Who Are The Scariest Kickboxers and Muay Thai Fighters?

As always, fighting anyone is scary and no matter how good you are, I feel like you should treat every opponent like they are dangerous. Never get too cocky or take anyone lightly. That all being said, some opponents are much more scary than others. Maybe it's because of the way they fight or maybe just the look in their eyes, their posture, their body language, persona, etc.

Strangely or not, these kind of intimidating, scary killers seem to be more common in boxing than in kickboxing, Muay Thai, and even MMA- at least in my opinion. Seeing interviews and actually meeting a few in person, kickboxers generally come off a little more friendly and jovial- even some of the ones who look pretty scary in person. I am not sure why this is exactly. I find it a little odd myself because in terms of physical toughness and damage taken, kickboxing is the more brutal sport. Not only are you are you having to deal with kicks and knees and elbows (in Muay Thai's case), but there is far less head movement and footwork to evade damage in kickboxing so many of these strikes are blocked or just absorbed, which is painful in both cases.

Some of the difference between the sports in this department may be cultural. Boxing is a worldwide sport but has generally been dominated by people from North America, Latin America, Great Britain, and the former Soviet states. With Kickboxing and Muay Thai, those sports are mostly dominated by fighters from Western Europe, Northern Africa and of course, Thailand. The businesses are a little different too, targeted at slightly different audiences. If I had to generalize, I would say that boxers are presented as baaaaaaad men whereas kickboxers are more like superheroes or video game characters. Probably an overgeneralization but it has something to do with it.

In any case, there certainly have been some kickboxers and Thai fighters who truly are frightening and intimidating and not anyone you want to meet in a dark alley. As Halloween approaches, here are a few of my favorites terrifiers, in no particular order:

Dieselnoi Thanasukarn

While certainly not as physically intimidating as a Mike Tyson or Sonny Liston, Dieselnoi 100% belongs on this list and any list like it for one very important reason - he holds the unique distinction of being the only champion-level fighter in any sport I can think of who had to retire early (before age 24) because literally no one would fight him! He held the world Muay Thai lightweight title and had beaten all challengers in and around his weight division, including a man largely considered to be the GOAT, Samart Payakaroon. Months and months went by and without anyone stepping up to fight Dieselnoi, he had to find other work. 

So why did everybody chicken out? In part because of Dieselnoi's size. He was 6'2 but fought at 135 pounds, which meant he towered over most of his competitors. This alone is not necessarily an advantage in combat sports but Dieselnoi made it an advantage with his famous, "sky-piercing" knees. When shorter fighters got in close enough to strike him, he would clench and throw knees up to their heads and there really wasn't a whole heck of a lot they do about it. If they tried to run, he would use kicks and long punches to herd his opponents into a corner where they were eventually clenched and kneed. It's like an alligator smothering its prey before pulling it down into the water.

Ramon Dekkers

The closest thing to a Mike Tyson of kickboxing has to be Ramon Dekkers. He held belts in both kickboxing and Muay Thai - being one of the first Westerners to become a champion in Thailand - and he accomplished this in large part to having thrown some of the most ferocious punches anyone had seen at the time. Thais were more known for kicks, knees and elbows with punches largely being used for set-ups but Ramon would not only change this but pave the way for other Dutch fighters to compete at the highest levels, creating a style that people from all countries have adapted. 

The similarities to Tyson were his use of especially powerful hooks, body shots (particularly the liver punch) and highly aggressive pressure to blitz and overwhelm his opponents, resulting often in brutal knockouts. This is how he got the nickname, "Turbine from Hell." Dekkers also showed fearlessness in being willing to fight in Thailand, which was not that common for outsiders. Besides competing on their home turf in their national martial art/sport, Thai judging is very different from western kickboxing and a foreigner getting a favorable decision was rare. Dekkers didn't care though. He just mowed through the competition like a....turbine from hell!!

Badr Hari

I mentioned earlier that many of the most prolific kickboxers are not scary people in person and in fact, quite warm and sweet. This cannot be said for the bad boy of kickboxing, Badr Hari. Or it could not be said in his younger days. With an over 90% knockout rate (!!!) in the ring and 8 felony assaults outside of the ring, Hari was/is definitely a man to be feared.

These are not necessarily good qualities in a fighter or a person but it is certainly scarier to fight someone like this. Not only do you have to worry about their rage and aggression but there is a certain unpredictability when dealing with an unbalanced, angry person. He once stomped on a guy's head after a knockdown during a K-1 tournament (this is an illegal strike) and although he was immediately disqualified, this is not something you want in the back of your mind when stepping into the ring.

Ignoring all of that, Badr Hari is/was also one of the most talented heavyweight kickboxers ever. He is 6'6, very athletic and he's as technically-sound as anyone. While he was a dominant champion for a while, he probably could have achieved more in the sport, had he been a little less scary and kept his act together!

Rodtang

In my favorite movie of all time, the original Halloween, when Dr. Loomis shot Michael Myers multiple times and Michael fell out a window onto the ground, only to disappear seconds later, audiences were pretty shocked. Nowadays, this trick of the unkillable killer has been done over and over in movies and is surprising to no one, but back in 1978, it was not so common. In combat sports, there have certainly been some tough fighters who don't go down even after taking some good shots but I don't think I've ever seen anyone as seemingly unaffected by punches, kicks, knees, elbows or anything as Rodtang. He is the closest thing to a Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees or any other seemingly unkillable horror movie character in the ring. 

This is true for fatigue as well. I have not seen any signs of fatigue or him having to slow down. This is a big thing. An otherwise intimidating, scary-looking dude can turn into a coward when he is tired. But Rodtang never stops.  He just keeps coming forward with relentless attacks. Some swarmer type of fighters tend to overwhelm their opponents with a high volume of strikes but just about everything Rodtang throws is vicious, with bad intentions. His nickname is "The Ironman" but he could just as easily be known as "The Boogeyman."

Wanderlei Silva & Mirko Cro Cop

Both are better known for their legendary MMA careers but have also competed (and started) in kickboxing as well, so they get an honorable mention here. The two faced off for the first time in Pride FC 2002 and when I saw them come out into the middle of the ring for the stare down that would later become famous, I remember actually being scared sitting on my couch. The intensity of both men was palpable. Even though there was no finish to the fight, I was on pins and needles the entire time because I knew at any moment, one of them could take the other's head off. Going back to horror movies again, it would be like Jason fighting against Michael Myers. 

We've seen plenty of intimidating characters in combat sports but I don't know if I've ever seen two fighters of equal scariness going at it in the same ring. Hagler-Hearns was pretty close but I could always see the softer side of Tommy Hearns. That he was really a nice guy and though he would kill me, he wouldn't want to kill me. Whereas when I looked into the eyes of both Wanderlei "The Axe Murder" Silva and Mirko "Right Kick - Hospital, Left Kick - Cemetery" Crop Cop, I could only see darkness. Of course, this is another example of people being different in the ring vs. real life because my wife and I actually got to meet Wanderlei at a fan expo and he couldn't have been a nicer guy. Still though, we should always fear a man who makes a simple wrist warm-up exercise into something terrifying.