Transitioning from Muay Thai to MMA: Ashley Thiner's Journey

SportsGrid

Watch Transitioning from Muay Thai to MMA: Ashley Thiner's Journey - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00you know, what was the transition like for you between Muay Thai coming over to, you know,

00:03MMA being your primary career? And, you know, what was the long transition being an amateur to a pro?

00:10Absolutely. I think the transition helped me in a lot of ways. You know, I think it laid

00:15the groundwork for what's going to be a very successful professional career.

00:19I think a lot of people go pro a little too fast, in my opinion, because you need reps,

00:25right? That's the biggest thing when you're going into these high-level fights. The experience

00:33level, you can't simulate. So I have 38 total fights. One of them is professional, and then

00:40the other 37 were amateur. That being said, I think six of them were MMA. Five or six of them

00:46were MMA, and the rest were Muay Thai. I started fighting at 20 years old. I started training at

00:5319, but I fought about a year later. So I've been fighting for about 11 years competitively,

00:58and I think it really gives me the edge when I walk in because over those 40 fights, you dial in

01:05each time something different, whether that be diet or mentality or how you warm up a certain

01:12way or how you stretch or how you train. Everything contributes, and so each little step that I took

01:21forward or learned from, each step that I failed at, right? Because there were failures among those.

01:28I didn't win all 38 fights. I think I lost like eight or nine of them. So there were failures

01:35along the way, and I think failure is an important part of success because your mindset completely

01:40changes when you learn how to lose. I think that was extremely important on my way up, and it's

01:48going to be very contributory in my professional career as I climb the ranks because I've already

01:55defeated monsters in my amateur career, and now I get to go defeat monsters in my pro career.

02:02So coming in as an underdog in situations, I know how to do. Coming in as a champion and defending

02:08my belts, I know how to do. Regardless of what is presented to me, I will be prepared.

02:14And we can see that preparation, all the work that you've put in on the social media that you have out there,

02:19on your Instagram, see you training, see how important your team is to you. How do you think

02:24your Muay Thai background really helps you as you make this transition to MMA being your full-time

02:29career now that that's your main focus? Do you think that style translates a lot better than

02:34something plenty of people come from? Jiu-jitsu where they might not have the striking or the wrestling

02:38where they need the ground game more. Do you think being in the Muay Thai, working the clinch,

02:42being in tough situations where maybe you don't have the space you want, you got to work in tight,

02:46or you have someone with those long legs that throw those big kicks. Do you think that

02:51kind of striking has prepared you better for an MMA career than maybe someone coming from a

02:55different background? Yeah, yeah. I definitely, I got the kicks, right? I have the range. I think

03:02one of the things that it teaches you more than anything is range control. So I'm pretty tall.

03:10I'm 5'8", which is pretty tall for a strawweight, especially at 115. Dakota Dichova is 5'8",

03:19and she's at 125, and everybody's like, oh my god, she's so tall. And I'm like, yeah,

03:25but I am 115, and I'm like the same height. So that's cool. I think Muay Thai, the competition

03:32level for amateur Muay Thai is actually at a professional level. And so you learn how to be

03:38a pro pretty early. After about 10 or 12 fights, there are a lot of opportunities to fight

03:45professionals as an amateur, which I've also done internationally. And the travel is something that

03:51I'm accustomed to. When I'm not traveling, like for this particular fight, it's only two hours away.

03:58I feel spoiled because I get to just drive to the venue. I get to sleep in my own bed if I want to.

04:06That's a luxury that I usually don't have because we're flying all over the world.

04:12But I think Muay Thai prepares you for getting hit. I think it prepares you for getting tired.

04:21And I think it's a better look because every fight starts on its feet. You have to get to

04:28the ground at some point. But to get there, you're going to have to get past my striking.

04:33So I would say that my Muay Thai has absolutely adequately prepared me

04:40to go into these high-level fights with the really little gloves, which I love,

04:46because I have the power behind my punches to ward people off and keep them at a distance.

04:52And you talked about coming from the lows of the lows at points in your career. I'm sure one of

04:56those was last October when you had your knee injury. How have you recovered from that? How

05:01are you feeling after that? You know, after you come off your win in Bellator, your first

05:04professional fight, you get the great win, and then you got to sit out with that injury. How

05:07are you feeling? How's the recovery, both mentally and physically, from that? And how do you feel

05:12now as you are getting back into this fight for the first time, getting back in that cage to do

05:16battle again? Yeah, so that was hard, obviously, because I had just, I think two weeks prior,

05:24had come off my big finish in Bellator, my first professional fight. And then I flew out to

05:29Australia to corner one of my friends, Selena Flores, for her WBC title belt for Muay Thai,

05:36professional title belt. So she's now a double world champion. She's defended her belt successfully

05:43in Mexico a few weeks ago. I was there too. And two days after I got back from Australia,

05:49I was doing jiu-jitsu in a comp class, and just boom, girl fell on my knee, knee popped.

05:56And my MCL was torn. My hamstring was partially torn. And initially, obviously, it's a jarring

06:03effect, because you just want to hit the ground running when you come off a big win like that.

06:08And that's what I intended on doing. I was already back in training two days

06:12after I got back from Australia. I was ready to go. I was jet lagged, but I didn't care. I was there.

06:16And it's jarring. Yeah.

Category

Transcript

Recommended