Clifton Brown will defend his IKKC World Muay Thai Cruiserweight Title against K-1 star Kaoklai Kaennorsing on Friday in Jamaica. The Fight Network's Adam Jones caught up with the champion for an in-depth interview that covers his opponent in Jamaica, K-1 possibilities, an insightful look at the sanctioning of Muay Thai and MMA in Ontario, his thoughts on competing in MMA and other big fights on Friday's card:

TFN: So this is something you don't see too often in the combat sports world, you're having a sendoff party where there are blessings, speeches and even donations for kids overseas. Is this a tradition for every fight that you have?

Brown: Well, it's something that we've been trying to do at Siam Number One, donating to kids, and we always have a blessing before every fight because the scales of the fights are getting bigger and the competition is getting fiercer. It's becoming something that's becoming a little bit bigger of a tradition for Siam Number One, so all of our students and all of our fighters and friends get together to have a big sendoff.

TFN: So, you're born and bred in Canada, but you've got roots and family in Jamaica. How does it feel to be heading to the paradise where family you don't see very often gets to be a part of this with you?

Brown: Going to Jamaica, for me, is a really a big honor. I never thought that Muay Thai would take me to a point where I would actually get to fight in Jamaica and actually go to Jamaica as an honored son. I was lucky enough to go back there two weeks ago for some press and meet many dignitaries and see all the family that I haven't seen for some time, and everybody is quite excited about it. They've been following my career a little bit over the Internet and now for them to see it live it's a big deal. I also feel that, you know, part of that warrior spirit, that martial spirit, is part of Jamaican heritage, you know, people there are very hot-blooded, and I think it fits really well in having the event there.

TFN: How long are you going to be down there before your fight?

Brown: I'm going to be in Jamaica approximately four days before the fight, and I'll stay on another four days afterward.

TFN: Do you think you'll stay free of distraction while you're down there?

Brown: Yeah, well, I've made sure that I've locked my phone off and no one knows exactly the hotel that we're staying in. The official hotel for the event is the Ritz Carlton, but the fighters aren't staying there -- I'm not telling you where they're staying (laughs) -- and we're making it so that we have no distractions. I'll be there with Master Suchart, and we'll be training on the same schedule every day. I guess the only thing that will be distracting is that my opponent will be close by, so ... (laughs).

TFN: So your opponent is Kaoklai Kaennorsing, and The Fight Network viewers should be familiar with him and his work with K-1. This is an interesting scenario, as well, because you're born and bred in Canada, trained in Toronto at Siam Number One under Ajarn Suchart, giving you a very traditional Thai style. And Kaoklai, interestingly enough, is from Thailand, but you're more traditional them him. Kaoklai's very loose, a lot of lateral movement and very unorthodox.

Brown: Very unorthodox.

TFN: What do you think of Kaoklai, and how do you think this fight might unfold?

Brown: Well, I think Kaoklai is a very, very tricky opponent -- very, very sneaky. He's very, very dangerous, so you can't take him lightly. I think that fighting him is going to be like building a house of cards. If you put one card in the wrong place, the whole table and the whole home might fall down. So basically, you've got to make sure that you're doing everything properly. My strategy for the fight is to just put pressure on him. A lot of pressure on him, a lot of pressure on him, and I think that if he's at his best and I'm at his best, I should have the advantage because I have more tools. However, he is also a former Rajadamnern Stadium champion in Bangkok, Thailand, so he definitely knows how to fight Muay Thai, and he knows all the tricks of the trade, so I don't expect this to be an easy fight, and that's why I've trained very, very hard with Master Suchart to prepare for it.

TFN: How's training been going?

Brown: Training has been going great actually; I'm right on schedule. Basically, how I train is, I build up toward the fight and build myself to a peak, so before the fight, you know, I'll be maybe at 90 percent. And then right at the final week of the fight I get to 100 percent by building my training, and I'm right on schedule right now.

