A former Lumpinee Stadium champion in Thailand and a professional fighter since the age of 11, Thongchai came to the ring with more fights on his record than the entire rest of the GLORY 38 SUPERFIGHT SERIES card combined.
All but two of those fights however took place under Muay Thai rules, not kickboxing. Visually similar, the two sports have differences which mean a seamless transition from one to the other is not always guaranteed.
Thongchai debuted at GLORY 34 DENVER with a knockout win over Casey Greene, stopping him in the second round after dominating the fight until that point. For his second outing he was matched a lot higher in the food chain: two-time welterweight title challenger Murthel 'The Predator' Groenhart.
Some of the Thongchai camp wondered if it was not a little soon for their fighter to be taking on a fighter with Groenhart's experience, but Thongchai felt he could do it. In pre-fight interviews he said he wasn't particularly impressed with Groenhart and wasn't taking him especially seriously. That would prove to be an error.
The first round started with the two feeling each other out with kicks, gauging reactions and testing defenses. It quickly heated up though, with Thongchai smashing hard left kicks and knees towards Groenhart's legs and torso. Groenhart played a little defensively and Thongchai's confidence visibly grew.
Suddenly Groenhart started letting his hands go as counters to Thongchai's kicks. After several big blows found their mark, Thongchai's composure disappeared. He started looking to clinch and knee, prompting referee Paul Nicholls to intervene and warn him.
That warning fell on deaf ears â literally, as Thongchai doesn't speak English â and things soon took a turn for the worse as Thongchai not only continued clinching but fired some knee strikes into Groenhart's groin as well.
Was it deliberate or was it careless? After the first, Thongchai half-raised his arms, thinking he had scored a knockdown, then looked puzzled as the referee indicated otherwise. Nicholls gave Thongchai a warning. Groenhart took a minute to get off the canvas; when he did, he was in a different mood.
The fight restarted and Groenhart went crazy, battering Thongchai around the ring, angry and looking to punish him. Thongchai was in all sorts of trouble and was saved by the bell sounding the end of the round. Early in the second round his discipline got worse. He sailed another careless knee into Groenhart's groin and got a point deducted.
From that point on it looked like he had run out of ideas. Groenhart's hands were finding his jaw over and over. Thongchai was rocked and staggered but still fighting back, albeit with little clear semblance of a plan. Blood was pouring freely from his nose but he gamely pressed forwards to engage.
The final round was all Groenhart. Savage punches found their mark again and again, resulting in a knockdown. The crowd was firmly behind Groenhart at this point and roared in approval. Thongchai beat the count but looked to be dazed as he re-entered the fray. Groenhart clicked into full automatic mode, launching and landing bomb after bomb.
The second knockdown was inevitable. Groenhart backed Thongchai across the ring and onto the ropes then let a series of left hands go. Thongchai leaned sideways, a tree falling in slow motion, with Groenhart punching him constantly on the way down. When he hit the canvas he rolled to his back and took heavy breaths as he stared up at the lights.
The count was a formality. It was almost finished when he regained his feet, but he was unsteady and referee Nicholls decided the fight was over, putting Groenhart back in the win column and 3-1 in his last four outings.
Murthel Groenhart (64-22-3) def. Thongchai Sitsongpeenong (135-34-0), TKO, R3 1:45
