Women have been fighting Muay Thai for decades but, up until recently, female fighters and competitions have been pushed to the periphery of the sport. Shows rarely promoted female fights and if they did, they were usually buried somewhere on the undercard and sometimes or not, female fighters were excluded from all of the major promotions.
Female Muay Thai fighters have been going through a renaissance over the past few years, since Lumpinee Stadium broke the long-standing status quo and allowed the first-ever female fight in a major stadium in November 2021. Since then many of the other leading Thai stadiums and global promotions have followed suit and it’s now common to see women fighting alongside their Nak Muay counterparts on all of the biggest stages of the sport.
To celebrate this fact, we’re going to take a dive into the long history of Female Muay Farang and give you an introduction to some of the most prolific Muay Ying, past and present, who have pushed boundaries and the limits of the sport to become not just some of the best female Thai Boxers in the world, but the best fighters in general. So, without further introduction here is our list of the top 10 female Muay Farang to ever fight in the art of eight limbs.
1) Iman Barlow
UK-born Muay Ying, Iman Barlow, began fighting at 9 years of age out of her father’s gym, Assassin Muay Thai and was a powerhouse in the world female rankings right up until her retirement late last year. The tenacious woman, known in the ring as “Pretty Killer,” is a six-time world champion, and longest-ever serving Enfusion World Champion, who overwhelmed many of her opponents by smothering them with her incredible work rate, explosive hands, and evasive footwork.
Over the course of her 107-fight career, Iman fought many of the best females in the bantamweight division, winning over the likes of Ekatarina Vandaryeva, Hannah Brady, and Yolanda Shmidt on her way to capturing an immense 97 career victories.
2) Smilla Sundell
Swedish-born Smilla Sundell is only 19 and yet she has already made an impressive mark on the Muay Thai world. At the age of 17, she became the youngest Muay Thai World Champion in ONE Championship history, defeating American, Jackie Buntan for the inaugural Women’s Strawweight World Title in 2022.
Smilla began fighting in Thailand at the age of 12 after her family moved to the pristine island of Koh Samui. Fighting out of Yodyut Muay Thai, she amassed an impressive record of 31 wins and only five losses before signing to ONE Championship and moving to the famed Fairtex Gym in Pattaya.
Although Smilla lost her ONE title after missing weight in her most recent bout against Natalia Diachkova in May, her impressive second-round stoppage has left fans eagerly anticipating her return to reclaim the Strawweight crown.
3) Caley Reece
West Australian Muay Thai Queen, Caley Reece, was the preeminent female muay farang on the planet up until her retirement in 2014. Fighting out of the famed Riddler’s Gym in Perth, Caley overcame two initial losses to become a WPMF World Champion, a multiple-time WMC World Champion, and the Lion Fight Featherweight World Champion. She fought all over the world throughout her illustrious career, competing in China, Thailand, and even the United States where she fought and defeated famed Lion Fight and Glory World Champion, Tiffany Van Soest.
4) Niamh Kinehan
Hailing from Frank’s Gym in the UK, Niamh Kinehan made history in June of this year when she became the first female in Muay Thai history to unify three major professional world titles. After winning her first WBC World Title in 2022, Niamh quickly captured her second, an ISKA belt, in the same year. She successfully defended the coveted green and gold belt on two occasions before she got her chance to face the undefeated, Kero Reifstahl, for the WMO strap. It was a fight she inevitably won, making her one of the most successful female fighters in history overnight and leading many pundits to speculate what challenges could possibly await the dominant champion in the future.
5) Julie Kitchen
UK-born fighter, Julie Kitchen, has more titles to her name than we have space to fit in this article. This feat is even more impressive considering that she only started training in Muay Thai at the age of 24, following the birth of twin daughters whom she raised while fighting at the highest levels of the sport.
Julie was a trailblazer of the UK Female Muay Thai scene, fighting some of the best women of her era, and was the first British woman to win a coveted WBC title. Since retiring from centre-ring she has continued to contribute to the global Muay Thai scene, lending her voice and exceptional fight knowledge as a commentator for international promotion, Enfusion.
