Farid Villaume: a new muay thai legend is born



I am suprised that this site hasn't made mentions of french Muay thai superstar Farid Villaume. Farid is considered as the best muay thai fighter france has ever produced. With over 45 fights, 1 loss, and over 25+ KO's, he has beaten all the top names in the game. Farid is considered as a god in france and thailand and recently appeared on national thai radio, where he challenged any thai fighters.

He has beaten so far guys like
-El Asrouti (Sitan Gym, Hollande) by k0.
Vihoknoï (N°2 Thaï),KO
Sittichok (N°5 Thaï), KO,
Orono (N°1 WMTC - Thaï)POINTS
Sakketdao(N°1 Thaï and k-1 max final fighter) KO,
Taweesab (Lumpinee) KO.
-Saimai by k0 (samai is a legend as well, and winner of the kings of the rings tournment back in 1998)
-Magonjuk by ko.

Promoter Songchai highly regards mr. Villaume as a legend fighter,and with so much future in front of him. Rumors are Mr. Iishi from K-1 has reviewed a tape of villaume and was so impressed by his style that he hasn't contacted Villaume ever since....

VILLAUME NEXT FIGHT IS IN NOVEMBER 18TH AGAINS SAKMONGKOL IN ITALY .
I wish I could see the fight...

Any more info about him? Age, weight, height, gym etc?

Only two things I don't put much belief in is world wide challenges (half the fighters on the planet have said similar things) and the rumour about Ishii. Find it hard to believe K1 max wouldn't have a place for someone of that skill. I doubt the K1 wouldn't take him because hes too good, more likely theres already dozens of others trying to get the same break.
The way the first message is written is almost saying this guy is the next messiah. There are alot of incredibly skilled fighters in these weight devisions, and it'd be great to see the guy matched up against some of the K1 stars (Zam, Choppa, Kaus etc).

Glen,
I apologize for making it sound so religious.
What I meant was Farid is considered the new god of muay thai and nothing else.
here are some stats:
height: 5 ft 11
weight: 71kg
age: 22-23

Trained by Anukhun (muay thai legend back in the 80s) at Phoenix muay thai Paris.

I have seen a few fights with Farid, and I couldn't believe it my eyes.
the guys is so freaking talented. He fights like a K-1 max fighter ( fast, great combinations, especially has dangerous body shots and high kicks)

Here is a pic of him with Songchai ratanasuban.
As mentioned, Farid is gonna be big. this is just the beginning.
He also has beaten Taweesab in thailand, and just ko'ed Baker Barakat (D) in the first round by head kick.

Let me ask you this glen:
you mention about Zam, Kraus being superstar.
How many times have they gone to thailand and fought top lumpinee and radjadammern fighters in thailand? Practically none.
Villaume is sure following the footsteps of Dekkers.

We are gonna hear a lot from him muay thai fans.

pics of him and saimai:

pics of him and saimai:

pics of him and saimai:

Choppa??JWP??Dawson??

All fought top lumpinee and radjadammern fighters at those stadiums..

I wouldn't say a word against Valliume, hes obvious got a great build, good experience and great skills. All I want is to see him fight in the K1 max, which really is a lineup of some of the best fighters. Top talent and in a tournament layout really puts the fighters to the test.
Isn't there a european qualifier for the K1 max? send him an email and get him signed up!

I am sure it is in the works.
France has lebanner for k-1 heavyweights, I guess Villaume will represent them in the K-1 max.

"I love muay thai,"

I definitely agree with you that JWP , Dawson and choppa are great muay thai fighters. I have seen them all in action vs. top champions, but Villaume has that fighting spirit, and style that reminded me of the the times when I used to watch Ramon dekkers fight in thailand.

He is very impressive and moves and fights like a thai.

Farid is well known, yet it seems that his european promoter is not that active as he should be maybe.
He certainly doesnt have enough exposure around here.

special system

Farid v Sakmongkol this fight is in Italy next month for a world title fight.

Farid by ko !!!!!

Nevermind K-1 Max.
What about Superleague?

Farid Villaume.

Is pound for pound the best fighter in europe at the moment and for quite a while @ 69-71kg.

