I'm wondering if Yokkao have not totally misjudged the UK MT community.

I'm not saying that the Thai fighters don't love the sport, I'm sure they do, but their primary motivation is to earn a living and as such they will go along with all the foibles of their employers - including endorsing and starring in their crossfit video spin-offs etc etc.

UK Thai fighters come to the sport out of love of the sport it's certainly not a means to earn a better standard living for the vast majority. The same goes for the fans - unlike MMA, the fans tend to be friends and families or amateurs or sparring from the same gyms and hasn't really grown beyond that yet.

So understandably if some commercial entity starts to push the fighters around or publicly admonish and patronise them like a school teacher then the whole community will take umbrage.

Obviously Yokkao would like the sport and their brand to grow beyond the current confines but that will never happen if the core consumers are not onside.