Chatchai Paiseetong

Sanithep Phuprasong (; May 5, 1974 – February 2, 2002), known professionally as Chatchai Paiseetong , was a Thai professional Muay Thai fighter. He was a two-time Lumpinee Stadium Super Bantamweight Champion as well as the 1993 Sports Authority of Thailand Fighter of the Year.

Biography and career

Early career

Sanithep Puprasong started his Muay Thai career at 9–10 years old. He initially fought under the ring name of Ja-Ae Lookchukkacher and trained under his father, a Muay Thai fighter by the ring name of Kiatmala Sitpraedum. He would later transfer to the Sityodtong/Payakaroon gym where he would become a teammate of Samart Payakaroon and trained under Kru Yodtong Senanan. He would then adopt the ring name of Chatchai Sityodtong in honor of his new gym, but he would later be more popularly known as Chatchai Paiseetong.

Fighting style

Chatchai was an orthodox Muay Femur stylist which is the Muay Thai equivalent to the rope-a-dope style from boxing. While Chatchai had a well-rounded skill set, he was specifically renowned for his head kicks resulting in knockdowns against his opponents. He would be praised by Thai audiences as one of the most skilled Muay Femur fighters of the golden era of Muay Thai. He was often compared to his teammate Samart Payakaroon and was labelled "Samart 2" by the Thai media as a result of his skill.

Peak of Muay Thai career and later years leftBy 1992, he was fighting near or at bantamweight (118 lbs), his ideal weight class, for the Onesongchai promotion. However, Onesongchai later forced their top bantamweight fighters to move up to junior featherweight (122 lbs) as the bantamweight division was filled with fighters from other promotions. While Chatchai did not belong in the higher weight, he would win the Lumpinee junior featherweight title twice against the elite Wangchannoi Sor.Palangchai and Boonlai Sor.Thanikul. At 19-years-old, he reached the peak of his Muay Thai career in 1993 after he finished the year with a record of 7 wins in 10 bouts including the aforementioned title fights. For this performance he was given the Sports Authority of Thailand Fighter of the Year award, the second most prestigious award in the sport of Muay Thai. His competitive prime was short as he struggled to keep his weight down as well as having too small of a frame for heavier weight classes.

As Chatchai began to decline, he began to fight in junior lightweight (130 lbs). He was still able to defeat several yodmuay (elite fighters) during his decline such as but not limited to Lamnamoon Sor.Sumalee, Prabsuek Sitsantad, Den Muangsurin, and drew against Therdkiat in their rematch and beat him again in 1995. He suffered from alcoholism in the late stages of his life. He was cremated and his relatives placed his ashes in the Chukkacher Temple in his hometown of Bueng subdistrict of Sriracha in Chonburi province.