his training camp.

Chatri Sityodtong and some members of the Evolve Fight Team

August will be a very busy month for Evolve MMA. If you see Gregor, Phil, Zoro, Mitch, Brodinho, Yodsanan, Eddie, Shinya, or Radeem around the place, please be sure to wish them luck in their upcoming fights. You can also expect to see tons of media at Evolve MMA this month as our fighters and coaches are asked to do tons of media interviews for the build-up into the fights. Finally, the new and expanded Evolve PoMo academy will be opening at the end of the month! It's going to be a great training month!

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

ONE FC, DREAM FC, DARE FC, and UFC!

2011-08-20T11:02:00.001+08:00

The Evolve Fight Team will be having a very busy next few months, fighting at ONE Fighting Championship, DREAM Fighting Championship, DARE Fighting Championship, and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and the US respectively.

For ONE Fighting Championship on September 3 in Singapore, there will be 6 members of the Evolve Fight Team competing: Mitch "The Dragon" Chilson, Zorobabel Moreira, Leandro Issa, Eddie Ng, Radeem Rahman, and Yodsanan Sityodtong. Kru Chatri Sityodtong will be cornering all the fighters with the help of the Evolve Instructor Team. The legendary Renzo Gracie is also flying into Singapore to help out the Evolve Fight Team.

For DREAM Fighting Championship on September 24 in Tokyo, DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki will be defending his title against Razor Rob McCullough. Kru Chatri Sityodtong will be flying to Japan to corner Shinya for this fight. He will be going to Tokyo with Muay Thai World Champions, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn and Muangfalek Kiatvichian. Shinya is currently in Singapore at Evolve MMA where he started his training camp a few weeks ago.

For DARE Fighting Championship on September 24 in Bangkok, BJJ Black Belts, Rodrigo "Ximbica" Ribeiro and Alex Silva, will be competing against dangerous opponents. Rodrigo is a 3rd degree BJJ Black Belt who has won countless national and regional championships and is a full time member of the Evolve Fight Team. Alex Silva is a BJJ Black Belt who has won the Copa do Mundo and many other titles in Brazil. Kru Daorung "Papa" Sityodtong and Leandro "Brodinho" Issa will be cornering both fighters. Ximbica will be up against experienced South African Wade Henderson who has fought in three different continents in over 30 professional MMA fights.

For Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 19, Rafael dos Anjos will be up against fellow Brazilian Gleison Tibau. Kru Chatri Sityodtong and Professor Rafael Gordinho will be cornering him for that fight. He will be returning to Singapore to prepare for that fight with the trainers at Evolve MMA. Before his last fight (a KO victory over George Sotiropoulous), Dos Anjos spent 3 months in Singapore at Evolve MMA learning Muay Thai and Boxing under our World Champions. After his fight with Sotiropolous, Rafael dos Anjos gave an interview where he attributed his victory to his training here at Evolve MMA in Singapore.

With the Evolve Fight Team in action in Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and the US, it is going to be a busy few months. The Evolve Fight Team is Asia's #1 professional fight team. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, the Evolve Fight Team also possesses the highest win percentage (94%) of any team in Asia.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Yodsanan Sityodtong

2011-08-19T10:59:00.001+08:00

WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong is a member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 professional fight team. He has devastating 1 punch monster KO power. As a professional boxer, his record is 58-3 with 47 KOs and his nickname is Little Mike Tyson. A national hero in Thailand, Yodsanan has called Singapore his home for the last 2 years. He has been preparing for his professional MMA debut by training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Muay Thai, and Wrestling under the World Champions at Evolve MMA. He will be facing Muay Thai World Champion Daniel Mashamaite at ONE Fighting Championship on September 3, 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in what the media has called "the biggest MMA event in Asian history."

The Evolve Fight Team has World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No-Gi Grappling. It is the most decorated professional fight team in Asia. Members include DREAM FC World Champion Shinya Aoki, UFC contender Rafael dos Anjos, Muay Thai World Champion Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, BJJ World Champion Rafael Gordinho, BJJ World Champion Roberto Gordo, Muay Thai World Champion Attachai Fairtex, Muay Thai World Champion Orono Wor Petchpun, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, BJJ World Champion Zorobabel Moreira, BJJ World Champion Leandro Isaa, and many other World Champions.

Check out this video clip to learn more about WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Mitch Chilson

2011-08-18T10:56:00.001+08:00

2x MCFC Champion and Muay Thai Champion Mitch "The Dragon" Chilson is a member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 professional fight team. A Eurasian (Japanese and American), Mitch has called Singapore his home for the last several years. He is preparing for the biggest fight of his life against undefeated URCC Champion Eric Kelly at ONE Fighting Championship on September 3, 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in what the media has called "the biggest MMA event in Asian history."

The Evolve Fight Team has World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No-Gi Grappling. It is the most decorated professional fight team in Asia. Members include DREAM FC World Champion Shinya Aoki, UFC contender Rafael dos Anjos, Muay Thai World Champion Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, BJJ World Champion Rafael Gordinho, BJJ World Champion Roberto Gordo, Muay Thai World Champion Attachai Fairtex, Muay Thai World Champion Orono Wor Petchpun, WBA Boxing World Champion Yodsanan Sityodtong, BJJ World Champion Zorobabel Moreira, BJJ World Champion Leandro Issa, and many other World Champions.

Check out this video clip to learn more about 2x MCFC Champion Mitch "The Dragon" Chilson.

Manny Pacquiao: Are Champions Born or Made?

