Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu MMA New England; guests at WBC World Muay Thai Championships with Fairtex CEO Anthony Lin and Founder Mr. Wong

Jim Hughes & Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Self Defense and MMA New England representatives were invited to attend the WBC Muay Thai World Championships at the Normandie Casino in Los Angeles California on September 9^th as guests of Fairtex Muay Thai (one of the event sponsors).  Jim Hughes, a long time student and friend of Royce Gracie, created a successful business model throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New England, with locations in West Hartford, Glastonbury, Southington, New Haven, Danbury, Norwich, UCONN Storrs, Springfield/Agawam, Boston, and Puerto Rico. Mr. Hughes said “it was was exciting to meet with Anthony Lin the CEO of Fairtex Worldwide and Mr. Wong, the founder of Fairtex, the most successful Muay Thai organization in the world, I was happy to see that they are as excited about what they do, as we are about what we do in the world of Mixed Martial Arts!”

Mr. Hughes also said “I felt especially honored to meet the founder of Fairtex, Philip Wong. You can see Mr. Wong is very enthusiastic about Muay Thai, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Fairtex is a class act. I look forward to partnering with them in many future projects. They have passion for combat sports. I was impressed by their fighters, and the attitudes of the coaching staff.”

Perry Siegel, Doug Gallant, and Mike Darby, also part of the Royce Gracie/Jim Hughes team were in attendance. The general impression conveyed by the whole team seemed to be that the event was great, and the people from Fairtex have a lot in common with the people training under Royce and Jim. Both organizations take what they do seriously, but also realize that training has to be fun.

“I see a lot of parallels” said Doug Gallant, Glastonbury CT Gracie Jiu jitsu, Kickboxing and MMA Head Coach, “the fighters seemed relaxed, yet focused, which is a delicate balance, and something we strive for in Jiu Jitsu. I’m looking forward to doing some training with the Fairtex coaching staff. Ganyao trained Royce in Muay Thai, and I would be happy to have the opportunity to learn from him as well.” Ganyao is one of the trainers from the Fairtex team that works with Royce Gracie, Rodrigo Gracie, and Ralek Gracie as a part of the preparation for their professional MMA fights.

“Fairtex has partnered with K-1, IFL, WBC MUAYTHAI among others, to the mutual benefit of all involved. They have promoted Muay Thai, and have been involved in the promotion of MMA, and all manner of combat sports. Any association with the Fairtex brand helps to promote the sports, with a positive image. We’re all interested in the growth of the sports, as well as the safety of the fighters”, said Perry Siegel, Jim Hughes & Royce Gracie New England MMA Director of Safety, Business Dvelopment, and Event Management.

The fights were a perfect backdrop, and presented a great opportunity for members of both organizations to meet and learn about each other. The event was held in honor of the 80^th birthday celebrations of His Majesty the King of Thailand.

This was the biggest event of its kind in the U.S. with 3 WBC world title fights, 3 WBC international title fights and 4 WBC national title fights; there was certainly a lot of action.

Kaew Fairtex fought to retain the WBC super-featherweight world title, and had a very game opponent in Genki Yamamoto. Kaew seemed to control the fight throughout, and won the decision.

Another exciting and noteworthy world title fight was Lamsongkram Chuwattana vs Yohan Lidon. Lamsongkram won the decision, while Lidon showed great heart.

The event was televised live in Thailand, and will be available on Pay Per View in the U.S. in October.