Buakaw in MMA?

Fighting sports have their famous heroes, but one remains unsung, one of Asia’s best, Buakaw Banchamak. Those who follow Muay Thai or kickboxing have of course heard of him. Buakaw is a Thai welterweight Muay Thai kick-boxer and is a former two time Omnoi Stadium champion, Thailand Featherweight champion and two time, 2004, 2006 K-1 World MAX champion. Before judiciously devoting himself to Muay Thai, Buakaw also played professional football as striker for RBAC F.C in the Regional Division Football 2.

Born as Sombat Banchamak, the kick-boxer fights like a demon possessed, with vicious kicks and kneestrikes and has won over many fans around Asia, with epic victories in tournaments of Muay Thai and Shoot-boxing. With an impressive kick-boxing record of 216 wins, 21 losses and 12 draws, out of his 249 total fights, the fighting world looks with interest whether the fighter will move onto MMA as his next career move. So far no indication has been given.

Buakaw was seen practicing Jiu Jitsu at a gym in Bangkok, after he had a fall out with his longtime training camp. This spurred rumors on whether he would join MMA. However, a question comes up. Even if he was to join MMA and start fighting in the cage, would he have the same effectiveness that he had in kick-boxing?

Having very high striking skills, Buakaw can deliver powerful punches and knee strikes, but what really stands out is his kicking ability. His legs move devastatingly fast, crashing down powerfully on opponents leaving them stunned. Most MMA fighters don’t have such striking skill. If they did have to face Buakaw inside an octagon, they would most likely avoid any striking with him, move in for a takedown and take the fight to the ground, which would put Buakaw at a disadvantage and bring our story to an end. Unless, of course, Buakaw adapts and learns to keep it standing or can recover quickly to his feet like how Chuck Liddell does it, then maybe, we got a fight on our hands.