2011-08-17T10:54:00.001+08:00

Manny Pacquiao is arguably the greatest boxer in history. Today, he is one of the most recognizable sportsmen on the entire planet. It might feel like the Filipino has been the pound-for-pound king forever, but he actually comes from much more humble boxing beginnings.

Everyone knows that Pacquiao fought his way off the streets of Manila as a young child, but what a lot of people don’t realize is that he was nothing special early in his career. In fact, he was quite ordinary. Seven of his first 11 fight went to a decision and he also suffered a knock out loss at the hands of Filipino journeyman Rustico Torrecampo. You can see that fight here;

After this fight, Pacquiao went on a run of 16 straight wins, but it all came to a sudden end in Thailand with a third round TKO loss to Medgoen Singsurat.

At this point in his career, Pacquiao was considered to be very good for the region, but nothing spectacular. After the loss, he went on to win his next six fights, although not without the odd setback such as being knocked down in the fourth round by Australian Nedal Hussein.

Pacquiao was now the holder of a WBC ‘International’ title, but the only genuine world title he had ever held was the WBC Flyweight belt (which he lost in Thailand).

The inflection point in Pacquiao's career came when he went to the US to visit promoters and trainers with his manager. After an unsuccessful and slightly frustrating trip, they happened to stop by the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles to meet with Freddie Roach, the owner and head coach.

Roach was the first person in the US to recognize the potential in Pacquiao. Equally important, as a trainer, he truly helped Pacquiao to unleash his potential. Opportunity came knocking soon after they started working together when Lehlohonolo Ledwaba’s opponent withdrew from their IBF Super Bantamweight World Title fight at just two week’s notice. The South African was highly rated at the time and expected to make short work of Pacquiao. However, with Roach in his corner, he tore through Ledwaba, breaking his nose early in the fight and then knocking him out in the sixth round.

Pacquiao’s reward for winning this fight was the second world title of his career. He fought a couple more times in the Philippines before the momentous fight which first made him really famous, the 11th round stoppage win over Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera.

Pacquiao’s career from this point onwards has been well documented. Funnily enough, Pacquiao almost ended up fighting Evolve MMA boxing instructor Yodsanan Sityodtong at one point in his career. Yodsanan was the WBA Super Featherweight champion. He and Pacquiao were widely regarded as the top 2 boxers in Asia. A fight between the two was widely discussed. However, as is so often the case in the world of combat sports, politics prevented the fight from being made.

Pacquiao’s story is so special because he was not destined for greatness from the moment he first started boxing. And he would arguably have never gone on to become the pound-for-pound champ had he not teamed up with Roach. It is no surprise that Roach has been his primary boxing coach now for the last 10 years.

Look at some footage of Pacquiao and Roach working together at the Wild Card Gym:

Pacquiao may be the best boxer in the world, but he is still a willing student. Watch how Roach takes time out to talk him through certain combinations and invite him to practise them in slow motion. There is no doubt that Pacquiao was born with a prodigious talent. However, were it not for the intervention of Roach, he might never have properly discovered it. The most important move the Filipino ever made was deciding to put his trust in the right trainer.

Pacquiao is living proof that a slow start does not necessarily prevent you from becoming a world champion. However, the real secret of his success was his work ethic, his determination, his discipline, and his teachers. His real turning point came by first finding the best available teacher (Freddie Roach) and remaining with him for the rest of his career. Even the best boxer in the world knows that if you are being taught by the right person, you will never ever stop learning.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

The Meteoric Rise of Shinya Aoki

2011-08-16T16:50:00.003+08:00

Shinya Aoki arrived at Evolve MMA earlier this week to begin training for his September fight at DREAM 17. A member of the Evolve Fight Team, Shinya Aoki is the current DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion, the face of Japanese MMA, and Asia’s #1 pound-for-pound fighter.

In 2011, Shinya Aoki joined the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 professional fighting team, in order to raise his game to the next level. At Evolve MMA in Singapore, Shinya trains under World Champions in Muay Thai, BJJ, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling. As the saying goes, iron hardens iron. Every member on the Evolve Fight Team has been handpicked with the intention of producing future world champions. Aoki’s next fight will be against former WEC Champion Rob McCullough at DREAM 17 on September 24th. His 8 week training camp officially kicked off today at Evolve MMA in Singapore.

There was a time when Japanese MMA ruled the world, but the demise of PRIDE FC and the rise of the UFC has seen a shift in the balance of power towards the US. Of all the existing promotions in Japan, DREAM FC is the most prominent and is watched by people all over the world. There are also a couple of smaller shows such as Shooto and DEEP.

In addition to Shinya Aoki, there are many other famous elite Japanese mixed martial artists such as Takanori Gomi, Kid Yamamoto, Satoru Kitaoka, Yushin Okami, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Japan still has the highest level of MMA in Asia with many superstars and rising stars in the ranks.

The UFC would unquestionably like to add Shinya Aoki, who has an outstanding record of 28-5-1, to its roster. However, he is a national hero in Japan and loves fighting in front of the fans in his homeland. Aoki has been fighting professionally since 2003. A look into Aoki's career offers a sneak peek into the history of Japanese MMA.

He started off with DEEP, a second tier MMA organization in Japan. A series of impressive performances saw him signed by Shooto, one of the oldest promotions in MMA. Despite being a natural lightweight, Aoki was able to win the Shooto Middleweight belt by defeating Akira Kikuchi.

