Buakaw Banchamek, born Sombat Banchamek on May 8, 1982, is a Muay Thai kickboxer of Kuy descent who fights in the middleweight division. He hails from Ban Song Nong in the Samrong Thap district of Surin Province, Thailand.
Buakaw is a former Lumpinee Stadium Toyota Marathon champion, two-time Omnoi Stadium champion, as well as the former #1 ranked fighter in Lumpinee Stadium. He fights under the ring name Buakaw Por. Pramuk, and formerly fought out of Por.
Buakaw Banchamek in 2019
Early Life and Career
Born in Surin, Thailand, Buakaw started his fighting career at the age of eight in his home province of Surin in northeastern Thailand.
Banchamek began training at the age of eight in his hometown of Surin in northeastern Thailand. He moved to Chachoengsao when he was 15 and trained with the Por. Pramuk Gym.
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Buakaw has collected several belts to his name fighting in Bangkok. The Omnoi Stadium featherweight title was his first belt. After that, he would go on to take the featherweight champion of Thailand title.
Buakaw then proceeded to win another Omnoi Stadium title belt, this time in the lightweight division. In December 2002, Buakaw won the Toyota Marathon 140 lb.
In addition to his Muay Thai career, Banchamek also played professional football as a forward in the Regional League Division 2 for RBAC FC. He also engaged in an acting career, starring in Yamada: The Samurai of Ayothaya as well as Thong Dee Fun Khao.
Currently, Banchamek has a village project in the Chiang Mai Province of Thailand.
K-1 MAX World Champion
Buakaw's Brutal Knockouts Destroying Monsters
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In late 2002, he won the highly-regarded Toyota Marathon at 140lbs which was held at Lumpini Stadium. He entered the Japanese fighting promotion K-1 Max in 2004. The marketing of K-1 and its promotion on the international stage saw Banchamek become a household name in his home country and abroad.
Buakaw became the K-1 MAX World Champion in 2004 after beating several opponents including the previous champion. Banchamek won the tournament in 2004 defeating John Wayne Parr and Masato Kobayashi.
He came close to winning the tournament again the following year, but lost in the finals to Andy Souwer. He faced Andy again the next year in the K-1 MAX World Grand Prix and this time he defeated Andy by TKO, giving him his second K-1 World Max title.
Progressing far into the 2007 K-1 World Max tournament again in 2007, Buakaw lost to Masato in the quarterfinals. Buakaw lost to Masato by unanimous decision at the K-1 World MAX 2007 quarterfinals.
Although Buakaw was a semi-finalist of the K-1 World MAX 2009 Final Buakaw did not compete in the K-1 World MAX 2010 in Seoul World Championship Tournament Final 16 because he was displeased with the K-1 official's biased decision.
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Buakaw earned the title of semifinalist in the 2009 K-1 World Max tournament, and then chose not to compete in the K-1 World Max 2010 Seoul World Championship tournament as he was displeased with the biased decisions of K-1 officials.
Instead he entered the Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010 along with the former three time tournament champion Andy Souwer. However Toby Imada defeated Souwer in the semi-finals to face Buakaw in the final.
After his time with K-1, Banchamek became the Shoot Boxing S-Cup Champion in 2010.
Thai Fight and Yokkao Extreme
In 2011, Buakaw had seven fights; four of which ended by way of stoppage. Buakaw had 7 Muay Thai fights in 2011.
In the semi-finals of the 2011 Thai Fight 70 kg Tournament, he won by KO in the 3rd round via elbow against Mickael Piscitello. He won by third round KO with an elbow in the semi-finals of the 2011 Thai Fight 70 kg tournament.
In December 2011 he won the Thai Fight 70 kg Tournament title after beating Frank Giorgi by unanimous decision. Also in 2011, Buakaw became a sponsored fighter by the founder of Yokkao, Phillip Villa.
On January 21, 2012, Buakaw headlined Yokkao Extreme 2012 in Milan Italy in front of 12,000 attendees. In January 2012, Buakaw won the main event at Yokkao Extreme in Italy where he defeated Dzhabar Askerov by points.
Departure from Por. Pramuk Gym
Shortly after this fight in March 2012, Buakaw was notably absent from his training camp. On March 1, 2012, he was notably absent from his training camp.
On March 12, he appeared on a Thai TV talk show to apologize to the fans and explain his disappearance, stating that he had recurring problems in Por. Pramuk Gym since 2009 and felt insulted by the behavior of the management there. Later that month he appeared on Thai TV apologizing to his fans for his disappearance, stating he felt insulated and treated poorly by the management of his gym, Por. Pramuk Gym.
