On Saturday 19th October, the Muay Thai Grand Prix returned to Crystal Palace with a spectacle of a show, including an array of world-class fighters.
The 90th MTGP Fight Night featured an exceptional card, with several world titles up for grabs.
Irish Dano O’Toole took the welterweight MTGP World Title from Amro Ghanem in a spectacular knockout in the 4th round out of 5, while Izzi Wilkins also prevailed over Elia Elz to secure a women’s World Title.
Bartek Paszczyk also took on Cambodian Prom Samnang in 4oz gloves – with the smaller glove size making the fight even more suspenseful for the audience.
Fighters from the home country of the Muay Thai sport, Thailand, were also present – with the renowned Thai fighter Nampon PK defeating Dave Wilmot decisively.
Several Kickboxing titles were also on the line, with seasoned Said Kabil prevailing over Nathan Riddle to win the Kickboxing Grand Prix World Title in an extremely intense fight.
However, according to the organiser of the event, MTGP CEO Philip Tieu, Muay Thai was “definitely more entertaining” for the audience - despite the boxing fighters ushering in a “significant fan base”.
Tieu, who is also a Muay Thai trainer, had a large proportion of his own practitioners in the ring that night.
According to him, seeing their skills improve, both “physically and mentally”, brings him “great happiness”.
Tieu also mentioned that fighting is a “one hundred percent mental game”, and there were some “noticeable differences” between training and real fights depending on the fighter.
The MTGP is one of the world’s fastest growing promotions of Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing, and has high aspirations for growth.