It was no surprise when PRIDE FC, the most prestigious promotion in all of Japan, decided to pick Aoki up. At the time, many of the best fighters in the world, including Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Rua, Alistair Overeem, Antonio Nogueira, Mirko Crocop and Fedor Emelianenko, were all fighting for PRIDE FC.

Shinya fought four times for PRIDE FC, winning every single fight with a first round submission. He holds a black belt in both Judo and BJJ. He became the first fighter ever to successfully submit an opponent using a Gogoplata. His unfortunate opponent was Joachim Hansen, one of the best lightweights in the world at the time. Aoki’s final win for PRIDE FC came later in what proved to be the promotion’s last ever event PRIDE 34.

Many PRIDE FC fighters went on to fight for the UFC, but Aoki decided to stay behind and sign with DREAM FC, the Japanese promotion formed to replace PRIDE FC. Aoki went on an impressive 12 fight win streak before being surprisingly stopped by Hansen in the final of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. Aoki would later get his revenge on Hansen, defeating him by first round submission again via armbar, in another event.

Here you can see Aoki submitting Katsuhiko Nagata with a mounted Gogoplata, a never before seen submission in MMA, in the opening round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix:

Aoki also posted a decision win over veteran Caol Uno, and submitted Eddie Alvarez, another of the best lightweights in the world, with a heel hook after just 90 seconds. You can see that fight here:

The win over Alvarez was one of the most impressive of his career and won him another lightweight belt, the WAMMA Lightweight Championship. It was held at Dynamite! 2008, a cross promotion between DREAM and K-1 Heroes.

One major difference between the UFC and DREAM FC is that the Japanese organization will occasionally allow its fighters to compete under the banner of another promotion. Aoki has fought twice for Strikeforce in the US where he recorded the only loss in his last nine fights. Gilbert Melendez, considered by many to be the best lightweight in the world, defeated him by decision in a fight for the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship belt.

Aoki’s career is basically a brief history of Japanese MMA, encompassing virtually all of the country’s promotions past and present. The major difference is that Japanese MMA has had it’s ups and downs recently whereas Aoki’s career has continued its meteoric rise. Today, Shinya Aoki ranks among the best fighters in the world.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Zoro Moreira

2011-08-15T11:29:00.005+08:00

BJJ World Champion Zoro Moreira is a member of the Evolve Fight Team and a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Gracie Jr. He has a 5-1 professional MMA record and will be competing against "The Ultimate Fighter" veteran Andy Wang on September 3 at ONE Fighting Championship at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. It is expected to be a very tough battle as Andy Wang is also a highly skilled BJJ Black Belt

To learn a little bit more about Zoro, check out this video clip.

Interview with Zoro Moreira from Evolve MMA

2011-08-14T16:53:00.003+08:00

BJJ World Champion Zorobabel Moreira is a member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's top professional fight team. He has a 5-1 professional MMA record and currently fights for ONE Fighting Championship, Asia's largest MMA organization. He will be fighting "The Ultimate Fighter" veteran Andy Wang on September 3, 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium at ONE Fighting Championship: CHAMPION vs CHAMPION.

Zoro Moreira from the Evolve Fight Team

When did you first start learning BJJ and why?
When I was a little boy, I wanted to learn Muay Thai after seeing it on TV. But there was no Muay Thai where I lived. So I decided to learn BJJ.

How long did it take you to get your black belt?
It took me about 10 years before Carlos Gracie Jr gave me my black belt. I trained every day for 4 or 5 hours.

What BJJ competitions have you won?
Too many to remember! I have around 3,000 BJJ matches in my career. I have competed and won in almost every tournament in Brazil....Mundials World Championship, Brazil Nationals, and many others.

How did you end up in Singapore?
I didn't have any life in Brazil. So when Evolve gave me the opportunity, it was a dream for me. Now I have a great life here in Singapore.

How did the loss to Joe Ray affect you?
I was sad. Then I realize that I need to learn Muay Thai. So I train hard.

Do you think you have improved as a fighter since then?
I think so. My coaches...Kru Yo and Kru Chatri...they tell me that I have improved a lot in my Muay Thai. Also, I learned a lot about MMA from Shinya (Aoki). He is great teammate for me. Everyone at Evolve is a world champion. So I learn a lot.

You are going to be making your debut at lightweight and I think you might be the tallest fighter in the world at 155 lbs, how do you do it?
It's no problem. I just have to be careful what I eat.

Can you tell us what weight you walk around at and how much you plan to weigh come fight night on September 3rd?
I am normally around 80 kilos when I don't fight. I will be 70 kilos for this fight...no problem.

You took a fight against Ferrid Kheder, who at the time had lost only one of his last 15 fights, on very short notice, were you in two minds about accepting that fight when it was offered to you?
I don't understand the question. I love to compete. This is my dream. I don't care who the opponent is.

You are much less experienced than Kheder, how much did that win do for your confidence?
I don't know. I am still young for my MMA career. I am just happy that I won.

You landed some solid knees and used a lot of teeps in that fight, have you been working hard on your Muay Thai?
Yes, I train Muay Thai every day very hard...many days I do Muay Thai 2-3x a day...I want to be high level striker.

Andy Wang is also a BJJ black belt and has three times as many fights as you, what are your thoughts on fighting him?
He is tough fighter with more experience than me. But I believe in my coaches. Professor Gordinho and Kru Chatri give me the right strategy and game plan for this fight.

You are going to have a substantial size and reach advantage in this fight, do you think that will be one of your keys to victory?
I don't know. I will try my best.

