ONE Championship: Shannon Wiratchai waiting for the call as he plots comeback – ‘I’m ready, let’s do it’
- Thai featherweight aims to ‘climb back to the top’ of Asian martial arts promotion after more than 18 months out
- ‘I’m at Bangtao staying ready, staying sharp … we have one of the best crews in the world,’ Wiratchai says
“People have been asking me, ‘Where have you been? Have you stopped fighting already?’” Shannon said after the Post tracked him down in Phuket, Thailand.
It turns out the 33-year-old featherweight has simply been biding his time during the coronavirus pandemic, which hit his home country particularly hard when it came to restrictions.
But Wiratchai has not been sitting idly by. He has joined up with his long-time coaches after they split from Tiger Muay Thai to form the new Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA gym, which will host a grand opening this weekend with seminars from UFC featherweight champ Alex Volkanovski and ONE featherweight kick-boxing king Superbon.
“All my coaches – George Hickman, Frank Hickman, Alex Schild – everybody has come here,” he said. “Some good, high-level coaches – [BJJ black belt] Josh Hinger has come here to teach his technique, so I feel like this is the best place to be.