just copied and pasted my reply to similar topic on K-1fans as some very over the top reactions on there, to which is basicallly misunderstandings of a very brief review on another site:

well that article is a very basic translation of the changes and some big overreactons on here.
I personally think it is great what they are trying to do and the Stadium boss needs support not derision as he will undoubtedly get flak here too. The rule changes have been bought in to take the decisions away from the gamblers and to take the sport back to it's origins, Mat, Thao, Khao, Sok or Punch, kick,Knee and elbow, not just kill the sport with power clinchers the way its been going for the last few years. There are debates and quotes about judging on webboards all the time about how the Thai way is the best etc... but the reality in Thailand for a long time has been that the judging comes down to the odds on the fight that the gamblers are putting out and they will favor the strong power clincher. Complaints all the time from people in the sport about how certain fighters will do nothing for 3 rounds then march out in the 4th and unload with a big barrage of knees and throw his opponent down once and win, even though his opponent has landed with great kicks and all round technique before hand. When I first started coming to the fights here 18 years ago the sport was booming, huge crowds and big purses for the fighters, but nowadays the crowds have dropped considerably and the purses for the fighters are half what they were, Lumpini are trying to make changes to make the fights more exciting agqin, they are not saying you cant clinch or trying to make it k-1 style or trying to make Masato champion. They are not saying you cant clinch, just saying the fights should be scored more on the Muaythai technique, not one fighter gets thrown down a couple of times and the odds go strongly for his opponent and he has lost even though he has looked the sharper technical fighter, but his opponent was just fitter and stronger. They are being positive for the sport. Knees still score if they are strong and with effect, you can still clinch, but must be working with hard knees not locking your arms around the waist and slapping in knees to the thighs. There have been a few articles about this and obviously it is a big talking point, a lot of the gamblers were not happy at first, but most people I have spoken to have been positive.

I for one wholehearted applaude the stadiums initiative, as it will hopefully help to take the sport back to the good old days and see more fighters in the style of Saenchai come through instead of fighters that just wait till round 4 to explode with a burst of knees. They are not actually drastically changing the rules as far as I see it, just trying to enfoce the judging in a more allround way and take the power away from the gamblers influencing fights