World MUAYTHAI Magazine
December Issue WMM 03
Coming from a country with only about five million inhabitants I was quite surprised the first time I heard about this guy Rasmus Zoeylner – he was supposed to fight none other than Yodsaenklai Fairtex and I had never heard of this Danish fighter before. In Denmark the Muaythai community is small and for a passionate Muaythai enthusiast like me it is easy to know ALL the fighters domestically so I quite surprised.
In this interview our readers will get to know probably one of our strongest professional Muaythai fighters right now and most importantly how it all got started; what Muaythai means to Rasmus and a lot more.
WMM: Hi Rasmus. How’s life treating you?
Rasmus: Hey Thomas. Well, my life is good right now. I just fought Abbe Joof at the K-1 Scandinavia event in May in Stockholm, Sweden. It was a good fight against a heavy and good opponent. Unfortunately I got injured in this fight so I had to withdraw from a big eight-man tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark with strong names like Ole Baguio Laursen (Denmark), Jiri Zak (Czech Republic) etc. That was as big disappointment to me but now I am just looking forward to the next fight and two months of training in Thailand.
WMM: Right, excellent. Rasmus can you try to explain to our readers how it all got started?
Rasmus: When I was a young boy I played football at the local club. I was quickly spotted by a talent scout and was sent off to one of the big football clubs in Denmark. I played football until I was seventeen years of age – around this time I started to get bored with football! I needed some new challenges so I moved on and started to look for another sport.
I had always been fascinated by martial arts. And now I had the chance to finally try it out myself so I found a local Kickboxing gym called AKBK and tried it out. By the end of the first training session I was hooked! I loved the energy and the intensity of the sport and I just couldn’t get enough and instantly I was training five times a week every single week.
After only six months of training I had my first fight and when I had trained for about one year and six months I was chosen to be on the national team in kickboxing. It was great but I was still looking for more adrenaline and challenges so I started to practice Muaythai and western boxing to improve my skills and to try something else.
Muaythai quickly caught my interest because of the hard kicks and the possibility to utilize knees and elbows. So in 2004 I went to Thailand to train with the best - this experience basically kick-started my Muaythai career. I went to Chiang Mai to train at Lanna Muaythai Gym but that gym wasn’t really what I was looking for. So I switched gym to Chai Yai Gym and I was in love! It was the perfect gym for me: the trainers focused on the techniques and not just the stamina. When I had trained there for about two months I went back to Denmark.
Then in 2006 I moved to Thailand to start a career in professional Muaythai. I went back to my old Gym in Chiang Mai (Chai Yai Gym) and stayed and fought there for about six months before heading to Rompo Gym in Bangkok. My fights in Thailand went very well: I had twelve fights and only two of those fights were looses – one of the losses was against the Contender Asia Champion Yodsaenklai ‘the Hero’ Fairtex. I lost on points after five rounds.
WMM: Wouv – amazing! Actually the first time I ever heard about you was when this fight was announced somewhere on the internet. How did the fight with Yodsaenklai come about?
Rasmus: The fight against Yodsaenklai was set up by the manager and promoter at Rompo Gym. I was offered this fight right after I had fought and won via KO twice in Phuket. I had watched Yodsaenklai fight before and thought that it would be fantastic to fight an athlete on THAT level.
So when my promoter suddenly told me that he had a WPMF Championship fight for me and I found out it was against Yodsaenklai I could only say “YES thank you!” The only problem was that the fight was at minus 73 kg and my normal fight weight is 79 kg. So I had to cut a little bit of weight before the fight.
Nevertheless when it was time to get on the scale I was exactly 73 kg so the cutting process went according to plan – it was perfect.
The event was held in Nakhonsawan province in Thailand. Of course I was a bit nervous before the fight but not more than usual. Most of all I was just looking forward to fight a fighter of the calibre of Yodsaenklai Fairtex. It didn’t really matter to me if I was going to lose the fight - the most important thing was to show the world that I could fight at this level.
It was and still is one of the hardest fights I have ever fought. Yodsaenklai was tough and his boxing and left kicks were very good. But I think I fought my fight and did the best I could do and after all five rounds I lost on points. I was satisfied with my performance.
WMM: Right, but today you fight in a different weight category. Why is that?
Rasmus: My favourite weight division is the light heavy weight division (81 kg). I normally walk around at 85 kg and before the fight I cut weight. However in Thailand it is very difficult to find fights at this weight so I had to fight at 73 kg.
I am doing the opposite now (back in Denmark) to get fights: I now go up in weight to get fights! When I fought at K-1 Scandinavia it was at 86 kg. So for me it isn’t really about the weight but about getting the best possible fights – the biggest fights.
WMM:Right, interesting. And one of the recent fights you fought was against the infamous Tyrone ‘King of the Ring’ Spong.
Rasmus: Yeah it was a great opportunity for me to fight Tyrone. And of course a great chance to show my skills to the SLAMM! promoters Mike and Milton. The event “Return of the King 2” was held in Surinam on Christmas Eve!
