Rambaa Somdet vs Yamaguchi Genki 1999

Many MMA fans will be familiar with Rambaa Somdet after his conversion to MMA. He fights at at 125 lb in Japan because of a lack of opponents at his optimal 115 lb. For a fighter in his 30s, (he fought in Lumpini nearly 2 decades ago), he has been doing very well on the MMA circuit.

This is a Japanese Kickboxing bout allowing all the weapons of Muay Thai, though they don't all come into play. Rambaa is a small, explosive fighter who fights with an entertaining flair that endears him to audiences. His flamboyance in the ring seems particularly popular in Japan, though I don't doubt that it would export well to the U.S. or other markets, provided he backs it up with wins. While his popularity in Japan is quite explicable, his fighting style is something of an anomaly. He abandons the conservative Thai style and sticks to powerful punch and kick combinations at the middle range. It certainly reflects the strength of his hand techniques, but could also be intelligent gameplanning on his camp's part, compensating for his reach and height disadvantage.

Yamaguchi Genki is relatively unknown to me. His kickboxing career does not seem to have taken off since this bout. His techniques have decent power, but lack the finesse seen in more experienced fighters.

Ramba is in black shorts, Yamaguchi white.