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The first step in building a new Sri Lankan sport

Naveed Rozais

Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, as the name suggests is the combination of different forms of martial arts by one artist; this could be as simple as mixing boxing as wrestling, or something a bit more complicated like mixing karate, judo, and a form of groundwork like sambo. 

One form of martial art that can form a cornerstone of a fighter’s repertoire is Muay Thai, or “Thai Boxing” – a specialised form of martial arts that utilises the two hands, elbows, knees, and shins. It is also called “the art of the eight limbs” and is also the national sport of Thailand. Muay Thai is one of the varieties of kickboxing. In this type of kickboxing, it makes use of a combination of the fighter’s knees and elbows in quick, striking movements. 

This weekend will see Sri Lanka open its doors to professional international competitions for Sri Lanka Muay Thai fighters with the World Boxing Council (WBC) Muay Thai Championship 2022. 

Muay Thai has a long history, and it is also incorporated in Thai culture with rituals, dances, and music. It is also used in the military training of Thailand’s armed forces. Locally, the sport was introduced to Sri Lanka formally in 2015 by Miran Nilangana, a student of the art who learned in California, and held Sri Lanka’s first focused Muay Thai workshop in collaboration with the WBC. 

WBC Muay Thai is commissioned under the jurisdiction of the WBC as a non-profit organisation to regulate, control, and supervise professional Muay Thai events worldwide. The organisation also adheres to the standard rules and regulations for all Muay Thai competition as approved by the Board of Boxing Sport (Office of Professional Sports) Sports Authority of Thailand.

The WBC Muay Thai Championship is the first professional competition organised by the WBC Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan arm of the WBC which was formally instituted in June 2020. The WBC Sri Lanka aims to build infrastructure to enable professional combative sports to be a viable revenue stream for both the WBC Sri Lanka itself, and for Sri Lankan fighters looking to build careers. The championship, which takes place on 12 March, is the first of many steps WBC Sri Lanka hopes to take to make this vision a reality. 

Brunch chatted with WBC Sri Lanka Country Representative Roshan Duminda and WBC Sri Lanka International Liaison Dhananjaya Aloysius to learn more about this first competition and about WBC Sri Lanka’s hopes for the future. 

Speaking on the upcoming championship, Aloysius explained that what sets this championship apart is that it is a professional tournament under the tutelage of the global WBC, as opposed to amateur fights and poorly organised fight championships that don’t contribute to building the sport of Muay Thai beyond an amateur-level physical pastime. 

“The WBC and WBC Sri Lanka will endeavour to take Sri Lankan athletes and fighters to the next level and to make combative sports like Muay Thai a viable career option,” Aloysius said, noting that Muay Thai and other combative sports are viewed how gaming as a profession was viewed 15 or so years ago. But, similar to the way gaming built itself up over the years with money being put into it and platforms being built to allow gamers to show their capabilities, it has now become a field that gamers (and their parents) are comfortable pursuing. It is this kind of development of the sport that Aloysius and Duminda hope to create through the WBC Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka’s WBC Muay Thai Championship 2022 takes this first step, acting as a celebration of local Muay Thai and its practitioners, with 12 fights and 24 players fighting for the championship belt. The flagship fight features renowned Sri Lankan MMA fighters Srimal Rodrigo and Adal Kila, both of whom have represented Sri Lanka locally and internationally at various fighting championships. 

“Our vision and goal is to make combative sports a viable career option for anyone,” Aloysius concluded, adding: “We want to establish professional fighters in Sri Lanka, work with tourism on promoting championships and build a championship similar to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), finding financiers and getting finances to the athletes who fight to make this a staple profession in Sri Lanka, and build a culture around it. There is a grassroots martial arts culture that has already begun to form, which is very open and accepting, and that’s what we want to go for and use as a funnel to make fighting a career option, and this starts with international events.” 

Sri Lanka’s inaugural WBC Muay Thai Championship 2022 takes place on Saturday, 12 March 2022 at 6 p.m. at the Royal MAS Arena. Tickets will be available at the gate.