We arrived to Surinam one week before the fight so we had plenty of time to get used to the heat but also to see all the beautiful sites before fight night.
When my brother and I arrived we found out that the set up was way bigger than we’d expected. We did TV and radio interviews and overall we were treated like stars.
Then on December 24th it was fight time and my brother and I went to the event venue. It was a really good set up with a capacity of around 10,000 people, big monitors (for slow motion re-runs etc.) and a huge VIP area around the ring.
My fight was obviously the main event since Tyrone ‘King of the Ring’ Spong originates from Surinam. I had trained hard for this fight and I felt ready and as strong as I can be.
The walk to the ring was amazing as the crowd was very loud and exited – however it was nothing compared to when Tyrone entered the arena: people went crazy!
So now it was time to fight and all the butterflies and nerves were gone and now I had to show what I had prepared for. I instantly went forward and put pressure on Tyrone but it was very difficult since he has such a good eye and he read my moves VERY well. After a short while he hits me with a knee to the jaw and I go down! At that time I don’t know what hit me but I am down and taking the count. I get up and I am ready to continue. The fight continues but I am still a bit dizzy after the knee and then it just happens: I get knocked out 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the fight.
Obviously it was very disappointing! Not because I lost to a fighter like Tyrone Spong but because I didn’t get to show my skills to the promoters and the spectators.
WMM: Right so since the fight ended so fast and abrupt are there talks of a rematch any time soon?
Rasmus: No I don’t think I can have a rematch soon as Tyrone is gaining weight so he can fight in the heavy weight division.
WMM: Right. Since I was part of your corner crew at your fight at the K-1 Scandinavia event I know you got injured. Could you elaborate on that please?
Rasmus: Certainly. I got injured in my right foot in the second round (I think it was). Right after that round my foot started to swell and the pain just grew and grew. I knew that there was only one round left so I just continued. The day after the fight the pain was so overwhelming that I couldn’t walk. So unfortunately I had to withdraw from the Eight8Brawl tournament which was only two weeks after the K-1 fight.
I was then forced to take a break from fighting and during this time I did a lot of weight training in order to stay in shape plus a lot of bicycling to keep the stamina and endurance on a high level.
WMM: Amazing Rasmus! So do you have any fights scheduled for the near future?
Rasmus: Right now I don’t have any fights scheduled but I am going to Thailand for two months to train and fight again. This time I am going to Sangmorrocut in Bangkok as it is an amazing camp in the middle of Bangkok. There are only fighters at this camp hence it is the perfect place to get in shape and get ready for the next season of fighting.
WMM: Cool, well everybody here at WMM wish you good luck in Thailand.
Now let’s move on to something completely different. On your shorts you have the phrase: “One Family – one Passion”. Could you please explain what that is about?
Rasmus: One Family One Passion is the Team Zoeylner slogan. My brother is also practising Muaythai and he is often part of my corner crew so we have the same passion for the sport.
But the slogan has a deeper meaning than that. It doesn’t matter whereabouts you are or where you train – people respect each other because of the art. For example when I was in Thailand and I was training in Bangkok I also fought in Phuket as mentioned before. I had two fights with only a couple of weeks in between so I wanted to stay down south (in Phuket) until I had finished both fights. I had been to Phuket before to train for three days at Patong Gym and after the first fight I visited Patong Gym again and when I told them that I was staying in Phuket for a couple of weeks they immediately asked me if I wanted to stay with them. Obviously I accepted this genuine and friendly offer and stayed there for three weeks.
And it is the same everywhere I go: people tell me that the next time I go to their country I can stay at their gym so I feel that “In Muaythai we are one family and we share the same passion!”
WMM: Wouv, that’s fantastic. Whereabouts do you train these days and what does a regular week of training look like?
Rasmus: I train at two different camps. Three times a week I train Muaythai at Sor. Rachan Muaythai camp (Editors note: www.sorrachan.eu). I really like this gym and it was at this camp I started practising Muaythai right after I returned from my trip to Thailand. The pad man and trainer at Sor. Rachan is Thai. His name is Singnum Sor. Rungroj and I think he is one of the best trainers in Denmark. He has helped me prepare up to all my big fights in Europe - he holds pads perfectly so I can do some cool, technical pad work. Sor. Rachan is also where my main manager is located. His name is René Lukic Laursen and he got me the fight at the K-1 event in May and also the fight against Tyrone Spong at the “Return of the King 2” event.
Twice a week I train at Athlete Nation (Siam Muaythai Gym) where I focus on K-1 rules fighting and the more European way of fighting. I train under Tony Pettas who is the big brother of Nicholas Pettas.
Once a week I train western style boxing to improve my boxing skills.
Besides that I run six times during the week and weight train four times during the week to improve stamina, punching and kicking power.
WMM: OK. Now Rasmus what are your ambitions and goals within the beautiful art of Muaythai?
Rasmus: My ambitions are to see how far Muaythai can take me! And I hope that one day I can make a living from fighting Muaythai.
WMM: Excellent Rasmus. Well the entire World Muaythai Magazine crew wish you a prosperous career and life and chok dee in your future fights mate.
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