Former longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo retires from UFC at 36

It has produced a string of fighters progressing into the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the globe's biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, with several going on to become world champions. Lightweight contender Rafael Fiziev (in pic), who is from Kyrgyzstan, steps into the cage in Las Vegas this weekend hoping to be the latest fighter to begin a journey to UFC glory.

MMA was one of the first sports to restart after the pandemic shutdown. Though quarantine and travel restrictions have hit international fighters hard, the success of UFC champions who use Tiger Muay Thai for pre-fight camps, such as bantamweight Petr Yan of Russia and Kyrgyzstan's fearsome flyweight Valentina Shevchenko, is continuing to inspire the next generation.

(In pic: Petr Yan of Russia punches Jose Aldo of Brazil in their UFC bantamweight championship fight.)

George Hickman (in pic), MMA coach at Tiger Muay Thai said, "The fighters we have coming through help to breed success. Seeing them train inspires everyone. You can watch someone like Petr work on his clinch game with the Muay Thai fighters, then you can see that play out in his fights. He's a sponge, and that's what the great fighters are. They're always looking for an edge and everyone learns from that."

One of the most explosive UFC talents, middleweight champ Israel Adesanya of New Zealand, has also tapped into the gym as has Australian featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. And Thailand's first UFC star, strawweight Loma Lookboonmee, has caused an explosion of interest in MMA in her home country, encouraging fighters to make the move from traditional forms of combat such as kickboxing or Muay Thai.

(In pic: Opponents Loma Lookboonmee (L) of Thailand and Jinh Yu Frey face off during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in on October 02, 2020 in Abu Dhabi.)

The gym takes its name from the ancient sport of Muay Thai, also known as the "art of eight limbs." Based around strikes from elbows, knees, fists, feet and shins, Muay Thai was crafted for soldiers as far back as the 16th century.

Thailand has a chequered history when it comes to MMA, the government banning the sport as "brutal and not boxing" in 2012 before slowly allowing promotions such as One Championship to stage events. Former wrester Hickman turned to coaching and helped to popularise MMA after arriving in Phuket in 2014. "There hadn't been any education on it. But that has changed. There are MMA events in Thailand and now Loma has been signed (to UFC) that's helped Thailand become a hotbed for MMA training," Hickman said.