| Sport | Combat sports |
|---|---|
| Founded | 7 June 2014 |
| Owner(s) | Kingdom Co Ltd[1] |
| CEO | Jon Nutt |
| Region | Asia |
| Official website | fullmetaldojo.net |
Full Metal Dojo (FMD) is a Thai combat sports and entertainment promotion based in Thailand.[2][3] The promotion is considered Thailand's top mixed martial arts promotion.[4] It is the first mixed martial arts promotion to host an event in Phuket and is credited for pioneering MMA in Thailand.[5][6][7] Full Metal Dojo runs the regular Fight Circus which has developed a cult following.[8] Full Metal Dojo's Fight Circus is famous for breaking the mold of traditional combat sports and has been described by the Spanish newspaper MARCA as the "mad scientists" of the fighting world.[9] The show has been referred as wacky, bizarre, unconventional, outrageous as well as hosting freakshow fights.[10][11][12][13]
The types of matches at Fight Circus include inter-gender grappling matches, kicking-only bouts, 2 versus 1 fights, dwarf fighting, Lethwei fights, fighting inside telephone booths, Indian leg wrestling with Siamese twins boxing being a regular type of match at these events.[14] Originally focused on mixed martial arts, Full Metal Dojo events have since focused on the Fight Circus franchise.[15] The promotion held its first event on June 7, 2014, in Phuket, Thailand.[7]
In 2014, American expatriate to Thailand, Kunlun Fight commentator, promoter and FOX Sports Asia host Jon Nutt launched the Full Metal Dojo promotion.[16][17] Nutt was a former bouncer and bounty hunter in Boston.[2] From 2011 to 2013, prior to launching FMD, Nutt operated an MMA promotion called DARE Fight Sports in Thailand.[17][18] After becoming fed up with normal mixed martial arts events, Nutt launched Full Metal Dojo.[19][20]
On June 7, 2014, Full Metal Dojo's inaugural event took place at Seduction Night Club in Patong, Phuket, Thailand.[2] It marked the first mixed martial event to be held in Phuket with an attendance of around 500 in attendance.[5] In 2017, FMD announced a new sponsorship deal consisting of two rival Thai real estate firms, Siam Real Estate and BKK BestLife Real Estate competing on Full Metal Dojo's Facebook page in a series of posts where online fans would vote on the most best property in various sector of Bangkok.[1]
On November 3, 2018, two of Thailand's top female atomweights Suwanan Boonsorn and future UFC fighter Loma Lookboonmee for the vacant Full Metal Dojo Atomweight Championship at Full Metal Dojo 16: Big Trouble in Little Bangkok.[21] Suwanan Boonsorn won the fight by an armbar submission in the first-round to win the title.[22] In the main event, Finland's Glenn Sparv won the inaugural Full Metal Dojo middleweight sword via second-round TKO over Iranian wrestler Mehdi Bagheri.[23] FMD doesn't give championship belts, instead the promotion awards Championship Swords such as samurai swords to its champions.[24] In 2020, at the occasion of FDM 18, the Welterweight Champion received a hand forged Thai sword crafted by Ajarn Kor Neeow who was previously featured in Roads & Kingdoms and dubbed "The last traditional Dha sword maker in South East Asia".[25] In 2018, FMD announced it would be starting an amateur league.[26]
On March 5, 2021, before the establishment of BKFC Thailand, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship partnered with Full Metal Dojo to organize a bare-knuckle boxing event titled Bare Knuckle Kingdom.[27] The event featured a number of fighters who would later compete on BKFC Thailand.[28] The event was broadcast on the BKFC TV app.[29]
In August 2020, Full Metal Dojo launched the Fight Circus events by partnering with the live streaming pornographic site CamSoda.[30] After organizing the acclaimed Camsoda Ledgends event in 2018,[31][32] the streaming company teamed up with Full Metal Dojo and launch the Fight Circus events.[33]
On August 22, 2020, Camsoda and FMD launched Fight Circus Vol. 1 was a free show held in Bangkok and the Full Metal Dojo's first event since COVID-19 lockdowns in Thailand.[34] The Fight Circus events could only be viewed on Camsoda's website.[15] All proceeds were said to go to the COVID-19 relief fund.[31] The event gathered of lot of attention among fight fans around the world.[35][36]
