Yodsanklai Announces Retirement!
One of the biggest Muaythai legends of all time has officially handed in his resignation to the Muaythai World in an announcement made over the weekend.
Yodsanklai, probably one of Thailand’s biggest exports, has been a legend in muaythai for many years and is a two-time Lumpinee champion.
Known as having the strongest kick in muaythai, Yodsanklai shot to international fame when he appeared on The Contender Asia, the award winning reality TV show, sanctioned by the World Muaythai Council in which he for 15 weeks showed as much character as he did talent.
In the end in a thrilling final beat out JWP from Australia to become the Contender Asia champion claiming a total purse of nearly 200,000 USD and also became the WMC World Champion.
He defended the WMC World Title twice, most recently stopping Vladimir Moravcik in his home town silencing the sell-out crowd.
In 2009 Cosmo Alexandre was the first foreigner to win the prestigious King’s Cup sanctioned by the WMC and in 2010 Thailand sent in Yodsanklai to reclaim the cup and it was Yodsanklai who met the King’s Cup champion Cosmo in the final after which Yodsanklai reclaimed the cup back.
Aside from his professional career Yodsanklai has also represented Thailand at the IFMA World Combat Games in 2012.
In an official statement released to his fans over the weekend Yodsanklai sent this message.
“Greeting to all my friends brothers and sisters and my fans. I wanted lets everyone know that i am retiring from fighting. I have been fighting for a long time, I have been suffering from many injuries and most recent one that I took a year off from was a knee injury that i has gotten surgery for. From that point I have fought 4 fights. I don’t feel like my body is performing to my expectance. The pain have multiply even in training and i know what is best for my body. I want to thanks everyone for always supporting and cheering for me so I wanted to let everyone know directly from me”.
Yodsanklai has taken the last year off from muaythai due to a new a knee injury making a return to the ring at the end of last year coming back with a vengeance. After 4 fights he has then had to make the decision to retire due to continued pain which he believes is preventing him from reaching his potential.
This decision was a major shock for fans across the globe who were hoping to see him compete in one of the biggest fights of all time against another muaythai legend Buakaw.
Yodsanklai retiring from the ring is a sad loss to the muaythai community but he leaves a legacy behind and we hope to see him share some of his muaythai wisdom in the years to come.
From all the WMC Yodsanklai we salute you!
