Andre Soukhamthath became the inaugural CES MMA bantamweight champion this past Friday night at CES MMA 33 in Lincoln, Rhode Island when he scored a highlight heel flying knockout victory against Kody Nordby in the fifth round.
Throughout the entire fight, Soukhamthath (10-3) showed off his improved grappling and wrestling as Nordby was constantly looking to take the fight to the ground. On yesterday’s edition of “The MMA Report Podcast,” Soukhamthath joined the show to discuss his win over Nordby and credited Blackzilian grappling coach Neil Melanson and wrestling coach Greg Jones for the growth in his game.
“He did not have to come to my fight,” Soukhamthath said. “They hired Neil Melanson to help guys like AJ [Anthony Johnson], Tyrone Spong and those big money makers for him to help them. Instead, he is trying to make a change in the team. He is trying to build guys like me up. For me to take a week off from his life to come and try to help me win a fight, that meant a lot to me. Shout out to my wrestling coach Greg. A lot of what I did in that fight had to do with Greg too because Greg was there everyday. Pushing me in practice. Doing the same stuff over and over. I was paired up with a Division 1 wrestler and it was easy come fight time.”
Check out Soukhamthath’s complete interview from Tuesday’s episode of “The MMA Report Podcast” below and be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Stitcher.