Unlike wrestling sports and boxing, it is not common to see a Muslim fighter fighting under Muay Thai rules. The fact that it is not a common occurrence does not mean it is impossible, though. In the list below, you will find young and title-hungry individuals of the Islamic religion in Thai boxing.
Some of them have already done their work and are retired, some of them are successful and at the top, and some are longing for it and have yet to become it. Also be sure to check my list of best muslim UFC fighters.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon
Rodtang was born in 1997 in Pa Phayom, Phatthalung, Thailand, a country renowned for turning forth deadly fighters at an early age. Although he is originally from Thailand, where he spent a large part of his life, after getting married to Muay Thai colleague Aida Looksaikongdin in a traditional Islamic ceremony, he converted to Islam at the beginning of 2023.
Rodtang is a dangerous Muay Thai fighter who has destroyed most of his past opponents. Rodtang has 271 wins, 42 losses, and ten draws in his record, which speaks volumes about his expertise in the ring. This Muay Thai World Champion, noted for his destructive power, ferocity, extraordinary pain tolerance, and taking clean strikes to his steel chin, destroyed everybody who got in his path.
This is how Rodtang gave a justification for being called Iron Man. The 25-year-old Rodtang Jitmuangnon is one of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world in his division. He is well-recognized for enjoying every battle and showing respect to his opponents.
He is a bloodthirsty warrior who never gives up, crowned in 2017 at Omnoi Stadium as 130lbs Champion and in 2016 as MAX Muay Thai 125lbs Champion. Rodtang is a young but experienced fighter who is the current champion in the flyweight category in Chatri’s ONE Championship organization, where he holds the record for the most decision wins (11) and has the longest winning streak of 14 wins in the same organization.
Youssef Boughanem
“The Terminator” was born in 1989 in Brussels, Belgium, and is of Moroccan descent. He comes from a martial family because his brother Yassine also has memorable successes, and they started training together when Youssef was 12 years old.
Youssef lost both parents at an early age. After moving to Thailand with his brother at 17, Boughanem dedicated himself to his profession as much as possible. Youssef is an experienced warrior who managed to fight in 220 matches, where he achieved 191 wins, 24 losses, four draws, and one no-contest.
He won many championships, but the ones most worth mentioning are the Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Stadium championships, the Max Muay Thai crown, and winning several Muay Thai tournaments. This 33-year-old fighter, who had dedicated his life to the ancient martial art of muay thai, had reached the pinnacle of his athletic career.
He holds the title of well-known and exceptional champion, both for his extraordinary career and the greatness he represents. His audience now goes well beyond the realm of boxing, and his fan support follows him wherever he fights. He is a real role model who actively teaches young people crucial values. Youssef makes himself known today more than ever and is active on all fronts.
Alaverdi Ramazanov
Known as Babyface Killer or Dagger, Alaverdi was born in 1994 in the Republic of Dagestan. Unlike his compatriots, the vast majority of whom practice wrestling, at the age of 13, Ramazanov decided on a bloodier sport.
He made his debut at 18, and at 21, he moved to Thailand to perfect his skills, where he also competed until he signed a contract with ONE Championship, where he became known to a world audience. He made his ONE debut in 2018 against the dangerous Petchmorakot Petchyindee, where he won by decision.
In the same organization, he became the champion in 2019 in the bantamweight category, but in 2021 he lost that title. Although his official record shows 13 wins and ten losses, he fought matches that are probably not all recorded in Thailand.
Despite this, he won the Russian National Tournament 12 times. As an amateur, he won the IFMA European Championships and the IFMA Muay Thai World Champion. Don’t be fooled by his imperfect score; he is a dangerous and hungry young fighter with Dagestani blood that doesn’t know how to give up. Ramazanov has many years on his plate to achieve great results and make a name for himself in the coming years.
Dzhabar Askerov
Dzhabar Askerov is another Dagestani stand-up fighter, born in 1986, who competes in the welterweight division. His father introduced him to Muay Thai when he was nine years old. Dzhabar is known for his K-1 debut when he defeated the brutal opponent Buakawa in 2007.
Askerov managed to fight 149 matches, with 110 wins, 37 losses, and two draws and managed to knock out 55 opponents. He took gold at the 1999 World Muay Thai Championship as an amateur and a bronze medal at the I.F.M.A. World Muay Thai Championships.
Dzhabar has won the World Championship eight times and other major awards, such as the Patong Stadium championship and World Muaythai Council titles. In addition to a successful Muay Thai career, Askerov is a multiple-kickboxing champion, a boxer with one win, and an MMA fighter with a perfect record of 4 wins and zero losses.
In his long career, he traveled and fought all over the world: Russia, Scandinavia, China, Australia, Japan, and various European countries, where he saw everything and went through anything in a career that has already lasted 18 years.
Dzhabar must be credited for the fact that, like every fighter from his country, he never gave up in the face of a challenge, regardless of the martial sport in question.
Aida Looksaikongdin
Aida is a 25-year-old professional Thai fighter, better known as the wife of Iron Man Rodtang. Born in a Muslim family of fighters with 16 siblings, she trains with her sisters and brothers from an early age under the tutelage of her father, Nopparit Yoohanngoh, the head of the boxing camp.
Aida started fighting at the age of 16, is an active fighter, and has competed in many major Muay Thai competitions, winning many titles and recognitions such as the 2015 Thailand National Muay Thai Championship and the 2016 WPMF World Muay Thai Championship and a 3-time gold medalist in the Muay Thai Thai amateur competitions from 2018 to 2020.
