Theme Park at its Darkest

Nathan ‘Carnage’ Corbett gives us the flip side of Richard Walsh’s coin.

How’s the Muay Thai Premier League (MPL)?

It was great up until recently; they’ve put it on hold. It was good to travel to LA and Holland. I’d never heard of my opponents, but [the promoters have] found a couple of talented fighters. I’m not sure if it will push forward.

Are you enjoying the travel?

Yeah, really enjoyed it. I’d never been to L.A. or Holland before. I was disappointed with the attendance, though. In The Hague, there were probably about 1,500 people at the show; I’d expected at least 5,000. There must be something wrong with the marketing.

Is it possible that MMA has eclipsed Thai?

Unfortunately, it probably has. Tyrone Spong is training in Miami, Florida now with Rashad Evans. He went over as a striking coach and now he’s looking at going into MMA. So is [Gokhan] Saki.

Will you do MMA?

No. It’s a whole different sport. Not just the fight itself, but also the training. My body would probably start breaking down. Besides, I like Muay Thai, the way some people like boxing.

Tell us about your ‘new’ body and the jump to heavyweight.

It feels fine. The opponents are getting taller! Around 6-3”, 6-4”. Their hips are at my chest. It’s taken time to adjust and use all my weapons again, rather than just jump inside the pocket and use my hands. They’re big boys that can all kick to head and punch pretty hard.

Any malingering soreness, or performance limitations after surgery?

My right hip keeps playing up. I’ve needed to specialise my training; no sprinting or running. Now I do lots of plyometrics and conditioning drills. It’s all about managing my limitations and getting my heart rate up. Ask any NRL footballer at 32 how they’re feeling.

How did you go against your first opponent, Tomaz Hron?

He didn’t seem to be much of a fighter. I jumped on him early and cut him with an elbow. He seemed pretty disturbed by it, like, ‘What the hell was that?’ The fight was stopped after I landed a leg kick. They had a three knock-down rule, so it was over. I thought the kick was more of a sweep, but I was happy to take the 3 points for a KO win.

How was the second fight?

Against the Frenchman, Abdarhmane Coulibaly? I was supposed to fight a Belarussian, but he pulled out due to injury. It was a really good fight for me because it went the distance. I didn’t get hurt, but he was strong enough to hang in there. I knocked him down for an 8 count in the 1st and 3rd, but it was good to get in there and have 3 rounds, as opposed to just 3 minutes.

What are your plans for 2012?

I’ve got Total Carnage Promotions, which is kicking off on April 7. It consists of a super-promoter, Billy Cross, who was the founder of Manpower and various Gold Coast nightclubs, concerts and TV shows. He’s a co-partner with me. I’ll be headlining the shows. We’ve got Frank Giorgi as the semi-main event, and I’ll be defending my own WKN world title, so it’s not all about me.

Any fights you’re seeking?

When I was in Holland, I was hoping Spong would be there. That’s the fight I’d like to have; we could make some good money. He’s moved away from it [Muay Thai], so that’s probably not going to happen now. As long as the fights on my show are quality opponents and the fans are getting what they desire, I’m happy with that.

This entry was posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:15 am and is filed under Journalism, Kickboxing with tags Abdahrmane Coulibaly, Billy Cross, Manpower Australia, Muay Thai Premier League, Nathan 'Carnage' Corbett, Rashad Evans, Richard Walsh, Tomaz Hron, Total Carnage Promotions, Tyrone Spong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.