The vice-president of CamSoda Daryn Parker, extended an offer to Tito Ortiz for US$100,000 to fight in a 2-on-1 match at Fight Circus Vol. 3 in Thailand.[37][38] The proposal was sent only a fews days after Ortiz resigned from the Huntington Beach City Council.[39] Parker published the proposal in an public letter to Ortiz published online.[40][41] The company also offered former professional basketball player Nate Robinson to compete in Fight Circus and get US$200,000 for every fighter he faces in one night, after losing a second-round knockout loss to YouTuber Jake Paul.[42][43][44] Fight Circus 3 was postponed from April 9 to November 5 due to COVID-19 outbreak.[45][46][47]
In 2022, the CEO Jon Nutt fought an "MMA Symmetrical match" against the Thai team fighters "Bank" and "No Money".[48][12][49] One of the Thai fighters went for a takedown while the other was attacking. Nutt was able to toss one of his opponent on the floor and landed a soccer kick to the face, but eventually submitted via rear-naked choke.[50][51] The event also featured Indian Leg Wrestling, inter-gender Muaythai, siamese twins kickboxing and the"Bob Sapp Challenge" where Sapp played with dwarfs and called out Buakaw Banchamek for a fight.[52] One of the only non-gimmick match of the event was a Lethwei fight between Gligor Stojanov and Kristof Kirsch, which ended in a spectacular knockout win for Stojanov.[53][54]
On June 30, 2023, WBC Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury made a guest appearance at Fight Circus 7 at to celebrate the CEO Jon Nutt's birthday in Thailand.[55] Fury sang American Pie in the ring.[56][57][58] Fury was pictured partying in the ring with cosplaying dwarfs after throwing a birthday cake in Jon Nutt's face.[59][60]
On April 2, 2023, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson was teamed up with fellow PRIDE veteran Bob Sapp in a siamese boxing match for the main event of Fight Circus 6: The Rise Or Fall Of Sloppy Balboa held at Illuzion Nightclub in Phuket.[10][61][62] The "Siamese Twins" matchup was said to be an homage to Thailand's Siamese Twins born in 1811.[63] They faced the promotion's CEO Jon Nutt and Bangtao Muay Thai’s strength and conditioning coach Andrew Wood known as "Woody".[64] The two pairs they were joined with a tailored oversized t-shirt.[65] In the first round, Nutt was dropped by a heavy body shot and dragged his teammate down with him.[66] Jackson also attacked the referee.[67] The fight continued and Jackson and Sapp ultimately won by third-round TKO.[68] The event was presented on FITE.[69] In 2024, Quinton Jackson appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show #159 and described his match to Joe Rogan as the "most fun he's ever had in a ring".[70] The event also saw former World Lethwei Championship Champion Souris Manfredi fought two smaller fighters named Indica and Sativa also known as RUN THC.[71][72]
On September 29, 2024, for the main event of Fight Circus 8, PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran Charles Bennet competed in 2-on-1 MMA match against Thai fighters "Bank" and "No Money" in Phuket, Thailand.[73][57] The Thai fighters won the match by submitting Bennet via rear naked choke.[74][75]
In 2024, Former UFC fighter Matt Brown acted as a referee for "The Ultimate Dick Kicking Championships",[76] a crotch kicking competition organized Fight Circus in Thailand.[77][78] Some fans compared the event to Dana White's Power Slap.[9] Brown reposted the footage of the event to his X account and seemingly endorsed groin-kicking over slapfighting[79] by adding the caption: "So much for power slap! "This shit is next level!"[80][81]
On January 12, 2025, Matt Brown acted as the partner of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman when he returned to the ring and competed at Fight Circus 12 in Phuket, Thailand in a "wheelchair boxing match" against the CEO of the promotion Jon Nutt.[82] Coleman was being pushed around the ring, as both fighters were strapped into a wheelchair and were pushed by their cornermen.[83] At the end of the fight, both men stood up from their wheelchairs and Coleman knocked out Nutt at the last second. Brown also competed at the event and fought "Blobtang" in a Muaythai match.[84]
Partial list of types of matches Full Metal Dojo and Fight Circus have held.