The 155 lbs division contains so many good fighters like Vuyisile Colossa, Ole Laursen and Eduard Folayang. Is there anyone in particular you would like to fight?
Anybody. I don't choose. I can fight anybody. No problem.

You seem like a very relaxed and laid back individual. Why did you choose to become a fighter?
This is my dream since I was a little boy in Brazil.

You seem to have a lot of friends and fans in Singapore. How much does it mean to you to be the home crowd favourite?
I don't know. I will do my best for everybody.

Renzo and Gregor Gracie will both be at Evolve MMA this month as willl Shinya Aoki and Rafael Dos Anjos. How much does it help to have world class trainers and training partners, and in particular to have two world class lightewights to spar with in Shinya and Rafael?
For sure, Evolve is the best team in the world. This helps me a lot.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Interview with Singapore's 1st Pro MMA Fighter

2011-08-13T16:52:00.001+08:00

On September 3, when Radeem Rahman from the Evolve Fight Team steps into the cage for ONE Fighting Championship, he will be the first Singaporean to ever do so in history as a professional MMA fighter. He is representing Singapore in Asia's biggest MMA event. ONE Fighting Championship will be held in the Singapore Indoor Stadium with a media broadcast to 500 million viewers across Asia.

Radeem Rahman, Singapore's 1st Pro MMA Fighter

How's training going?
Training is going very well. I am in excellent shape and we have 4 more weeks to go.

Talk us through a typical day?
I train typically 4-6 hours per day. There are two mandatory sessions of the Fighters Program at Evolve MMA...From 9am to 11am, we do ground and cage work. From 2pm to 4pm, we focus on striking and takedowns. Then I usually join one of our BJJ classes in the evenings.

There are so many different aspects to mixed martial arts. What is your weekly schedule like?
It is varied, depending on what week we are in for our 8 week training camp. The last month of our training camp is focused heavily on raising our cardio performance and technical speed to peak levels. Basically, we train every area of the MMA game...ground, cage, striking, takedowns, cardio, strength and conditioning, everything...

Is the training hard?
It's crazy...yes, it's the hardest thing I've ever done...much tougher than anything I have ever done for National Service in the military.

There are five fighters from Evolve MMA preparing for ONE FC fights. How much does it help having training partners who are fighting on the same date as you?
It helps a lot. The atmosphere during the Fighters Program is very intense. You can feel it in the air...we are all hungry and determined to be the best...I love the feeling...we are brothers chasing our dreams together...under the best teachers and world champions in the world...

How do you feel when you see your photo on a taxi or on the SMRT?
Sometimes I can't believe it. I am grateful to Kru Chatri for giving me the opportunity to be a part of Evolve. Through Evolve, I am able to pursue my dreams.

There will be 12,000 fans cheering for you. Have you thought about it at all? Does it make you excited, or nervous, or both?
Both nervous and excited. I will do my best for Singapore. I want to show the world what a Singaporean fighter can do. I am fighting for my country...for my family...for my brothers and sisters at Evolve MMA.

Do you have to diet to get down to the right weight category? How's that going?
I am careful with my diet. I will have no problems making weight.

What do your friends and family think of you fighting? Have you had a lot of messages of support?
Thankfully, everyone has been supportive of my dreams. I am very lucky.

Any predictions for your fight? Are you hoping for a KO or a submission?
I am prepared for anything...I train with World Champions at Evolve MMA every day. I promise everyone that I will do my best.

Do you have a message for all your Singaporean fans?
I am fighting for you guys. I want to show the world what a great country we are. I will do my best to make you proud.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Evolve Fighter Profile: Radeem Rahman

2011-08-12T16:51:00.002+08:00

Radeem Rahman is Singapore's 1st professional MMA fighter and is also a member of the Evolve Fight Team, Asia's #1 professional fight team. Radeem will be making his professional MMA debut on ONE Fighting Championship on September 3 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

To learn a little bit more about Radeem, please check out the short clip below.

Interview with Chatri Sityodtong

2011-08-07T16:45:00.001+08:00

CEO of Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, Chatri Sityodtong, with some members of the Evolve Fight Team

Chatri Sityodtong, the leader of the Evolve Fight Team, recently gave a media interview with Tokyo Times.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day for this interview. My first question is about the success Evolve has had to date. How does it make you feel?
Thank you for having me and nice to meet you. Hmmmmm, I'll tell you what...life is a lot of luck...sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. For sure I work damn hard...probably harder than anyone in this industry...but I can't take credit for the success at Evolve...we have the best team in the world...students, instructors, world champions, fighters, and staff...the Evolve Family is what really makes us successful...it's not a single person...and it's definitely not me alone...it's a total team effort...that's honestly why Evolve is #1 in Asia...it's the entire team...

Tell us more about your background.
I'm from Thailand...I started Muay Thai as a child...my teacher is Kru Yodtong Senanan...actually me and Lui (Yoddecha Sityodtong) started about the same time at Sityodtong Camp in Pattaya...and believe it or not, I used to beat him up and play pranks on him all the time...and he eventually became a world champ...so now, he can kick the crap out of me...as the saying goes, what goes around, comes around!

What brought you to Singapore and why did you start Evolve MMA?
Singapore is the greatest city in Asia...I truly believe it...great people, awesome food, nice weather...it's clean and super modern and efficient...and very international...I love it here. Ever since I can remember, one of my big dreams in life was to start a martial arts school because...martial arts gave me a lot in my life...it's a wonderful platform to unleash the human potential...it teaches you confidence, mental strength, focus, work ethic, a healthy lifestyle, and so many other great things. Evolve is my small way of giving back to the world...to make a positive impact on the lives of everyone (students, instructors, world champions, fighters, and staff) in the Evolve Family...