6) Janet Todd
Japanese American, Janet “JT” Todd, is a multi-sport phenomenon who has fought under both Muay Thai and Kickboxing rules throughout her illustrious career. After her first amateur fight in 2009, Todd took a small break before returning and eventually going on to medal at both the 2017 IFMA Championships and World Games. In 2019 she signed to ONE Championship and faced Stamp Fairtex for the Muay Thai Atomweight World Title in her very first bout on the promotion. The title evaded her in this fight, but the loss prompted the start of a seven-fight win streak wherein she captured both the ONE Atomweight Kickboxing Title and Interim Muay Thai Title with TKO stoppages. She even avenged her loss to Stamp during her championship run, but in 2024, the champ decided to retire, closing the chapter on her remarkable career after a series of hard-fought battles.
7) Shannon Gardiner
Caley Reece’s retirement left some big shoes to fill on the Australian female circuit but fellow West Australian, Shannon Gardener, looks comfortable wearing the crown of Australian Muay Thai royalty. Last year she captured the WMC World Title in her hometown of Perth before going on to win the WBC Featherweight World Title in a savage bout against the game American, Tierra Brandt.
Shannon has kept the ball rolling on a busy 2024 where she won silver at the IFMA World Championships in Greece before going on to become Australia’s first athlete to compete in Muay Thai on the Olympic stage, competing in the IFMA’s exhibition event in Paris earlier this month.
8) Tiffany Van Soest
American-born, Tiffany Van Soest, started her martial arts journey as a practitioner of Shorin-Ryu Karate. It was a sport she excelled at, and she captured multiple national titles before she turned her attention to Muay Thai. Van Soest, impressively, went 10-1 as an amateur in the art of eight limbs before being signed to the prestigious Lion Fight promotion. After a successful run of fights, she faced Englishwoman, Lucy Payne, to win her first Featherweight World Title which she successfully defended on two occasions before losing the belt to Caley Reece. A year later she would reclaim the belt before moving down to Bantamweight to capture a second world title. Following this she moved over to Kickboxing where she claimed the GLORY Bantamweight title on two separate occasions, successfully defending it five times over her two separate reigns. She retired last year following her final successful defense in France.
9) Allycia Rodrigues
Brazilian, Allycia Rodrigues, needs very little introduction. She became a household name in the Muay Thai community after exploding onto the ONE stage in 2020 with a shocking win over reigning champion, Stamp Fairtex, for the Atomweight Muay Thai Title in her debut bout. It’s a belt she’s successfully defended on two occasions, with her only loss on the promotion against Smilla Sundell.
Prior to her international success, Allycia fought regularly on the Brazilian circuit before relocating to the famed, Phuket Fight Club where she now lives and trains under expert coach Leo Elias. It was been a successful move. She had an amazing run in the Thai stadiums, even defeating 12-time WPMF Champion, Thananchanock Kaewsamrit before accepting the call-up to the ONE stage.
10) Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu
American, Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu, is not just the most experienced Muay Ying of all time in terms of fight experience, she is perhaps one of the most experienced farangs to ever lace up gloves in Thailand. The 45kg fighter and veteran of 273 professional fights has amassed almost 200 wins throughout her career, half of which come by knockout. She’s spent the last 12 years living and training in the motherland of Muay Thai, winning over half a dozen regional Thailand Titles in the process. While many of her fights haven’t been televised outside of Thailand, making her a relatively unknown outside of Muay Thai’s most hardcore fans, she reached global acclaim last year when she won the WBC minimumweight world title against Italian, Elisabetta Solinas.
The most impressive thing about Sylvie’s career isn’t the sheer number of fights she’s accumulated, it’s the fact that, due to her low weight and small stature, many of her fights, including her title bouts were fought far above her natural fight weight. This makes her not just one of the most decorated and experienced fighters on the planet but also one of the toughest.
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