Aida, who has experience in the ring in more than 50 fights, with an unofficial score of 48 wins, 15 losses, and two draws, traveled to fight in foreign countries such as Australia and Japan. She came to be very successful in the Rajadamnern ring.
Aida is the first female boxer in the history of Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium in 77 years to win on the men’s battlefield. Aida has yet to become known to a wider world audience, and thanks to rigorous training and her youth, it is safe to say that she has a golden career ahead of her.
Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn
Namsaknoi, better known as “The Emperor,” was born Muhammud Chaiyamart and is a former Muay Thai fighter born in 1979 in Chaiya, Surat Thani Province, Thailand. He turned to Muay Thai as a way to help his family financially, which he eventually did.
In his twenty-year-long career, he fought in many wars and collected 50 battles before he was 12 years. Namsaknoi had 280 victories, 15 defeats, and five draws in his professional career. He competed in most of his matches at Lumpinee Stadium, where he had one of the longest championship reigns and won many fights.
He won the flyweight belt in 1995, the super-featherweight title in 1999, and the lightweight title in 2000, which he held for six years. He won the 2010 WAKO Pro World Muay Thai Champion, the 1995 WMC World Champion, and twice the champion of South Thailand in two different categories.
He was awarded the “Fighter of the Year” award several times. It is safe to say that he is the most successful Muslim fighter on this list because he achieved greatness on many battlefields in his successful career.
Aslanbek Zkrieev
Another fresh Muay Thai fighter from Russia is Aslanbek Zikreev, who was born in 1995 in Kemerovo. He is currently an active fighter in the ONE Championship in the strawweight division. Although he is still a young and undeveloped professional fighter, his amateur career is rich in success.
The fighter of the Kuzbass Muay Thai team has over 30 matches as an amateur, of which he lost five. Aslanbek won the gold medal at the IFMA World Cup in Kazan in 2016, and in the same year, he took the gold at the world championship in Jönköping.
2017 at the World Games, Zikreev takes bronze and silver at the World Championships. He was a two-time gold medalist at the IFMA European Championships in 2018 and 2019. He won the gold medal at the last competition, the 2021 IFMA World Championships.
He made his professional debut for ONE in 2020, where he currently has two losses and two wins. Experienced and successful in amateur fights, Aslanbek has just swum into professional waters, so judging by his amateur experience, he is anticipated to do great things in his career as a representative of Russia in Muay Thai.
Yassine Boughanem
Yassine Boughanem was born in 1994 in Brussels, Belgium, and is a Moroccan-Belgian fighter. He shared the same childhood story as his older brother. He made his professional debut in Thailand in 2013, where he celebrated a victory.
Experienced in fighting on the feet, Yassine has a record of 169 fights with 136 wins, of which 89 were by knockout and 33 losses without a draw. Among the titles that adorn him, it is worth mentioning that in 2016 he became the Super Muaythai Heavyweight tournament winner, the WPMF World Heavyweight Championship with two title defenses, and the WBC Muaythai World Super Heavyweight Championship, which he won at the Rajadamnern Stadium, with three successful title defenses.
Yassine is also the winner of the WKN World Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Championship, where he is the current champion. Judging by the last matches, Yassine’s previous fight was in 2019 in Brussels, which he won by knocking out a falling opponent, resulting in a no-contest.
After that, Boughanem went to the world of MMA, where he debuted in the ARES organization but lost via knockout. We should not let this end of his career overshadow his previous successes in Thai boxing.
Anvar Boynazarov
Anvar The Uzbek was born in 1989 in Uzbekistan and is a famous and active Muay Thai kickboxer and MMA fighter. He started his fighting career at a young age with Muay Thai with his older brother Firdevs and managed to reach the Glory scene, where he had his ups and downs.
His professional Muay Thai record consists of 125 bouts, 95 wins which he won by knocking out 55 of his opponents. His resume includes 28 wins and two draws. Among the Muay Thai achievements worth mentioning are the 2010 and 2013 WMF Featherweight World Championship, and he was also successful in the kickboxing EM Legend tournament three times in 2016, 2017, and 2018 where he emerged victorious.
Anvar also competes in the MMA comparatively and has a record of 4 wins and one loss finishing all four opponents by knockout. What says a lot about him is how he dealt with downfalls in his career regarding the unfortunate start with two losses, a string of three or four losses in the middle of his career, and losing two last fights. The mass number of battles shows what a persistent and tough fighter he is, who, after all the wars, has remained active and dangerous.
Mohammad Khalil
Mohammad Khalil was born in 1994 in Kurdistan, north of Iraq, but he grew up in Norway, which he represents in the ring. Although he was involved in martial arts from a young age, Khalil started practicing Thai boxing very late.
After it took him four years to get a black belt in Aikido, Mohammad decided to change his profession. Around 2015, he saw Muay Thai and kickboxing as a way to lose a few pounds and get in shape, but the first time he entered the gym, he fell in love with the sport.
After falling in love, In 2017, Khalil decided to become a professional. So far, he noted 40 wins, 21 losses, and four draws, where he fought in Norway, Thailand, China, Cambodia, and Sweden. Mohammad is a fighter known for always moving forward using punches and elbows.
He says that religion plays a crucial role in his life, both in and out of the ring. Khalil is a hard-working and religious individual, aware that nothing will come without hard work, he strives to get his belt and titles to open up even more opportunities for himself, and his dream is to be remembered as one of the greatest.
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