How often do you train?
I train about 5x a week on average...mostly Muay Thai and BJJ...I usually train at the Fighters Program at Evolve MMA with my teammates on the Evolve Fight Team...and I do privates on the weekends with our BJJ Black Belts...

You were recently named Asia's top MMA coach by a few leading MMA websites like MMA Japan, Bleacher Report, Bloody Elbow, Middleeasy, and a few others. How does that make you feel?
The Evolve Fight Team's success is a team effort...our 94% win percentage...it's all of us together...we have amazingly talented fighters, incredible world champion instructors, great coaches for all aspect of MMA, unbelievable visiting coaches like UFC Legend Rich Franklin, Matt Hume, and Renzo Gracie...it's hard not to look good when you have so much incredible talent around you. I will say this much though...in life, you are never as good as they say you are...and of course, you are never as bad as they say you are either...

Surely you don't mean that?
I do mean it.

You've recruited only two new members to the Evolve Fight Team this year. Tell us about them.
Yes, this year, we invited DREAM FC Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki and Total Combat FC Champion Eddie Ng, to join the Evolve Fight Team...what can I say? They are both incredible human beings and even better martial artists. Shinya and I have gotten to know each other well this year and I have the utmost respect for him. The thing that sets him apart from others is his talent and work ethic. He lives the life of a true martial artist...he exemplifies the Bushido spirit...he trains 6 days a week...year around...always trying to improve his game...he doesn't smoke, drink, or party...ever. He really has no other hobbies. Shinya love martial arts. He's in excellent shape every day of every year...it's incredible to see his focus...really amazing. Eddie is new to the team...I don't know him as well as a person yet...but I see a lot of potential because he's super gifted, very humble, and a real team player. Both Shinya and Eddie are going to show tremendous improvement in every aspect of their games under the training at Evolve MMA...mark my words...these two guys are going to skyrocket big time.

Can we expect any more recruits to the Evolve Fight Team?
Of course. One of my jobs is scouting the globe for talent...I do it every day...nowadays though, our email inbox is flooded with incoming email from fighters all over the world...so I am always studying footage and trying to find the next fighter that can flourish and skyrocket under the Evolve system. The mission of the Evolve Fight Team is to win world championship titles. I only want future world champions on the team...that's who I am looking for...fighters that Evolve can help turn into world champions...

Speaking of world champions, you have the whole world wondering how you have managed to recruit so many world champions in Muay Thai, BJJ, MMA, Boxing, etc to Evolve MMA. What's your secret?
It is better to be lucky than smart.

Surely it can't be that simple. Are there any secrets you are willing to share?
Hard work...there's no secret formula in life. Hard work is half the battle.

Are there any guys on the Evolve Fight Team that have potential to be a world champion in the future?
Of course, most of our fighters...you can pick and choose anyone...Zoro, Mitch, Eddie, Shinya, Yodsanan, Ximbica, Brian, Rafael, Leandro, Alex, Wat, Airam...and all the rest of our guys...I'll tell you what...you can ask Rich Franklin or Matt Hume what they thought when they came here...the talent, the coaches, the resources...mark my words, Rafael dos Anjos will become a UFC World Champion in the future...

Ok tell us how preparations for ONE Fighting Championship are going?
We are a month away from the event. Everyone is training super hard and is in excellent shape for this stage of our 8 week training camp.

Do you handle all the coaching and training for the Evolve Fight Team?
I'm the leader of the Evolve Fight Team, but I really let our huge coaching staff run the day-to-day training. The great thing is that we have so many different styles among our coaching staff...51 world-class instructors...people who have produced many world champions...people who have been world champions...so it's really like an endless sea of knowledge and experience...across all the major disciplines of MMA...I'm the one who comes up with the fight strategy and game plan for each fighter for his/her bout. And on fight day, I am the main voice in the corner for our fighters. Of course, I am always giving live feedback to all of our fighters during our training sessions every day. But really, it's a team effort...we all try to help each other...we are all learning and evolving together...

Thank you for spending time with us. Any last words to the fans of the Evolve Fight Team?
Come support us on September 3 at ONE Fighting Championship! We will do our best to make you proud...and thank you always for the love and support.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Attachai Fairtex joins Evolve MMA!

2011-08-03T10:17:00.001+08:00

Muay Thai World Champion Attachai Fairtex

The Evolve Fight Team is proud to welcome its newest arrival, Muay Thai World Champion Attachai Fairtex. He is the latest of a long line of Muay Thai World Champions to settle down in Singapore at Evolve MMA. To fans of Muay Thai, Attachai needs no introduction. However, for anyone who is not a long term follower of the sport, here is a quick list of his career achievements:

• Best Muay Thai Fighter of the Year (Sports Authority of Thailand)
• 2x Best Muay Thai Fighter of the Year (Lumpinee Stadium)
• Lumpinee Lightweight World Champion
• Lumpinee Super Bantamweight World Champion
• Thailand Light Flyweight World Champion

The Lumpinee Stadium title is the most prestigious world championship belt in the world and the Sports Authority of Thailand Fighter of the Year is the most sought after of all the annual awards. Attachai is an international superstar and has also fought in France, Belgium, the United States, Japan and Macau.

