Lerdsila Phuket Top Team Brings A Lifetime Of Experience To ONE Super Series

ONE Super Series continues to attract the top talents from the worlds of Muay Thai and kickboxing, and one of the latest signings, “Mr Lightning” Lerdsila Phuket Top Team, is ready to put his skills on display in ONE Championship for the first time.

Lerdsila takes on Bayon and PNN Stadium Flyweight Champion Sok Thy at ONE: PINNACLE OF POWER in Macau on Saturday, 23 June, and the 37-year-old is as keen as ever to impress.

Hailing from the agricultural province of Chaiyaphum in north-west Thailand, Lerdsila grew up in a poor family, but enjoyed his formative years.

“I enjoyed country life,” he says.

“My family worked on the rice farm all of their lives. They loved me very much.”

School was never something Lerdsila really connected with. His only true educational interest came during Muay Thai lessons with his father.

The young Lerdsila showed great promise in the “art of eight limbs” and was encouraged by his parents to pursue his passion and continue developing his skills. It also meant the youngster could help supplement his family’s meagre income.

“My family always supported me,” he says.

“Being the only son, I wanted to help provide and be a good son for them. From a very young age, people knew I was very good at Muay Thai.”

“At 8 or 9 years old, I realised it could be a career for me. My father taught me first, and then I moved to a bigger gym, and then to Bangkok – at Jocky Gym.”

Few youngsters get invited to a gym of that calibre, but Lerdsila took full advantage of his opportunity. He worked hard in training to sharpen his skills and soon became renowned as a tough, talented competitor.

He had changed from country life to big-city living when he moved to Bangkok. With his career on the rise, he was chasing bouts for bigger money so he could help his parents.

His reputation grew with every win, as did his income. But the trappings of life in the Thai capital also started to encroach into his life, as late nights and parties started eating into his income.

“Our family did not have much money, but we made life what we could,” Lerdsila explains.

“After I was a big world champion and had lots of money in Bangkok, I would start to spend too much and enjoy partying too much.”

Thankfully, he curbed his partying ways, which has allowed him to continue his career until now.

“I learned just to enjoy food and drinks with my friends, and not always go out,” he says.

It paid off. “Mr Lightning” captured three Rajdamnern Stadium World Championships as well as Muay Thai world titles under the WKN, WPMF, WMC, WCK and WLF banners.

He later added the Hero Legends Kickboxing Bantamweight Title and the Lion Fight Lightweight World Title to his stellar list of championship successes.

Now he’s set to unleash his skills in the ONE Super Series, as he looks to add to his incredible 186-31-5 record when he takes on Cambodian Sok Thy, who arrives in the competition as a Kun Khmer specialist with an equally staggering record of 221-36-12. The pair will face off under Muay Thai rules.

With so much experience in the striking arts, a spectacular matchup is in the offing, as Lerdsila looks to continue his career in the world’s biggest mixed martial arts organization.