Rajadamnern Stadium rankings

Rajadamnern Stadium opened operations for Muay Thai competition on December 23, 1945,^[2] where the first competitions of the sport were surrounded by independent promoters. Specific competitions that were synonymous to the best fighter of their divisions were recognized by a samat, a traditional sport jacket that was awarded to champions of the stadium.^[3]

In 1955, the stadium compiled the first rulebook of a major Muay Thai-based stadium,^[3] a divisional ranking system, and a range of weight classes that were inspired by the weight classes of Western boxing in Thailand during the time,^[4] along with the inclusion of minimum boxing bouts happening per card in the stadium's inauguration, and Muay Thai bouts happening in boxing rings.^[2]

In 1984, the stadium's ranking committee released a ranking list that identified the top ten greatest Muay Thai practitioners of all time in the middle of the sport's Golden Era,^[5] which was a time period between the early 1980's to the mid 1990's that saw a major boost in popularity of the sport across the world, the development of multiple legends sport-wide, and a raise in competition for local stadiums and payouts per fight.^[6]

In the year of 2022, the stadium and their rankings saw a massive overhaul of representation of their roster and new divisions, as the first women's fights of the stadium commenced and women's divisions were created, with a supportive ranking system to back up the competition being released a year later.^[3][7] This move by Rajadamnern raised the popularity of Women's Muay Thai, as multiple communities applauded the inclusion and public interest support of a major female roster,^[7] after multiple decades of promoters banning women's competitions and having minimal coverage for the gendered aspect.^[8]

In the same year, the Bangkok-based sports entertainment company and firm Global Sport Ventures Co., Ltd (GSV), a subsidiary of Plan B Media Co., Ltd., publlicly announced an investment with Rajadamnern Stadium Co., Ltd., and vowed to modernize and revamp the stadium's media, content, advertising, and the overall framework for the company.^[9][10][11] In later months, GSV launched a weekly program of the stadium's media, Rajadamnern World Series (RWS), which is a formalized show that featured a updated rule set of the stadium, led to better production values, the first of a open-score format for Muay Thai,^[3] and the inclusion of the stadium's previously publish-based rankings to form into a publicly viewable ranking system on the internet.

Today, Rajadamnern Stadium holds the rankings for 16 viable divisions that stretches from Minimumweight (105 lbs), to Middleweight (160 lbs), with 13 male divisions and 3 women's divisions currently being represented.^[12]

• Rajadamnern Stadium
• List of Muay Thai practitioners
• Lumpinee Stadium
• World Muaythai Council
• International Federation of Muaythai Associations
• Muay Thai
• Tiger Cub Economies
• Economy of Thailand