At the Muay Thai stadiums in Bangkok, the best of the best do battle almost every month. So it is no surprise that, with Evolve MMA having the highest calibre team of Muay Thai trainers in the world, Attachai will be seeing some familiar faces and friends at Evolve.

Attachai has literally fought a who's who in Muay Thai. He believes that the single greatest achievement of his Muay Thai career was beating Anuwat Kaewsamrit, at Ratchadamnern Stadium in 2007. He will be able to dissect that fight with Anuwat (who held belts at both Lumpini and Ratchadamnern as well as WMC and WPMF versions) on a daily basis as both men are now full-time members of the Evolve Fight Team. He has also fought Orono Wor Petchpun, another world champion from Evolve MMA. Attachai has also stepped in the ring with Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, another member of the Evolve Fight Team and the former Lumpinee Champion, WMC Champion and PABA boxing champion. Attachai has also fought Muay Thai World Champion Saenchai Sor Kingstar an incredible 5 times.

If you look at a list of all the best Muay Thai fighters from the last decade, a significant percentage of them are now working at Evolve MMA. Factually speaking, Evolve MMA now has the most number of Muay Thai World Champions in the history of Muay Thai. The Evolve Muay Thai Instructor Team is the greatest collection of legends in the world, including in Thailand.

Attachai comes from Surin in the North East of Thailand, a town famous for its elephant festivals. He was introduced to Muay Thai at age eight by his brothers. He had his first professional fight at the age of nine. In his career, Attachai has had 200 fights, winning 180 and losing only 20. He is regarded as a highly technical fighter, displaying incredible athleticism and technique (instead of brute strength and raw power).

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Fedor Emelianenko: The Greatest Ever?

2011-08-01T10:13:00.004+08:00

A third consecutive loss probably signals the end of Fedor Emelianenko’s career. However, rather than dwell on what the former Pride FC heavyweight has become, let's take a moment to reflect on his considerable achievements.

Fedor represents a bygone era in MMA. He didn’t look like a fighter, he certainly didn’t act like a fighter and he had no interest whatsoever in the media. Fedor didn’t hype fights. He just won them. Fedor would get on with the task of destroying opponents with the sort of quiet determination more befitting of a lowly paid physical labourer then the greatest mixed martial artist on the planet.

Here he is making short work of former UFC Heavyweight Champion and giant, Tim Sylvia:

Notice the complete lack of a celebration from Fedor in the aftermath of his victory. Defeating an enormous opponent really was just all in a day’s work for the unimposing Russian.

The mystique surrounding Fedor was only enhanced by his determination to remain true to his Russian roots. The popular perception was that while other mixed martial artists were worrying about new fangled concepts such as nutrition and sports science, Fedor was practising with more primitive methods and probably honing his technique by wrestling bears in the Russian woods.

You cannot question the results. Fedor remained undefeated for almost an entire decade and, while there is some debate as to whether he is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, there is no doubt that he is the greatest ever heavyweight.

Some would argue that, at the age of 34, Father Time has finally caught up with Fedor, but the reality is that while other mixed martial arts are constantly improving ‘The Last Emperor’ has not managed to move with the times. He stopped evolving.

The man who stopped Fedor at Strikeforce, Dan Henderson, is actually six years older than him. So why is Henderson still going strong while the Russian appears to have reached the end of the road?

Some athletes age better than others, but it is difficult to escape the suspicion that Fedor’s refusal to embrace modern methods might have ultimately caught up with him. He did train outside of Russia and has spent some time in Holland, but he stubbornly clung to his heavyweight status while his competitors were busy discovering just how much weight they could safely cut.

Prior to the recent Strikeforce fight with Fedor, Henderson had done most of his fighting at middleweight. The two men are actually almost exactly the same size in terms of body frame. The fact that Fedor spent his entire career as a heavyweight makes his achievements all the more impressive.

Mixed martial arts has changed beyond all recognition since Fedor made his professional debut in 2000. Nowadays fighters not only need to be well rounded and cross-train in every major discipline such as Muay Thai, BJJ, Boxing, and Wrestling, but they also have to take advantage of all the available assistance now at their disposal such as new training techniques, nutritional supplements, or advances in sports science.

Because Fedor’s methods worked so well for the best part of a decade, he has been understandably reluctant to alter them. Ultimately this lack of evolution might have had an adverse effect on his ability to continue fighting at an elite level.

We will never see the likes of the ‘Last Emperor’ again, and if he does retire mixed martial arts, we will have lost one of its greatest ambassadors. Fedor’s achievements stand for themselves and his place in history is secure. However, the speed of his recent demise is testament to just how rapidly the sport is evolving. Any fighter who fails to move with the times is likely to get left behind.

His career is a reminder to all of us that the key to long-term success in any field is continuous self-improvement. If you don't progress and EVOLVE, your competition will pass you by...

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

A Guide to Sparring Etiquette

2011-07-29T01:32:00.003+08:00

Sparring should be one of the most enjoyable parts of any session. It is an opportunity for you to assess how far you have improved as a martial artist and to try out any new tricks or techniques you might have learned.

Sparring should not be viewed as a competition or a chance to prove you are a better fighter than your sparring partner. Neither pride nor ego are assets in a sparring situation and you should look at every sparring session as a learning experience rather than a testing ground.

Check out this video of former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua sparring current UFC heavyweight contender Junior Dos Santos:

Although the sounds of their strikes are amplified due to the acoustics of the room they are in, it is still obvious that they are striking each other extremely gently. Their shots are not hard enough to hurt let alone bruise or cause lasting damage.

