Geraldton’s Valhalla MMA club Muay Thai fighters head to Thailand for intensive nine-day training camp

A crew of Geraldton’s Muay Thai fighters and trainers have jetted off to Thailand for a training camp and are set to compete in their first fight against international opponents on Saturday. Vahalla MMA have teamed up with Pacific MMA in Kalgoorlie on this trip, giving their regional fighters the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the sport and train in the sport’s birthplace. “Here in Geraldton, our sparring partners are limited. There’s only so much we can do,” Valhalla MMA trainer Waylon Prater said. “To get any type of good sparring in Muay Thai, in MMA, because we’re pretty much the only gym here that does it, we have to travel to Perth. “For us to go over and do it internationally, it’s like Christmas.” Prater also said he sold his Jeep Cherokee to fund the trip which includes an intensive training camp at Evo360 — a Muay Thai gym in Pattaya, a city about 150km east of Bangkok. After a nine-day training camp, fighters King Jennings and Colin Carson, who are still relatively new to the world of fighting, will put their training to the test in their first fights abroad. Jennings had his first fight last month, but despite losing, he said it was a “good experience” and has taken some key lessons from the bout. For Carson, who was self taught, but went to the gym to refine his technique, it will be his first MMA fight and said he’s feeling pretty confident. “Maybe once we get into the ring and I see him (his opponent), I’ll feel it a little bit, but right now, nothing,” he said.