He would beat Crooke, Harper,Woods etc with ease, Once again a real superstar does not get the publicaty as they deserve !!!!!

Hes not a new kid on the block he as been around hell of a longtime & in my humble oppinion is by miles better than anybody since Deckers & Bille dynasty.

I wish we could see a bit more of him over here!

Would love to see him in the superleauge !

I think I'll want to put my money on Sakmongkol to spank the Frenchman's azz, =)

Nom : VILLAUME
Prenom : Farid
Sexe : Masculin
Age : 28 ans
Poids : 69 kg
Classe : A
Club : Phénix Muaythaï
Ville : PARIS
Pays : FRANCE
Palmarès Muay thai

Nombre total de combats : 50
Nombre de victoires : 48
Nombre de victoires par KO : 30
Nombre de matchs nuls : 0
Nombre de défaites : 2


Titres obtenus :
Champion de France 1997,
Champion de France 1998,
Champion du Monde Amateur 1998,
Classé N°5 au Lumpinee Stadium (Thaïlande)en 2000,
Champion du Monde WMTC en 2000

FARID IS IN EUROPE THE BEST FIGHTER POUND FOR POUND.HE LIVES IN THE CHINESE QUARTER AT PARIS .SINCE HIS EARLY AGE HE TRAINNED WITH THE REAL THAI FIGHTER LIKE ANUKUN,DANNY BILL,KHALED HEBIEB,NIKIEMA,PASCAL SCALP,...WHEN THEY STILL FOUGHT.HE FIGHT LIKE A THAI AND GOT A STRONG UPPERCUT.

Abdoul

Thank you for all the information.

Anukhun was also a good Thai fighter in France in the early 90s i think he fought with Khaled "Nemrod gym"

sounds interesting- but i hate that talking about who's the best fighter in europe or whereever. u could never say that!!!there are a lot of very good fighters in europe, but how they perform at shows can differ. sometimes u have a good day sometimes a bad, also that influences ur fights. the thing is all fighters are simply human beeings and no machines(also if it seems sometimes like that haha)and due to the fact that there is NO really worldwide organistaion, but hundreds of so called worldwide orgs we will never find out who's the best fighter in europe, usa, worldwide etc!

with superleague we try to make all this more transparent,and it works, but i still cannot say who's the best in europe, simply because there are really a lot of fighters. isn't it better to say "ok there are some topclass fighters, established ones and new talents, already known or not known, who should compete against each other" than to say "x, Y, or z is THE BEST"???!!!

only my opinion...

Kasha

Have you seen his fight record & who he as beat on it !!!!! Them Thais are not any old Tuk Tuk drivers they are very highly ranked.

I have the Saimai + some others on VDO & he stalked Saimai untill he knocked him out cold, As everybody knows Saimai as fought and beat the best in Europe.

i don't doubt that villaume has fought topfighters!!!

i only don't like that "he's the best shit"!!!!due to my mentioned reasons, there's no proof for it. that's opinions of single persons which is ok, but not more! did u ever recognise that most topfighters theirselves don't talk like that?! that's the typical talk between fans who of course have their favourite fighters.

i would never say somebody is the best, cause i don't know ALL fighters in this world. i can only compare with those i know, right!?so maybe i can pick a pool of fighters, i've already seen a few times and then say who's the best of them.
but i cannot generalize it!

What are the details of his two losses?

Shawn
that made 5 or 6 years that he did not lose fights.he fight once or twice sometimes 3 times in a year.i dont know who beat him.

Kasha
I agree with you and i'm not a Fan of Farid

He is an exciting fighter but to be fair is Samai and Orono or some of the Thais he fought really 71kgs? i think not. Thats doesnt take away that he isnt brilliant but not many Thais are that weight natrually. You cant class him as the same as Dekkers or Bill because he only fights a couple of times a year. It would be great to seem him fight more reguarly and against some western opponents aswell.

when he fought the thais it was at 66.6kg is also wmtc champ at this weight;its only last year that he moved to 71kg due to the difficlty at make the limit of the welter weight.

Kieron

As Abdoul stated he fought them @ 66.6kg, how many times you seen him fight Kieron ??? hes s**t hot.

I stated since Deckers & Bille had finished he was the best thing.

