Mixed martial arts fighter Matthew Camilleri will be plying his trade overseas from this month after having been handed a lifetime professional contract by the American Kickboxing Academy. Camilleri, who is already on a three-win streak as a professional fighter, will be joining AKA’s Thailand Gym in Phuket.
The 23-year-old expressed his excitement towards being given the opportunity to train with sparring partners who are on a higher level and looks forward to use his time in Thailand as a stepping stone towards eventually climbing up the ladder and heading to the US.
“It was AKA’s gym in America which gave me this lifetime contract but due to visa problems, I have decided it would be more beneficial to start off in Thailand,” Camilleri told the Times of Malta.
“Thailand is very different but it’s definitely a great place and has great stand-up fighters as well.”
Camilleri admitted that despite having pretty good exposure in Malta already, it makes little to no difference when it comes to making a name abroad.
He made reference to Bellator MMA, one of the largest mixed-martial arts promotions in the world, which are interested in showing off the Maltese fighter in their events.
“Bellator are already interested in me,” Camilleri said. “Once I’m training full time with AKA I’ll have a much greater chance to get picked for their events.”
An opportunity to get featured in Bellator or even better, in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is one which Camilleri hopes to have in his deck of cards in the near future. It is due to this that he sees AKA gym, which is also home to reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, as a potential one-way ticket to success.
His recent experiences with this gym, undertaking various training camps ranging from three weeks to as long as three months, have turned his name into one which is synonymous with the sport.
He has received praise from coaches after making the most of his sparring with other known fighters like Luis Peña and Shawn Bunch.
“If I improve even more and retain my clean record, Bellator or the UFC will be more willing to take me into their promotions,” Camilleri remarked.
Camilleri has already fought professionally in Malta, the US and also as a last-minute addition to Liverpool’s Cage Warriors back in December 2018.
“I got a call to fight in Cage Warriors just two weeks before. My opponent was a better grappler than me on paper but I managed to out-grapple him and eventually beat him anyway even though I could not do it by submission,” Camilleri said about his win against Harry McKnight which ended in a dominant unanimous decision.
Camilleri says that not having enough competition here in Malta was the main reason for him to seek a new challenge abroad.
“My plan is to win at least another two fights during my time in Thailand and reach 5-0,” Camilleri pointed out.
“This way more promoters will know about me. Right now, I’m constantly being looked at as a replacement option but that is definitely not what I want for myself. I’d rather be the first choice and know about my fights beforehand. This gives me more time to train.”
He added that he is currently also looking over another contract, this time by MTK Management in order to have adequate representation as a professional. The management agency is responsible for fighters like British boxer Tyson Fury.
Now that his time to step up overseas has arrived, Camilleri highlighted that this was always something he wished to do and believes he has the determination to stand out and eventually get the move to the US he has worked hard for.
“Competition will be tough in Thailand– the level of kickboxing in Asia is very high,” Camilleri admitted.
“Just like I’ve focussed on different areas in the past to become better, I can do the same there and that will help me get a great opportunity to get into Bellator and the US.”