“Protect yourself at all times” is the mantra of combat sports, but is there a gray area?
In the video above, two amateur female Muay Thai fighters are competing in Australia’s No Boundary Fight promotion. In the opening seconds, the duo touches gloves, and the woman in red gear fires off a low kick-high kick combo. Both strikes connect perfectly, and the result is a knockout in just six seconds. It’s difficult to pin down the exact event information like the date of the card or fighters involved
— do I hear a “Lena Thorn” from the ring announcer? — but the clip alone has already gone viral and sparked strong emotions.
The majority of viewers are unimpressed by the KO, which many deem cheap and immoral if not outright illegal. A smaller percentage stand by the above rule to protect yourself at all times once the bell rings. Check out a sample of the online reactions below:
“Cheap. Traditionally you take a step back, each after touching gloves. It was legal, but it certainly wasn’t honorable.”
“That was cheap as f—k, no honor at all.”
“So absurd. Just touch gloves when you get in the ring or when ref brings you together before the fight.”
“The moment the gloves touch, it’s game on. Are they suppose to wait for a 3rd action to signal the fights begun after the ref says ‘FIGHT!’ & they touch gloves?? Don’t touch gloves if you’re not ready. Not like you just spent months training for this moment just to not pay attention 5 seconds in.”
“You can literally see at 0.25x speed how she planned this dirty trick — she hasn’t even taken off her glove yet, and she’s already kicking. No honor. Just trash.“
My take? Amateur Muay Thai is really not the place for a cheap shot. There’s not much if any money on the line, and in this best case scenario of an instant knockout, the winning fighter’s name is still a question mark — she gains nothing. The whole point of amateur experience is to improve and gain minutes in live competition! This cheap shot scored the victor an Instagram post at best, while costing the losing fighter more than a few brain cells.
What are your thoughts, Maniacs?
