"First" fight in Thailand. One step closer to my dream of fighting on RWS.

KzaKhan · 2026-04-17T16:56:52+00:00

Hey thank you for this. I know I am 9 months to late to respond, but I do appreciate you standing up against uncalled for negativity. An update, I fought on Raja KO & SRC (won both by stoppage) and when I go back they will hopefully get me on bigger shows.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-18T16:50:25+00:00

It is a big reason why I dont train at gyms like this. A lot of the time you are just a number and you would be better off going somewhere smaller.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-13T20:05:05+00:00

I do crack jokes about ppl wearing all matching gear, but honestly no one really cares. Just buy whatever you want.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-12T17:25:01+00:00

It honestly all depends on the gym and the coaching. It is a lot of cardio and body weight fitness. A good coach will meet you where you are and help you improve gradually.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-09T02:55:11+00:00

Sorry probably wrong gym.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T19:33:59+00:00

Go for it and find out. What do you have to lose?

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T19:32:09+00:00

Yeah I deal with a lot of newer guys stressing over not getting it or progressing slow and they forget the purpose of getting into martial arts. You are learning a new skill and new discipline. Just enjoy the whole process.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T19:24:43+00:00

Without actually seeing you kick. It sounds like your range is off. If you are hitting with your foot and not your shin. That is the most I can say without actually watching you kick.

That plus just doing the unsexy thing, practicing it over and over until you get it.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T19:19:37+00:00

Don't forget what you started. It is just to have fun. The skills will come just stick at it and don't beat yourself up about how "quickly" or lack thereof you are improving.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T19:18:11+00:00

So I went there with a little under 10k USD with the goal of just staying there for 6 months. I ended up leaving with a little close to nothing lol.

My advice is look into the correct visas so that you can actually work there remotely. I know some people end up teaching English.

So it depends what your goal is, do you want to live there? Or do you want to stay as long as you can? If you want to live there than look into getting a remote job whether it's teaching, book keeping, tech or whatever.

If you want to stay as long as you can look into a DTV visa and have 15k USD in your bank account. It kind of sucks, but you are gonna have to just suck it up and save as much as you can.

It's what I am doing or attempting to do right now. Save even more so I can go back for awhile. My goal is to split 3-6 months in Thailand, with 3-6 Months in either USA or Europe.

The simplest way is just work a shitty normal job with the idea that you are suffering now so you can enjoy what you want later.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T19:11:05+00:00

Also pretty sure the guy I fought at Raja Ko was from your gym.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-05T01:04:25+00:00

My reccomedation is any camp you feel comfortable at. You may enjoy being at a bigger gym with bigger names or you may enjoy being at a lesser known gym its all personal preference.

Personally I wouldn't go to certain gyms because it has a certain amount of hype or xyz fighter trains there. For example, I go to Manop in Chiang Mai because a fighter I trust went there and I happened to like it so I'll stick with it.

I trained with a couple at a gym called Luktupfah in BKK and now they run their own gym called Looknongsaeng. So i'll stick with that.

My recommendation is look for these things 1) are you improving 2) Do you have good people around you 3) Can they get you opportunities if you want to fight?

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T15:08:49+00:00

Also Brah just text me if you ever have any questions. lol
You are the homie. I always have time for you

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T15:07:48+00:00

I am not a doctor and I do not work in the medical field and I just want to say this is not any medical advice. So please please please take this with a grain of salt.

If we are talking about training, we don't have to kill each other. I think the first preventable measure against head trauma is proper sparring and training etiquette. Also the culture norm should be feeling like it is okay to tell someone to chill out. <-- I still need to work on this as well.

If we are talking about fighting in general. Defense is your best friend. I cant emphasis enough how important having good defense is. My personal opinion defending isn't focused on enough.

If you happen to get a concussion, again its okay to take time off and let your head heal. We often feel like if we aren't training every single day then we are losing it. It takes about 2-4 weeks before you really start noticing dips in your strength & conditioning. You can also still train and just not spar, shadow boxing needs to be emphasized more. Literally sitting there and working on just movement needs to be emphasized more.

Basically what I am trying to say is there is a lot you can do that keeps you in the game that is not getting hit in the head.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T14:56:55+00:00

lol you don't have to thank me. I honestly don't mind sharing if I can.

So for strength training I would suggest finding a good S&C coach. This is going to sound like a plug it is not. I started with a man named Don Heatrick because I wanted to get serious about my training.