It does not matter whether you are rolling on the mat during a BJJ class or sparring with big gloves at the end of a Muay Thai session, the first rule is that you should be relaxed. If you are worried about winning or losing, then you will be tense and this will have an adverse effect on your performance. If you are worried about being hurt, then you will be afraid and this will also have an adverse effect on your performance.

Sparring is not a test of strength. A common mistake amongst beginners in BJJ is to try and use strength rather than skill when they are rolling. This is counterproductive for two reasons; firstly, if you can’t execute a submission without using sheer force, then you are probably not doing it properly and, secondly, if you rely on power instead of technique you will quickly become exhausted.

Having superior strength can make that little bit of difference when it comes to helping you finish certain submissions, but you should think of successfully executing a submission as being like turning a key in the lock. Some keys are awkward and you only really get the hang of them after unlocking a door multiple times, but attempting to use brute force will only break the key; it will never open the door.

Experienced professional fighters have the ability to mimic a real fight by throwing shots at speed, but without power. Beginners generally don’t have the necessary technique to control their strikes sufficiently to be able to throw them fast, but not hard.

For this reason it is a good idea to start out slowly and gently. Get into good habits by putting together combinations rather than just throwing one shot at a time, but make sure the impact is absolutely minimal, closer to that of petting a dog than landing a full blooded punch.
If you are sparring with someone who is much less experienced than you, then try and set the tone by demonstrating how gentle you are going to be right from the start. This will make them feel comfortable, give them the confidence to try new techniques and, crucially, make them much less likely to try and take your head off.

There are rare occasions when a trainer might want two students to spar hard, for instance, if someone is coming towards the end of their training camp and has a professional fight coming up. However these are exceptional circumstances and you should never attempt to hit your sparring partner hard unless you have been specifically told that a session should consist of hard sparring.

If you want to make the most of your sparring sessions try and remember the following rules:

1) Stay relaxed

2) Be technical (Don't use power)

3) Be gentle to your sparring partner

4) Sparring is NOT about winning and losing. It's about learning and self-improvement.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Muay Thai and BJJ 8-10x a day?

2011-07-29T00:27:00.006+08:00

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is pleased to announce the new schedule for Evolve PoMo, effective September 1, 2011. If you have ever wanted to train Muay Thai 10x per day and BJJ 8x per day, you now can! Here is a sneak peek of the new Evolve PoMo schedule!

Click on the picture below for a larger image of the schedule.

An Interview with a World Champion!

2011-07-27T19:18:00.003+08:00

Yodsanan Sityodtong, WBA Boxing World Champion with a record of 58-3 with 48 KOs, will be making his professional MMA debut at ONE Fighting Championship on September 3, 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. As a member of the Evolve Fight Team, he will be stepping onto the biggest stage in Asia for his pro MMA debut.

When did you move to Singapore / why?
I moved to Singapore to teach and train at Evolve MMA. I train in BJJ, MMA, and Muay Thai. I teach Boxing here. Chatri and I are from the same camp (Sityodtong) in Thailand. Our teacher is Kru Yodtong Senanan. So it was easy for me to come to Singapore because I know everyone already.

Do you miss Thailand?
I miss my family. My wife and my kids are everything to me. They plan to move to Singapore soon.

Has having so many other Thais around helped you to settle in?
Yes of course. There are so many Thai instructors and fighters here at Evolve MMA. So it was easy for me. They are all my brothers. Also, Singapore is quite similar to Thailand in terms of food and weather. And the people in Singapore are very warm and nice. I love Singapore!

Have you retired from boxing?
No, I have not retired from boxing yet. I train every day and I never stop since I was a child. Training is in my blood. My body is like I am 25 because I take good care of it. I have never smoked or drank alcohol ever in my life. Fighting is my love. This is what I was born to do. I train and run and train every day. I was supposed to fight 3 times last year, but each time it was canceled. In Asia, it is quite hard for me to find an opponent. No one wants to fight me. But I will fight anyone, anywhere. I am not afraid of any man.

Manny Pacquiao fought Fahsan 3k battery in 2004 who was around the same weight as you at the time. Were you ever close to fighting Pacquiao? Was it ever talked about?
Yes, our managers talked all the time for this fight. I wanted to fight Manny. He and I were considered the best pound for pound fighters in Asia. It is unfortunate that politics stopped us from ever meeting in the ring. He's a great fighter and I would still like to fight him. He is the best of all time and it would be an honor for me to compete against him. In my dreams, Don King calls and makes a fight between me and Manny!

Do you regret not having fought Pacquiao or do you feel relieved?
Fighting is my life. I love to fight and to challenge myself. I am not afraid of anyone. I have always wanted to fight Manny, but the promoters or managers did not make it happen. Before I retire, I would like to fight Manny.

When did you start learning MMA?
I have been doing MMA and BJJ for the last 2 years. It is a very fun sport and I love it too. People know me as a World Champion in Boxing, but I also used to be a professional Muay Thai fighter in Thailand too. I have had over 60 professional Muay Thai fights in addition to my 60+ professional boxing fights. So I already have the MMA striking part quite well. And for BJJ, I train every day 2-4 hours per day with our BJJ Black Belts and our BJJ World Champions here at Evolve MMA.

Do you enjoy training MMA?
Yes, I love MMA. MMA training is different. The cage training that we do is very hard. I am used to a ring. But fighting is fighting. I love fighting...I love competing...I love the challenge of seeing what I can do with my mind and body. I want to fight in the UFC one day is possible.