What weight was JWP when he fought Orono apprpox 69kg i think Farid fought him a couple of year previous to him !!!

i was here when he fought saketdao the thai who have fought at the last k1 max; farid was at 66.4kg and the thai was 66kg; he ko'ed him in the 2 or 3 round with a head kick

Sorry Paul got the wrong end of the stick on that one. He is red hot no doubt - but would like to see him fight more often (because he is class)

I agree with some of the posts above that mention Superleague! They are running at least 5 shows throughout Europe next year. It would be great to see Farid on all of these shows against the top fighters in Europe. He would have the opportunity to prove himself and up his fights per year record.

Anyone that has beaten the kind of opponents he has should be given a chance. Until reading this thread I had never heard of him!!!

Lets see how he does against Sakmongkol.

FB'Slim

I also believe that Faird would prefer Full Rules - not Thai kickboxing - but ask Toure i think he could answer that.

I'm sure quite a few people who fight on the superleauge would prefer Full Muay Thai (shakuta, Laursen, Malpiet), but it's such a good opportunity and such a great set up I'm sure they are happy to comprimise just to be able to be part of it.

It's a great advert for Muay Thai.

I really don't know who is Farid's manager but he needs to get a new one.
Does anyone know his email address?
I know that he lives in the Paris chinatown, and works as a bouncer at a nightclub!!!!

His 2 losses apparently happened in his early fights, he has improved since to be inbeatable. All of his trainers are supposedly Thai (Anukhun)

i dont think it is a good advert for Muay Thai at all personally - i think it is a good chance for fighters to earn money.

Fatboy

He would have opportunity to prove himself ?

Have you read his CV ?

Have you seen the names of the Thais he as beat ?

I think the sackmongkol-farid fight will determine the outcome of Villaume's future in tournaments like k-1 max and superleague. Sakmongkol is getting old (got knock out by stefan verselic in holland.),but he is known in every continent.

yes i agree he doesnt need to prove himself - but you would have fought some top name westerners may have challenged him.

Numerous top quality fighters all fighting on the same show, extremely proffesionally run, along with live TV coverage and everyone paid a fair wack is not a good ad for MT?

I appreciate it's not full MT but other than that I can't see any reason why it's not a "good ad for Mt"??

All i know, is Songchai Ratanusaban has something in the works for Villaume.
I think he will also be fighting at the upcoming Kings Birthday.

it will be very difficult because samy khebchy is the co promotor of the king birthday and he didnt want to work with villaume due to his staff

paul grey,

When I say prove himself, I meant against the guys who are at the top of the pile as far as Superleague is concerned.

I agree his CV is fantastic but I would still like to see him up against the likes of Kraus, Malaipet, Ven Venrooj, etc, obviously depending on weight.

If he is as has been suggested a GOD as far as Muay Thai is concerned then he shouldn't have a problem with any of these guys.............

I am not judging him or trying to put him down. His record speaks for itself I was just curious why today is the first I had heard of him??

FB'Slim

You prob havent heard of him because most of his fights have been in Thailand or big Galas in France which dont get reported over here and the fact that he doest fight that reguarly.

Fatboy

Read Kierans comment above please.

yes in my eyes he is a "GOD" but ive seen him fight & yes i would also like to see him fight the above you mentioned.

Why did he only fight once on the WPKL gala winning by KO ???

I think the negotive vibes are coming from the people who dont know him or have not seen him as soon as you see him Fat Boy is you like MT you will like him.

Unlike many of us, i hadn't heard of Villaume until recently. His name is appearing in top thai website, and he is actually ranked in the top 10 fighter in thailand! I finally got to see 3 of his latest fights, and I was speechless, by the perfection of his techniques.
He litterally fights and hits like a thai.
He is currently challenging all current top thai fighters and the war is on for villaume.
I am hoping that this thread has created enough awareness in this room to get more coverage on Villaume.
He is someone we need to look out in the sport of muay thai

paul grey,

I certainly look forward to seeing him soon.

Cheers,

FB'Slim

p.s. Does anyone have any videos of his fights in Thailand or elsewhere??

specialsystem

As i stated earlier some people get the publicaty and some who are the real deal dont !!!!!

He is spectacular fighter as someone said on here before Thai Anorak style LOL.