| # | Event | Date | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | Full Metal Dojo 31: Fight Circus 11 Brawla in Kuala | December 29, 2024 | RAGE Fight Academy |  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
|
| 31 | Full Metal Dojo 30: Fight Circus 12 Studio 69 | November 17, 2024 | Junkyard Theater |  Phuket, Thailand
|
| 30 | Full Metal Dojo 29: Fight Circus 10 The Matt Brown Magical Mystery Tour | September 10, 2024 | Junkyard Theater | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 29 | Full Meta Dojo X - 10 Year Anniversary | June 30, 2024 | The Circus Studios | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 28 | Full Metal Dojo 27: Fight Circus 9 Total Sellouts | March 23, 2023 | Junkyard Theater | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 27 | Full Metal Dojo 26: Fight Circus 8 Running Man the Musical | September 29, 2023 | Junkyard Theater | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 26 | Full Metal Dojo 25: Fight Circus 7 Lock Stock and Two Smoking Sausages | June 30, 2023 | Junkyard Theater | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 25 | Full Metal Dojo 24: Fight Circus 6 The Rise or Fall of Sloppy Balboa | March 31, 2023 | Illusion Nightclub | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 24 | Full Metal Dojo 23: Fight Circus 5 Hanukkah Gone Wrongukkah | December 17, 2022 | Illusion Nightclub | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 23 | Full Metal Dojo 22: Fight Circus Vol. 4 Send Lawyers, Guns & Money | November 5, 2022 | Illusion Nightclub | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 22 | Full Metal Dojo 21: Fight Circus Vol. 3 Fisting for Dollars | March 6, 2021 | Fairtex Training Center | Pattaya, Thailand
|
| 21 | Full Metal Dojo: Bare Knuckle Kingdom | January 23, 2021 | The Sea Galleri | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 20 | Full Metal Dojo 20: Fight Circus Vol. 2 | November 21, 2020 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 19 | Full Metal Dojo 19: Fight Circus Vol. 1 | August 22, 2020 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 18 | Full Metal Dojo 18: Bangkoxploitation | November 30, 2019 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 17 | Full Metal Dojo 17: Mad Nutt's Fury SOI | August 31, 2019 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 16 | Full Metal Dojo 16: Big Trouble in Little Bangkok | May 17, 2018 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 15 | Full Metal Dojo - Kumite 3000: Asia Prizefighting Association | December 8, 2017 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 14 | Full Metal Dojo 15: Come Out to Play | November 4, 2017 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 13 | Full Metal Dojo 14: Bigger, Badder, Blacker, Madder | July 1, 2017 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 12 | Full Metal Dojo 13: Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of | February 25, 2017 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 11 | Full Metal Dojo 12: The 37th Chamber | September 10, 2016 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 10 | Full Metal Dojo 11: Sweep All the Legs | June 14, 2016 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 9 | Full Metal Dojo 10: To Live and Die in Bangkok | March 19, 2016 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 8 | Full Metal Dojo 8: Return of the Mack | January 10, 2016 | Seduction Discotheque | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 7 | Full Metal Dojo 7: Full Metal Massacre | October 31, 2015 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 6 | Full Metal Dojo 6: For Those About To Rock | August 22, 2015 | Insanity Nightclub | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 5 | Full Metal Dojo 5: Made in Thailand | May 9, 2015 | Live House BKK | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 4 | Full Metal Dojo 4: Once Upon a Time in Bangkok | February 21, 2015 | Live House BKK | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 3 | Full Metal Dojo 3: No Sleep 'Til Bangkok | November 22, 2014 | Live House BKK | Bangkok, Thailand
|
| 2 | Full Metal Dojo 2: Protect Your Neck | August 23, 2014 | Seduction Nightclub | Phuket, Thailand
|
| 1 | Full Metal Dojo 1 | June 7, 2014 | Seduction Discotheque | Phuket, Thailand
|
Full Metal Dojo Fights, Fight Cards, Videos, Pictures, Events and more
Full Metal Dojo (FMD) is Thailand's top MMA promotion
Full Metal Dojo has rapidly emerged as the country's premier promotion
Thailand's premier promotion returns to Bangkok
Thailand's biggest MMA promotion
The first MMA Promotion to host an event in Phuket
Full Metal Dojo Promotion has been pioneering MMA events in Thailand
the first professional MMA promotion in Phuket
Fight Circus continues to grow its cult following
Fight Circus, a promotion famous for breaking the mold of traditional combat sports.
whacky match-ups
MMA fans react to the bizarre Fight Circus event
Fight Circus, an unconventional promotion known for staging unique and often outrageous matchups
freak show called Fight Circus
FOX Sports Asia host [...] commentator for Kunlun Fight
At Full Metal Dojo champions get samurai swords
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