You fought on Madison Squard Garden a few years ago, did you ever think you would fight on a big show like ONE Fighting Championship again?
In life, you never know when is a peak or when is a valley. As a fighter, you can only control how hard you train in the gym and how hard you fight in the ring. Thank you to Chatri for giving me this opportunity to fight on Asia's biggest show. Evolve is in my heart. Chatri is our leader. And we will follow him everywhere. I am very excited for ONE Fighting Championship. I want to show people the real Thai fighting spirit and the beauty of Sityodtong Camp (where Chatri and I learned to fight)

Do your friends and family in Thailand have ESPN Star Sports? Will they be watching you fight?
Yes, it is big news in Thailand. I think the whole country will be watching. Here in Singapore, no one knows me. But in Thailand, I am a national hero.

There have been a few articles about you in the Thai media, have you been getting a lot of phone calls and messages from Thailand?
Yes, but I already know how to deal with fame. At the pinnacle of my boxing career, it was super crazy...everybody was throwing themselves at me. I have learned to trust my inner circle only. My family is the Evolve Family. I trust my brothers and sisters at Evolve.

What do people in Thailand think of MMA? Do they understand it and are they interested in it?
MMA is a young sport in Thailand. So people don't know much about it. But they know me as a world champion boxer. So now, they will see me as a pro MMA fighter and it will introduce them to the sport. Thai people have fighting in their blood. Thailand is a fighting nation. So I think MMA will be big one day.

A lot of Thai fighters worry that they will get injured if they do MMA, is this something you think about?
I am not afraid of any man. Fighting is my love. I am professional fighter. I have no fear. I love the action. Whatever happens in the ring is destiny.

Any predictions for September 3rd? Are you hoping for a KO?
Everyone knows that I have one punch KO power. With the 4oz MMA gloves, it means my power will only be greater. But I want to show the world that I am an MMA fighter. I will show them my BJJ, my wrestling, my Muay Thai, and of course...my boxing. I want to win by KO or submission. My opponent is very tough - he's a Muay Thai champion. I am ready for anything.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

Can an MMA fighter beat a Boxer?

2011-07-26T23:05:00.002+08:00

You might have noticed a recent trend for MMA fighters talking about wanting to switch sports to take on the world’s best boxers. Anderson Silva supposedly wanted to get in the ring with Roy Jones Jnr, then Nick Diaz was going to fight Jeff Lacy and most recently Alistair Overeem has stated that he is interested in fighting one of the Klitschko brothers.

MMA fans are still fond of asking the question of ’what would happen if the best MMA fighter in the world fought the best boxer in the world?’ The answer is really simple: if they fought under MMA rules then the MMA fighter would win, if they fought under boxing rules the boxer would win.

There are so many different elements to MMA and being the best mixed martial artist on the planet does not necessarily make you the best wrestler, or the best BJJ practitioner, or the best Muay Thai fighter, or even the best boxer.

Anderson Silva can definitely box as you can see in this video of him sparring at Freddy Roach’s Wild Card gym:

However there is a world of difference between being able to spar with a decent level boxer (Silva’s sparring partner in this video is far from famous, no-one seems to know who he is) and being able to take on the best boxer in the world in a competitive fight.

There are so many different elements to MMA that it is difficult to truly specialize in any one of them. While Anderson Silva has been cross training between boxing and Muay Thai and wrestling and BJJ Roy Jones Jnr would have been dedicating all his training time to improving his already world class boxing.

That is why, realistically, Silva would have no chance of beating Jones Jnr in a boxing match, Overeem would be in a world of trouble if he attempted to get in the ring with either Klitschko and, even with a little bit of professional boxing experience, Diaz would be a massive underdog against Lacy.

Evolve MMA brings together World Champions from a wide array of disciplines precisely because if you want to be an elite mixed martial artist, you need to surround yourself with people who are the best in the world at each individual element of MMA.

Training with world champions on a daily basis improves you as a fighter and the results are there for all to see with the Evolve Fight Team's 94% win rate in professional MMA. The Evolve Fight Team is Asia's top professional fight team.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.

A One-Armed Muay Thai Champion

2011-07-25T01:00:00.005+08:00

Baxter Humby is a Muay Thai Champion. However, what really sets him apart from just about any other fighter on the planet, is that he only has one arm. When he was born his right arm became entangled with the umbilical cord and had to be amputated just below the elbow.

Such a disability would have been enough to put most people off ever attempting to learn a martial art, but not Humby. Here he is winning a fight in Las Vegas with a spectacular knock out:

Humby’s website contains a quote, saying "the only limits you have are the ones you put on yourself." Conventional wisdom dictates that someone who is born without a limb will never go on to become a successful athlete, let alone a champion. Yet Humby was determined to defy expectations and did so in spectacular style.

It is always easy to find an excuse not to try and achieve your goals in life, particularly when it comes to things like fitness and martial arts. You might think you are too overweight to get into shape, too old to learn a new martial art or too lacking in confidence or ability to enter a competitive event.

If you fall into any of these categories, you should take a moment to reflect on Humby’s words and remember that the greatest limitations really are the imaginary ones which you impose on yourself. Whether it is to lose weight, to learn a new martial art or even to become a professional fighter, Evolve MMA is here to help you achieve your goals. Baxter Humby never gave up and neither should you.

Evolve Mixed Martial Arts® is Asia's premier brand of MMA academies. With World Champions in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and No Gi Grappling, Evolve MMA is the top martial arts training organization in Asia. It ranks among the best martial arts academies in the world.