Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn is a legendary Muay Thai fighter, known for his exceptional gameplay as a Muay Thai fighter with a technical style, and the sudden end to his career because of his fallout with Por Pramuk camp, where his funds were mismanaged. That didn’t stop people from remembering him as one of the most famous fighters with great technique and a 95% winning percentage from the Golden Era.
Here’s everything you need to know about this sensational fighter turned Muay Thai instructor, from his early life to his highly successful career, awards, and his own Muay Thai gym in Ko Pha Ngan.
From Surat Thani’s Muhammud to Thailand’s Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn
How Namsaknoi entered the realm of Muay Thai and started on his journey to become a Muay Thai legend.
Humble Beginnings
Namsaknoi was born as Muhammud Chaiyamart in Surat Thani, an unpopular small fishing village in Southern Thailand. He was the nephew of respected Muay Thai fighter, Namsak and his brother Ges was learning and earning through Muay Thai bouts, which instilled the passion of the combat sport in him.
Honoring his uncle, he took up the same fighting name and started his journey at the budding age of 8 years old. He fought his first bout a month later, winning just 150THB as his first prize money. He fought in two small camps in his village at Pon Pichit, and Sit Kru Pan.
Starting Off His Muay Thai Career in Bangkok
Soon after he joined the Kiatsingnoi Gym, infamous for producing legends in the Muay Thai scene like Rattanchai. Muay Thai superstar Buakaw Banchamek trained at the same camp as Namsaknoi’s junior.
Highlights of Namsaknoi’s Muay Thai Career
Namsaknoi’s career was a series of successful fights, with many fights leaving crowds in awe. Here’s every award in Namsaknoi’s career.
Namsaknoi’s First Awards
At the age of 17, he already won one of Thailand’s most prestigious titles, the Fighter of the Year from the “Sportswriters Association of Thailand”. At this time, he was one of the youngest fighters to win this title.
Later, Namsaknoi changed to the legendary Por Pramuk Gym and already won all sorts of titles for the gym, before Muay Thai superstar Buakaw made the Por Pramuk famous worldwide. While Buakaw gained fame through fighting in the K1, Namsaknoi concentrated on the elite of Thailand. He has fought against the best of the golden era legends, Saenchai, Neungpichit Sidyodtong, Attachai Fairtex, and many more.
Namsaknoi as “The Emperor”
Namsaknoi won the WMC World Champion 112 lbs in 1995 and also multiple Lumpinee Stadium championships from 1995 to 2006. For his first major belt, he beat Neungpichit Sityodtong for Lumpinee belt in 112 lbs and WMC World Champion belt in 112 lbs. In 1999, he won the Lumpinee belt in 130 lbs against Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee.
In 2000, he won Lumpinee belt in 135 lbs against Kaolan Kaovichit. He safeguarded his Lumpinee belt in 135 lbs until 2006. He defended his belt successfully against Noppadet Sengsimaigym, Nontachai Sit O (Twice) and Samranchai 96 Peenang. He maintained a 6 year streak of being unbeatable champion at the Lumpinee Stadium until he retired in 2006 and this earned him the nickname, “The Emperor”.
95% Winning Percentage of All His Fights
Among his total of 300 Muay Thai fights, he has won 280 fights. He has only 15 losses to his name, along with 5 draws. Namsaknoi has won most of his tournament fights by decision, with a few technical knockouts, and knockouts to his name.
In the few losses he experienced, 13 out 15 were by decision with only two by technical knockouts, establishing Namsaknoi as a great fighter that does not give up.
In 2010 he won WAKO World Muay Thai belt in 154 lbs against an Italian (Diego Calzolari), who he beat by knockout.
Namsaknoi’s Fighting Style
The young Namsaknoi formulated his own style of technical fight as Muay Femur with some killer leg kicks, which he confessed as his favorite move.