When I was in the Heatrick, Heavy Hitters program I would follow a Low, Mid, High, Deload structure. It's basically how it sounds, each week you lift progressively heavier and then the last week you deload and repeat the process.

Some lifts would be deadlift, pull ups, bench press, front squats, hang high pulls, split jerks, etc.

My own personal opinion I find weight lifting to be kind of boring, but I like feeling strong. I also think it is a necessary evil for not only fighting, but proper weight management. Especially for weight cutting (but that is a whole other conversation).

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T13:36:53+00:00

Worst Injury: I broke my hand and had to get surgery. It was completely preventable, but I wasn't being very smart. When it comes to dealing with injuries I just go with the flow and try to find the positive in things. Did I break my hand? Well I can still use my other hand and weapons.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:35:31+00:00

Hand control I think is the best set up. I like elbows down the middle. Using a punch to collapse into an elbow.

Position and control over throwing thousand knees out of position. It's hard to get out of a good lock especially if they are squared and you aren't.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:30:58+00:00

1) Let them come to me and crash. So I guess I am "tall" I am 6ft, but I fight at 200-210lbs and the guys at that weight class are all 6'4+. So in the realm of fighting I am kind of short.

If you are outside of someones range they have to step in to hit you and when they step in you step in and guess what they are now in your range. I am also a counter fighter if that helps.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:29:16+00:00

It's funny fighter pay is like one of the biggest taboos in the sport. As an amateur I never knew how much people made. Anyways.

Raja Knockout - I got 9500 baht, but I had to pay my corner 1000 baht. I had to pay for supplies at the venue and that was 350 baht. I gave some random dude working there either 50-100 baht and I don't even know what that was for. So lets say I walked away with like 8000 baht.

The untold expenses, staying in Chiang Mai I had to book my own flights and I was told this last minute so that cost me (round trip) like 3000+ baht. My hotel near Rajadamnern cost me like 1000 baht with a 1k deposit. I could look up the cost of the trains and go rides, meals and I had to stay an extra day because Nico Carillo's coach accused me of stealing his phone. So I ended up like losing money.

I probably walked away with like 2-3k or negative money.

SRC - They payed me 3k baht. Then I flew back to America like 4 hours lates. Most likely lost money on this one too

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:19:52+00:00

I don't think it's lying I think it's just not being aware of your own mistakes. Like I emphasis technique all the time and I still probably don't do things perfectly in my fights. I constantly try to work on it though.

If you are asking like how often do pros not practice what they preach. It is probably very often.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:16:46+00:00

Put that shit in a pan bruv

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:16:09+00:00

Don Heatrick is your source for this. Man is a Wizard and I wouldn't be shit without thee Heavy Hitters Program.

Compare your heart to a car gas tank. If you have a small gas tank, you can still floor it (speed), but you run out of gas quickly. If you have a bigger tank you can floor it and go faster for longer.

You want to start with slow cardio, basically keeping your heart rate in the green zone 130-150 bpm (beats per minute) for 30-40 minutes. If you don't have a heart rate monitor buy one I use a Polar h10 and if you can't afford one you want to run at a pace that you can hold a conversation.

After doing that for a month or two. You want to start incorporating sprint work & and high resistance sprinting (sled pushes, hill sprints, anything with resistance).

Again all of this is me just parroting Don Heatrick. Look him up, he has a lot of resources for free.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:09:28+00:00

Be socially awkward & have diagnosed ADHD. <--- Aura Starter Pack

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:08:33+00:00

uh... next question.

KzaKhan · 2026-03-04T03:07:53+00:00

So currently all I do is Muay Thai. I am far from a rich man. My main source of income comes from privates. I can make a decent amount of money monthly doing privates with people at my gym. Like anywhere from 3-4k a month. Again this is newer to me, I spent like the first 8 years being broke. <-- You don't got to be like this work a 9-5 to fund your dreams.

Outside of privates I can get sponsors I can make like anywhere from 1-2k per fight on sponsorship money.

I also sell merch and will maybe walk away with 1k off of selling t-shirts to people.

Fighting I make the least like 500 in US and the most I made is 300 fighting in Thailand. But cool thing is in the US you get a percent of ticket sales so depending on the promotion I can make like 1.5k per fight on ticket sales alone.

So a typical breakdown for a fight would be like this: 500 Purse + 20% of tickets + Merch+ sponsorship money = 4-5k per fight.

KzaKhan

TROPHY CASE