Special are you english.

No, I am actually vietnamese. I currently live in Dallas, but I did live in France for a number of years before making America my Home. :)

Paul , Where are you from by the way? :)

specialsystem

Im from England my friend, Been to Vietnam a few times though.

How did you hear about Villiame, I first seen a VDO of him about 4yrs ago he is the real deal.

The fight with Saimai was unreal how he stalked him and destroyd him, I also have a VDO of him winning gold in the IAMTF finals his tecnique is second to none.

Paul,
can you please email me at : julienjeantet@hotmail.com
I would like to communicate with you personally.
Thanks! :)

If he has properly fought his way through Lumpinee and is ranked #5...that is impressive.

If hes jumped in and bumped up, its still good and doesn't mean he's any less skilled. But to really work your way up would be something.

I don't really sense any negative vibes toward Villaume. I just think that people are naturally skeptical. That should be understandable.

I think the main reasons why we haven't heard of it are probably due to him competing in Thailand and France...and because of the language barriers, very little of that news gets translated to English.

*Shameless plug* But Ax News hopes to change that a bit *end Shameless Plug* :-)



I disagree with Kieran about Superleague not being a good advert for MT, but this is another topic. We shouldn't divert this topic from discussion of Villaume.

I have seen Farid fights when he was in Thailand
it was just unbelivable. This guy is the "real deal"
the Thai's Farid beat were no chumps. They were the
big names superstars of Thailand. The guys who made big money
and was well off. Farid embarassed the top Thai fighters
and beat them at there own game.

I think in the 66 kg up to 72 kg no one will beat him.

The person that might beat him is the Thai Superstar
Namsaknoi Yuotahkarkumpon. Namsaknoi is the full package he
also boxing internationally. He has all the skills that would cuase
trouble for Farid.

About
Sackmonkol vs Farid
-I think if Farid lets it be a kick for kick type of match: Winner Sackmonkol
TKO
-If Farid comes and fights "his way" stalk Sackmonkol and is the one
to fire first:
Winner Farid dec.

I guess we will have to see what the outcome of the fight between Farid and sakmongkol will be.

I admire both fighters so it is gonna be a real tough fight for both!

I was able to find a french who interviewed Farid.
Here is an extract of it in french, and below a translation:


french:
interviewer: Une dernière question Farid et puis on te laisse à ton entraînement. Avec la carte de visite que tu as, tu avais j’imagine la possibilité de te produire à l’étranger en Hollande, en Thaïlande, aux USA ou au Japon pour faire ton retour. Pourquoi avoir choisi la France ?


Villaume:Je pense que justement la suite de ma carrière va pas mal évoluer vers l’étranger. Par conséquent je n’aurais que très rarement la possibilité de me produire en France alors j’ai voulu le faire pendant que mon planning est encore souple. Et puis la salle JAPY c’est le « LUMPINEE » français ! J’y ai fait mes premiers combats, je peux avoir un contact direct avec le public, il y a une ambiance unique, c’est super convivial.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENGLISH:

interviewer: One last question Farid, and we ll let you go on with your training.
With such a resume behind you, have you thought about starting to fight in Holland, Thailand, the U.S or even Japan? Why did you choose France to make your comeback in muay thai?


Villaume: i am actually thinking that the rest of my career is going to evolve outside of France. Because of that, I will rarely have the ability of fighting in france. I have been wanting to make my comeback in France first because my schedule still allows it. Plus, the Japy stadium (where farid fights) is like the french Lumpinee. I fought my first fights there, and I can have a direct contact with the french public. It has this special atmosphere ,it is so convivial.

Well...now's as good a time as any to ask...
Does anybody here speak French? We could use some News coverage of KB events in France.
if interested, email me at Brian@AxKickboxing.com

Yeah, Brian I was thinking the same ,there is tons of quality galas going on in France offten with top thais. We should get someone that would keep us informed on french scene. Even in Quebec MT seems to do pretty well and we know nothing of them either. Just my thoughts.

I have followed Villiame for many years and I have lots of his fights on video. I've mentioned him sevrral of times on ax in the past, why the sudden interest now?
He's been around for ages, he's hardly an unknown fighter, he's a famous fighter.
He's been doing what he does best at a level that has been so consistant that the 'best in europe' tag has not been questioned by anyone who knows the score.