A Graceful Start: Namsoknoi’s Wai Kru Ram Muay
The Wai Kru Ram Muay is a Muay Thai ritual in which students show respect and gratitude to their teachers, parents, and ancestors. Ram is the Thai word for “dancing” in the classical style, and Muay simply means “boxing”. Literally then, this is the dance of the boxers, or boxing dance.
This great fighter’s Ram Muay itself was so graceful that he has two awards for it. Namsaknoi’s awards include the Best Ram Muay of the Year 2001 and the Best Ram Muay of the Year 2006.
Smooth Transitions of Muay Femur to Muay Khao
Namsaknoi is one of the best examples of a “Muay Femur,” a Thai boxer whose fighting style is based on defense, recognizing gaps, and ring intelligence. Personally, I am convinced that this style is the culmination of Muay Thai. He was also well known for transitioning from a distinctive technical fighter to a knee fighter according to his opponent, even confusing them during the same bout.
Namsaknoi as a Muay Thai Trainer
Because of this outstanding fight record and the impressive fighting style of Namsaknoi, many people want to train under him, and the gym he opened up later on.Thus he was presented an opportunity to the Evolve fight team at Evolve MMA Singapore.
Muay Thai Trainer in Singapore
Evolve MMA is one of the most prominent martial art schools in the world. Namsaknoi spent 6 years training renowned martial artists and experienced fighters alongside other great Muay Thai legends like Orono Wor Petchpun, Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee and others. Although he was camp senior to the global sensation Buakaw, Namsaknoi only had been abroad for Muay Thai tournaments a handful of times. Would the great fighter’s Muay Thai career been longer had it been different? We would never know.
Later In 2019 he was for one year a Co Trainer in Germany, at the Fight Club in Ludwigsburg.
Namsaknoi Muay Thai Club
You will find his own gym on Koh Phangan, a holiday island in the Gulf of Thailand, which is world-famous for the monthly “Full Moon Parties”. But that does not mean to frighten you now, there are quite quiet corners on the island and you can concentrate fully on the training, if you want.
The school is located just outside the main town of Thongsala, but is very easy to get there, as it is located on a well-developed street and is easy to see from the road. All trainers speak English, which is not necessarily the standard in Muay Thai Gyms, but it helps extremely, if one can communicate.
The quality of the training is very cared about. This is also noticed by the fact, that no one is pushed to fight. On the contrary, the Chetrainer Namsaknoi decides personally whether you are ready to fight or not and if he tjinks you are ready, then you can be sure that you are.
In 90% of the Muay Thai Gyms in Thailand this is unfortunately not the case, you are more likely to be pushed, even if you are not yet ready, as financial interests exist. This is not the case at Namsaknoi Muay Thai.
Namsaknoi: A Muay Thai Phenomenon That Could Have Been More
Namsaknoi’s shortlived career ended unfortunately, but his gym is a great place for Muay Thai enthusiasts to get a tailored learning experience. His career of defeating Muay Thai legends is a great example to those that want to learn Muay Thai, and his fallout with Por Pramuk, a great shock to the Muay Thai community. Regardless, the technical fighter revived his life with his training opportunity at Evolve MMA, and then the Namsaknoi Muay Thai Club.
If you’re interested in learning under this Muay Thai legend, check out Namsaknoi Muay Thai Club.
FAQs
Namsaknoi is an exceptional Muay Femur fighter, known for his technical agility and expert fighting techniques. He is also famous for being able to successfully shift between Muay Femur to Muay Khao, confusing opponents with his deathly knee strikes.
Namsaknoi has a career with a 95% winning percentage, winning 280 from 300 fights. Namsaknoi won the WMC World Champion 112 lbs in 1995 and also multiple Lumpinee Stadium championships from 1995 to 2006. For his first major belt, he beat Neungpichit Sityodtong for the Lumpinee belt in 112 lbs and the WMC World Champion belt in 112 lbs. In 1999, he won the Lumpinee belt in 130 lbs against Lamnammoon Sor Sumalee. He maintained a 6-year streak of being an unbeatable champion at the Lumpinee Stadium until he retired in 2006 and this earned him the nickname, “The Emperor”.
