Generally speaking, when a karateka (karate practitioner) goes up against a muay thai fighter the karateka is usually going to be in for a long night. Though karate can definitely be effective, muay thai is just usually going to have a stylistic advantage.
In this old school special rules kickboxing bout we see a very high-level karate practitioner and legendary kickboxer Andy Hug take on muay thai champion Changphuak Kiatsongrit. These special rules appear to be more karate centric as punches to the head appear to disallowed.
Through the bout, Andy Hug lands many axe kicks, a karate technique that he was well-known for. This technique can be quite devastating as you are quite literally slamming your heel into your opponent’s face much like the swinging an axe.
The Thai fighter is a slow starter as many usually are but does land some good round kicks towards the end. Interesting to note that when he attempted to clinch it was quickly broken up, which essentially hamstrings a muay thai practitioner.
Andy Hug is declared the victor at the end of the contest as he landed the more effective strikes throughout the bout. But it would be interesting to see how it would go with a more balanced ruleset.
Andy Hug (Kyokushin) vs Changphuak Kiatsongrit (Muay Thai)