Politics in France may have limited some of his exposure but he fights regularly enough for his own perposes.
It's for others to prove they are worthy to take his 'title' off him imo.

Just lifted these off WPKL rankings on Muaythai Online:

01.Ek Ubal Thailand
02.Massato Japan
03.Yodecha Thailand
04.Villaume France
05.Drago Holland
06.Rafi Spain
07.Montagne France
08.Diender Holland
09.P.Crooke England
10.A.Kraus Holland
11.Morris S'Maarten
12.Takayuki Japan


IMHO I think Farid is a better fighter than Massato. Interesting that Van Venrooy isn't even in the top 12.
Would be great to see Masato, Villaume, Rafi, Montagne in the superleague.

Colin,

I understand that you mentioned about villaume in the past, but I think it was time that we dedicate a unique thread to Farid Villaume.

As you can see, few in North america has even heard of him,and are very skeptical about Villaume as the undiputed champion in europe/world in his weight category.
The names that we hear way to often over here are Masato, JWP, Souwer...

I think a lot of us do not realize what kind of champions France has produced in the world of muay thai.

Some of us haven't even heard of champs like Danny Bill and Dida Diafat.


Dany bill to me was even better than Ramon Dekkers.
I am hoping that Farid Villaume will participate in the K-1 MAX tournament.

It would be on of the top thing on my list for Xmas! :)

you can watch short videos of some of his fights on www.samouraitv.com

The whole problem seems to be coverage. If you fight in your own country for all your life you will be famous in your country only. Only way to be recognised world wide is by heaps of travel or taking part in international tournaments (superleague and K1 Max being the obvious choices).
Its also where the big money is, and that in turn leads to more pay days and more exposure. What this means is that Villaume could fight 100 thais and a thousand french fighters, but he'll still never be recognised outside of his own country without some more advertising. I really hope his management team realise this, cos it sounds like we're all missing out on seeing the best fighters compete.

Not so Glen. Farid has been well known here for a long time, if you make it your business to follow the sport in other countries you will know these people.

Superleague/K1 needs the likes of villiame more than villiame needs superleague.

Theres a big difference between being well known (meaning only hardcore fans) and famous (meaning general public). Even a legend like Dekker would be unknown to the majority of the public. The only names that people know are the ones that they see compete, the only ones they see are the ones with TV coverage. Alot of people will know the names Sefo, Hoost, LeBanner, Sapp etc, fans will know Kaus, Chapman, etc, but theres probably only 2-3 people in the southern hemisphere that have heard of Villiame.
Most likely with his 50 fights hes still only making small amounts of money (especially with only 3-4 fights a year), sponsorship might make up the difference but really fighters need to head to where the money is. TV coverage = money, TV coverage = fame, fame = sponsorship.
K1 and SL will have massive shows, TV coverage and more international recognition. That is exactly what Villiume needs if he wants to move from being well known to famous.

I have yet to see the French Hitman in action,but when you start mentioning pound for pound you would have to start considering JWP.....Lets hope Tarik Solak brings this fighter down under and see how he ranks against Australias top guns.....

I have seen him fight also, as Colin H says k-1 & SL need him more than he seems to be needing them, he is the real deal and has a great fighting style with few flaws, he has particularly good knee technique and good hands, he would be a very hard man to beat at full Thai rules, maybe that's why he is not in K-1 or Super league wich may restrict his ability and as for being famous i think people in the know seem to know who he is, and it certainly has not affected his performances in the ring, maybe Songchai could match him and JWP on a show one day, that would be an interesting fight!

Colin Writes "Superleague/K1 needs the likes of villiame more than villiame needs superleague."

I doubt that. Every fighter wants to get paid. Everyone fighter wants to be well known for their accomplishments. Every top fighter wants to fight the best in their division, worldwide. Superleague and K-1 provide the opportunity for this. I guess it depends on what his 'needs' are.

Colin Writes "I've mentioned him sevrral of times on ax in the past, why the sudden interest now? He's been around for ages, he's hardly an unknown fighter, he's a famous fighter."

The sudden interest is because there are new worldwide competitions available in the form of K-1 and Superleague.

