Yod drops his third fight of 2010, Saenchai captures Lumpinee Stadium Lightweight Title

Lots of recent Muay Thai results and news to cover, so let's take a look at what has been happening lately in the Muay Thai scene.

The biggest news comes from this past weekend as John Wayne Parr faced Yodsaenklai Fairtex in a much discussed rematch. These two have met twice before, most famously in the finals of The Contender Asia, with Yodsaenklai winning both encounters. But on October 17, at a show appropriately titled Payback Time 2, Parr avenged those loses, defeating Yod via split decision. The fight was in Parr's home of Australia, and had to be one of the most satisfying victories of his career as few thought this result would be any different from the previous fights. Parr proved the doubters wrong, despite coming in off a loss to Bruce Macfie.

Just last year, Yodsaenklai was considered one of the world's very best Thai fighters - an elite Muay Thai practitioner who had only lost once in the past 5 years. Suddenly, this legend is struggling to find his place in the international scene as this marks his 3rd loss in 2010. While I certainly wouldn't say he is finished, it's clear his career has taken a serious downswing. It's a reminder how fast a fighter in combat sports can drop.

In other results, Malaysia hosted an event billed as Muay Thai v. Kung Fu on October 9 headlined by... YodsaenklaiFairtex . Just eight days before the Parr fight, Yodsaenklai represented Muay Thai against Kung Fu representative Wang Guan of China. Yod scored the decision win in this fight contested under K-1 rules. Also on this show, Xu Yan, the Chinese fighter who KO'd Nagashima at MAX last year, defeated Thailand's Malaipet via decision, and Lamsongkram decisioned Cao Yaomin.

Two final results of note: on October 5, top ranked Thai fighter Saenchai Sor Kingstar defeated Petboonchu in a Lumpinee Stadium title fight. And on September 26, 2009 Krush tournament champion and K-1 63kg GP participant Masahiro Yamamoto lost in a WBC title fight via decision. Rough year for Yamamoto, who will look to bounce back with an It's Showtime title fight in December.

And finally - a few Muay Thai fight announcements:

Oct. 29 - Saiyok Pumpanmuang v. Abdallah Mabel in France
Nov. 27 - Evolution 22 with Nathan Corbett, Michael Thompson, Bruce Macfie, and Eli Madigan
Dec. 25-30 - K-1 MAX fighter Vitaly Hurkou joins a huge line-up at the Malaysia Super 8 event