A while back, during one of my trips to Jakarta, Indonesia, I started training at a local gym. The head trainer asked me if I wanted to have a kickboxing fight. Without thinking much, I said yes. From that moment everything changed. I committed to a strict routine: losing weight, getting in fight shape, and building the habit of working out at least five times a week while I was back in Cambodia.
Months later, it was weigh-in day: August 2, 2025. I didn’t even know whom I was fighting, but I showed up, made weight, and went through the grueling preparation of making sure I was ready before stepping into the ring. To keep the story short about what happened the next day during the fight itself: I lost, but there were some lessons learned in the entire event, and I’m writing here so I don’t forget those lessons and to share them with you.
It was my first time being in the ring with someone so tall in any kind of combat situation. The guy I fought was very tall and had a lot of physical advantages over me in the weight class we competed in, as well as in the rule set we used. Since I mostly train Kun Khmer in Cambodia, which is basically another word for Muay Thai, I wasn’t fully aware of the key differences between that style and kickboxing. My opponent outscored me heavily in the first two rounds, but to be honest I’m proud I didn’t mentally quit after that first round. In round three I pushed myself hard to at least finish strong, and almost knocked him down by the end as I drove him back into a corner of the ring with powerful shots from both my hands and kicks.
At first I thought my opponent hadn’t made weight or that he was too experienced for this type of amateur fight. These kinds of thoughts made me overly focused on throwing overhands instead of developing combos, because I was a little emotional and honestly a little scared at first by the speed of his combinations. I figured that by putting on hard pressure with overhands he might give me some distance, which he did. But I still ended up losing those rounds on points, because kickboxing is a points game and the approach of trying to bomb him out just didn’t work.
Another thing is that having a corner who truly understands and supports you is important. There’s nothing worse than getting bad advice or confusing instructions when you barely have time to think during a fight. Your corner should be your biggest ally, focused solely on your success. That day I didn’t have that. I went into the fight with people around me who, looking back, I didn’t trust for this role. But now I know exactly what to look for in a coach or cornerman moving forward, and I understand the level of trust needed between a fighter and a coach in these situations. A fight against a guy who’s trained and trying to hurt you in front of an audience is not a game.
A tip for anyone entering amateur tournaments: don’t overthink who you’re fighting. Opponents can change throughout the event, and some might drop out entirely. The only opponent you can count on is the one standing across from you on fight day, just a human with a head, two arms, and two legs. I thought the tournament would mean multiple fights in one day, but that wasn’t the case. It was supposed to be four of us, but only two showed up.
Reflecting on the fight itself, I learned that I’m not scared, even when facing a tough opponent. But moving forward, I need to spar smarter by replicating every detail of the fight environment and by wearing the same shorts and mouthguard I’ll use in the real fight while I'm training. Those small details should help reduce the mental load on fight day and keep me calmer. I still feel that sparring should be less about power and more about simulating the full experience so it feels familiar rather than a chaotic anxiety dump in front of an audience.
Cutting weight was straightforward but brutal, especially the final water cut in the last 24 hours. Losing a little over 3 kilograms in 24 hours by depriving my body of water was tough. But seeing how lean I looked at 80 kilograms, which is still middle ground for me, was motivating. Now that I’ve been through it once, I’m prepared to handle the process better next time, with less panic and more realistic expectations.
Weight cutting is different for every fighter, but it generally involves long-term dieting and water loading during the week leading up to the fight, followed by an intense final day of fluid depletion. Without a guide, I relied on Reddit and online forums for advice, and I still managed to hit my target. I was shocked when I saw the scale that morning. It’s both a mental and physical test that feels like part of the fight itself. How you manage it can either build you up or break you down.
Finally, about losing: Fedor Emelianenko once said, “Only those who never stand up never fall down.” Ideally, we all want our first fight to be a win, but losing can be valuable, especially when it’s against someone more skilled. It gives you, or at least it gave me, a clear roadmap of what to improve moving forward. It’s better to face adversity early than to win mismatched fights that build false confidence and risk serious injury later on.