Muaythai is becoming more and more international and this is due to the hardwork and cooperation of the World Muaythai Council and IFMA. The WMC, the Thai organisation under royal patronage has been working closely with IFMA since day one and this marriage can not be broken by the involvement of the IFMA Executive in the WMC.
Many IFMA Thai athletes including Buakaw, Yodsaenklai, Superbon and Chommanee have become WMC world champions and some of them have been beaten by names such as Sofia Oloffsson, Artem Levin, Andrei Kulebin but seldom the Thais have been beaten on their own turf and in the oldest Muaythai stadium in the world Ratchadamnoen.
French athlete Jimmy Vienot the WMC World Champion and IFMA European champion is another athlete making this important transformation and he made it in style by beating the current 3 time WMC champion Sorgraw Petchyindee in Thailand in a major upset.
IFMA President Doctor Sakchye Tapsuwan who is also WMC General Secretary stated that the protection and proper transformation of the athletes has always been key and France has become one of the powerhouses of muaythai in the world.
IFMA General Secretary Stephan Fox who is also WMC Vice President stated like proper education where you go from primary school to high school and then university has been key to IFMA’s success. The Youth World Championship is the IFMA flagship event. The number has doubled in the last 3 years meaning the sport is safe and from there the Youth will go to the senior where they can enter the Continental or World championships.
They can participate in Olympic recognised events, World Games and FISU and so on and then compete for the WMC belt under royal patronage in the motherland, this winning formula is the key to success in the universality of IFMA and proof that like in any other Olympic sport anyone can become a champion.