He had been scheduled to visit Japan with the Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for an exhibition match but it was canceled in favor of another fight. He had been scheduled to visit Japan for a big fight, however it was canceled in favor of another fight and Buakaw took offense to this.
As a result of the complication, he decided to part ways with the gym. He said "I can stand tough training, but not poor treatment.
Just after his TV announcement, Buakaw’s sponsor Yokkao Boxing announced that he would return to training. On March 17, 2012, Buakaw's sponsor Yokkao Boxing announced that he would return to training.
It was at this time that they began referring to him as Buakaw Banchamek. It was at this time that they began referring to him as Buakaw Banchamek.
He had resumed training at the "newly-built" Banchamek gym (named after him), as of March 22, 2012.
On March 30, 2012, Buakaw was prevented from fighting at Thai Fight in April 2012, until he filed a complaint with the Sports Authority of Thailand proving his claims of unfair treatment by Por. Pramuk. On March 30, 2012, Buakaw was prevented from fighting at Thai Fight in April 2012, until he filed a complaint with the Sports Authority of Thailand proving his claims of unfair treatment by Por. Pramuk.
On April 4, he said that his fight name for the fight later that month would be "Buakaw", and that he "may not use the name of the boxing camp Por.
Life After Por. Pramuk Gym
Buakaw's first fight after leaving Por Pramuk Gym was a success. Buakaw had success in his first fight after leaving Por Pramuk Gym as he defeated Rustem Zaripov by knockout in the second round. He knocked out Rustem Zaripov at 2:45 of the 2nd round with accurate punches.
On May 31, 2012, Buakaw told the press that he wanted to end the dispute between him and Por. Pramuk Gym.
In the quarter finals of the 2012 Thai Fight 70 kg tournament Buakaw defeated Mauro Serro by TKO.
For a time, Buakaw was seen in jiujitsu, judo, and wrestling classes. An MMA career would have allowed Buakaw to fight without breaching his contract with the Por. Pramuk boxing camp.
On March 27, 2013, Buakaw faced his friend and teammate Harlee Avison in a staged exhibition match, which was free to the public, at the brand new Beeline Arena in Cambodia.
Buakaw defeated Zhou Zhi Peng on points after an extension round at the K-1 World MAX 2013 World Championship Tournament Quarter-finals - Part 1 in Foshan, China, on December 28, 2013. Buakaw Banchamek’s best fight of all time is widely considered to be his fight against Zhou Zhi Peng at the K-1 World Max 2013 World Championship Tournament Quarter Finals.
Zhou attempted to turn the fight into a brawl, and despite Buakaw doing enough to win the decision, the judges sent it to an extra round in which Buakaw suffered a cut from a head butt. This was an exciting back and forth fight which Zhou attempted to turn into a brawl.
Buakaw had done well and did enough to win a decision, however the judges decided to send the fight into an extra round.
Buakaw beat Victor Nagbe via unanimous decision at Combat Banchamek in Surin, Thailand, on April 14, 2014.
He knocked out Adaylton Parreira De Freitas in round two at Muay Thai in Macau on June 6, 2014.
Buakaw was scheduled to fight Fabio Pinca for the vacant WMC World Junior Middleweight (-69.9 kg/154 lb) Championship at Monte Carlo Fighting Masters 2014 in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on June 14, 2014. However, Pinca was injured in a bout with Thongchai Sitsongpeenong in February and was replaced by Djime Coulibaly.
Buakaw lost the TopKing World Series Semifinal Tournament (TK4) against Russian fighter Khayal Dzhaniev in a controversial decision.
Many Muay Thai journalists have stated that Buakaw should have won the match.
Buakaw also suffered from deep cuts in his head inflicted by Khayal's elbows while Khayal suffered broken ribs.
Buakaw fought Chinese fighter Kong Lingfeng in the main event at Kunlun Fight 62 on June 10, 2017, in Bangkok, Thailand. In more recent years, Buakaw had a big fight at Kunlun Fight 62 against well known Chinese fighter Kong Lingfeng in which Buakaw won by decision.
In August of 2017, Buakaw defeated Azize Hlali by knockout during their headline fight at All Star Fight in Bangkok, Thailand.
In 2018 Buakaw fought Nayanesh Ayman at Kunlun Fight 69 in China where he won with a knockout in the first round. He had several more fights throughout 2018, all of which he won.
This show was organized with the Royal Thai Army to help to promote the sport of Muay Thay. His most recent fight was as the headline event at All Star Fight: World Soldier in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2019.
Recent Fights
On December 9, 2022, Buakaw faced Ukrainian fighter Oleksandr Yefimenko.
On April 13, 2023, it was announced that Buakaw would be facing Rukiya Anpo at Rizin 42 on May 6, 2023.