Theme Park at its Darkest

Nathan ‘Carnage’ Corbett has recently signed to the Glory World Series with his first designated opponent being Tyrone Spong. Spong is widely considered to be the best fighter at his weight in the world. This was also the case when Nathan knocked him into the middle of next week back in 2009. Spong has gone on to distinguished showings in K1 and the Glory World Series, while Nathan has remained undefeated since last they met.

Trainer extraordinaire Richard Walsh gives us the low-down on what’s to come. 

How’s your body?

Great! My wife is an amazing naturopath and a fantastic cook. I do weights two to three times a week and I love the pain! It’s what I’ve done for twenty-plus years now and don’t know any different. When I stop over Christmas for two weeks, my body aches so much that it’s better to just keep holding!

What’s the story with ‘Total Carnage’?

Total Carnage was bought about by fans of Nathan who recognized the opening left by Rising Promotions. It provides the opportunity to promote him to the very big, loyal fan base he has on the Gold Coast.

What were the circumstances under which the Glory World Series made contact?

Glory just wants the best. I have been in contact with Tyrone Spong’s management since they fought years ago in Jamaica. I always knew they would meet again. [Spong’s management] contacted Total Carnage and Nathan took over from there. Nathan knows his worth and it was quickly agreed that he would join Glory for a 2-fight deal to begin with.

What’s the plan? A rematch with Spong?

Spong was always the plan. Originally, [Glory] said Nathan should have 1 fight and then face Spong but now, the powers that be have matched them straight-up. This is great for Carnage; what better way to introduce him to Glory and SPIKE TV than by fighting Tyrone Spong, the man himself.

What about other significant fighters in the organization, like Gokhan Saki, for example?

There are some great names involved and some mouth-watering match-ups for Carnage, but at the moment, it’s all about Spong.

Carnage will be tested under those rules. Steve McKinnon’s recent experience was that the rules are significantly different to Muay Thai, so how will you prepare him?

We’ll prepare him for a fight without elbows! Team Carnage now has a not-so-secret weapon involved, Paul ‘Hurricane’ Briggs. This guy is the master of tact. His job is to plan and watch while Nathan and I do pads to critique every move and install new ones, which we really needed after 12 years of working together. ‘Hurricane’ sets the bar high and doesn’t accept anything less than the best, every time.

How will he go without his elbows against some of these guys?

Fighting without elbows is no problem for Nathan. He’s done it plenty of times before; I personally think he fights better as he uses all his other weapons more. There are plenty of tricks in his kitty.

Was Champion Vs Champion II under full or modified Thai?

Nathan and Tyrone’s fight was the only fight on the entire card without elbows.

How do you see Carnage’s career trajectory?

Glory is a perfect set-up in the [United] States; the US is the biggest sporting market in the world. I’m positive things will go well for Nathan in that climate.

What’s your involvement with the Muay Thai amateur organization?

I’m the Queensland President of MTA (Muay Thai Australia). We are running the first- ever, Australian junior Championships in December of this year. It’s an eight-man tournament format, with all fighters fully padded. The kids that win their divisions get to represent Australia at the IFMA world junior championships in Bangkok next year. Go to www.muaythaiaustralia.org for all the info, and Facebook.

The next step is to do the same with adults as a selection criteria for the IFMA world games. MTA is the only Muay Thai body in Australia recognized by the Australian Government; we work with both the WMC (World Muay Thai Council) and IFMA, which are the two bodies working with IOC (International Olympic Committee) to get Muay Thai included in the Olympics.

If you love Muay Thai then drop your politics, join MTA and help support us with the IOC application. The positive repercussions that will extend to every Muay Thai gym around the country and the world once we receive entry to the IOC will be enormous. Think about it; your gym can now be an Olympic training center for Muay Thai.

It never hurts to dream!

This entry was posted on August 10, 2013 at 3:40 am and is filed under Journalism, Kickboxing with tags facebook, Glory World Series, Gokhan Saki, IFMA, IOC, K1, MTA, Muay Thai, Nathan Corbett, Olympics, Paul 'Hurricane' Briggs, Richard Walsh, Rising Promotions, Steve McKinnon, Total Carnage, Tyrone Spong, WMC. 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.