As far as him being famous, as somebody else wrote, he's well-known within hard core circles, or maybe even in France, but he's not famous, not worldwide famous.

>Does anybody here speak French? We could use some News coverage of KB events >in France.

I do speak French so if by chance you have a person living there but writing in French the least I can do is translate it in English. All you have to do is have him/her write in French and send me the copies, if they don't exceed 30 pages a day all rest is negociable :)

Namsaknoi is one of my favorite fighters!!! he trains at por pramuk right? Also he is a muslim fighter, so he doesn't always (or never?????) wears a monkon, he wears ...the...theing that arab people wear on the head, I don't know the nameit's like a cloth, kinda long , well u get the idea...I hope. =P
and Namsaknoi would put in trouble pretty much anyone in his category, he beat Samkor on points, but I didn't see that fight and I would have love to see it! He also beat kobayashi in japan didn't he? Farid vs. namsaknoi would be one helluva match!!!!!

oh wow!!! Ax news even have a little article with namsaknoi on it!!! I have to see Ax news more often, it has some GREAT STUFF in it!!!!
http://news.axkickboxing.com/article?id=51

Let' see how farid does with Sackmongkol.
This should be one hell of a fight, especially since sak lost to Stephan Veselic (from holland) not too long ago.

Why does anyone who has a normal interest in mt have to be labeled as "hard core" like he has some sort of previously unheard of affliction.

Having a limited knowledge of a 'one of the best in the world fighters' doesn't make him an unknown.
Sure the money would be nice, and i guess you could buy him at a price, but the guy is a mt fighter.
He has been ranked very high in the bangkok stadiums and i believe that he was the only forign fighter in them at one stage.
Winning a comp. in a different sport/discipline doesn't get you what he has achieved.
Like lots, he may sell out for the money at some stage and maybe then he can gain your approvals (given the "oppertunity"), but for us "hard core" he has done his proving.

Fantastic response Colin.

When did that fight take place?

Saturday at Trieste Farid fought against Sakmongkong and won the fight after 5 very hard rounds of real muay thai

lol

Thai Anorak style yipeeeeeeeeeeeee

Told you all he would win and Sakmongkol a real top draw Thai.

maybe hes proved himself hhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm lol

Namsaknoi indeed fights out of por Pramuk he has been Lumpini champ for some time now,he's maybee starting to lose his edge now partly due to inactivity and lack of credible opponents.Always wears the Muslim headwear when he performs Wai Kru,his Wai Kru is very long and was voted best in Thailand 2 years ago,last year won by Stablemate Buakao Por Pramuk

Rob

Whats the name of the old trainer @ Por Pramuk who learns them the Ram Muay.

Not sure but all there fighters are known to have special Wai Kru's.Will be doing a piece on Por Pramuk soon for Ax news so will include that!

GaryC168 & Fatboy

Awaiting your replys lol?

specialsystem

i will post the tape to you this week 9 villiume fights + Sakmongkol fight.

Paul,
you are awesome. thanks! :)
Villaume won in italy agains one of Muay thai's greatest legend fighter!!!!!

Well done Farid Villiume.... again.

Toure abdoul,
would you please do a play by play of the fight?

Paul Grey
Can you do me a tape as well?

And me:)

I'm happy to pay!!

Me too please!!!

And me, AndyC has said he's happy to pay : )

I'll buy everyone on Ax a copy, though I'll have to pay in 36 monthly installments:)

heeeeey I need one too!!!! =D

Now we can add : NUANGTRAKARN and MONKONG to villaume's fight record.
Both guys by K.O!

don't forget Suriya also he was outstanding in all his fights!

Yes, Suriya is one tough guy, and I think it would only be fair for these 2 to meet again in a single fight. This would be muay thai 2004 at its best!

Yes, Suriya is one tough guy, and I think it would only be fair for these 2 to meet again in a single fight. This would be muay thai 2004 at its best!

Does anyone know what happened to Paul Grey????????????

I think he's banned

He was banned?

Guys...if you have any moderation questions, shoot them to moderation@axkickboxing.com

how about Fariq's other losses?

I believe he had only 2 losses, but that was when he was really young.
He has much evolved since.