By:  | May 11, 2023 1:36 pm

Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is set to face Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23rd. Ahead of that fight he has moved to a new gym and will now be training at Bang Tao Muay Thai in Phuket.

Sam-A represented Petchyindee during the peak of his career competing in Thailand. He then moved to Singapore and won multiple ONE Championship titles while training and teaching at Evolve MMA.

Sam-A left Evolve MMA and moved back to to Thailand. He was fighting out of the Petchyindee Gym again and competing on card promoted by the Bangkok camp.

But the 39 year old is back with ONE Championship and coming off a win over Ryan Sheehan at ONE Friday Fights 9. Next up for Sam-A is a tough fight against an experienced Thai opponent.

Limited success

Kompetch has held Lumpinee titles in two divisions and Channel 7 titles in three divisions. He is 16 years younger than Sam-A and has also experimented with kickboxing in recent years, albeit with limited success.

Kompetch was last seen in action in Tokyo where he challenged Akihiro Kaneko for the K-1 bantamweight belt. In his most recent Muay Thai fight he dropped a decision to Prajanchai PKSaenchaimuaythaigym at ONE Friday Fights 1.

Of course Kompetch’s achievements pale in comparison to the career of Sam-A. He has held the ONE Championship strawweight and flyweight Muay Thai titles, held Lumpinee titles in two divisions and Thailand titles on four divisions.

Weekly events

These events take place every Friday night at Lumpinee Stadium and have been getting very good ratings on Channel 7 in Thailand. But there has been some resistance with various groups attempting to prevent ONE Championship from using the term ‘Muay Thai’.

This week the Sports Authority of Thailand ruled in favour of ONE Championship. It determined that Muay Thai fights did not necessarily have to consist of five rounds, or use traditional 8oz boxing gloves.

ONE Friday Fights 22, Bangkok, June 23rd
Sam-A Gaiyanghadao vs. Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer (Strawweight)