TFN: So back to Kaoklai and K-1. Kaoklai's been with K-1 for a long time, competing in the traditional K-1, getting far outmatched with the heavyweights and even dropping down to the 154-pound limit to compete in K-1 MAX, but he never found a home. Do you think that K-1 might eventually fill that gap and bring in a 185-190-pound grand prix division?

Brown: I definitely think that there's a lot of great fighters in the world at that weight, and I think that it would be a really good business move for them to have that division. Of course, there's myself, there's Carnage Corbett, there's Tyrone Spong, you know, there's a lot of great fighters that could compete in this division. Of course, Kaoklai, as well, and I think having him move up and down the weight and being a fighter myself who has done it at times, it's very difficult on the fighter to move up in weight. And when you win, obviously, your stock goes up, and when you lose, your stock goes down. If you're jumping around the weight classes, you run a higher risk of losing, so I think it's better if they're able to have a weight class just for the top fighters at this weight, as well.

TFN: K-1 has started putting on shows featuring fighters around your weight. You mentioned Tyrone Spong, who just made a K-1 debut, and it's like they're testing the waters for a new grand prix division. You've also been taking fights recently that have rules more similar to K-1 rules, with no elbows and limited clinching, to keep the action progressive. Are you kind of anticipating a new K-1 division you might be interested in, and what do you think of these rules becoming more popular in kickboxing events?

Brown: Well, originally, I am definitely a Muay Thai artist and practitioner. However, if opportunities arise for there to be a large organized body that takes care of the fighters and puts on great shows with those rules, I would definitely be a part of it. Me doing those rules now is just in anticipation and in preparation should that opportunity arise. So I want to make sure that I'm adept at both ways of fighting.

TFN: You've won many titles, most recently the WMC title against Priest-West in Germany this past October. We aired this on The Fight Network. What are your thoughts on this fight?

Brown: Well, it's interesting. I've watched that fight hundreds of times maybe, as I'm sure a lot of people have, and he was definitely a challenging opponent. He came out, he was very, very strong, but I thought that his ability to defend everything wasn't quite there, and I think that the fight ended shortly because I was able to land everything cleanly. I think that Muay Thai weapons are quite powerful, and if you're not able to block, or reduce, or avoid them, you're running the risk of getting hurt. So, I prepared really, really hard for that fight. I made sure that I was at my best and at my peak, and I went in the ring and I did my job.

TFN: Recently, there's been a lot of talk about MMA being legalized in Ontario, particularly because of the UFC's recent venture to Canada. Muay Thai is a couple of steps ahead of them. Although professional Muay Thai isn't legal in Ontario yet, I remember being at the first Muay Thai show in Ontario with my Team Tompkins teammates. You were there. How did Muay Thai achieve amateur status in Ontario?

Brown: Well, I know that there was a group of people ... firstly, one organization that's strictly Muay Thai called CAMTAO and there's another amateur body called CASK, and they do kickboxing, as well as modified Muay Thai rules. They approached the government some time ago, and the government let them know that there's a set of criteria they had to achieve before they would even consider them. And they did do that; they met that criteria, and they were on a probationary period, and it's actually something that started in 2003, when they first officially got recognized. Now it's completely off the probationary period, and they're able to sanction full Muay Thai events. They've had fights for a number of years, and they've had a good health record and a good track record. The next step now is to have professional Muay Thai. With MMA, it's very, very similar. I think that in order for it to become legalized, they're talking about going through an amateur first, and I don't know how they're going to do that just yet. I know that there's been many, many talks about it.

TFN: You mentioned that MMA is looking to have an amateur body in place. That's one thing that Ontario athletic commissioner Ken Hayashi has made clear; MMA does need to have an amateur track record for a while. Muay Thai has that, so Muay Thai in Ontario can been seen as the crystal ball to MMA in Ontario because they've been through all of this. How far off are we from seeing professional Muay Thai in Ontario?

Brown: It's funny. I think that me winning a world title is actually going to help that process, because I think that the biggest concern is safety. You can't really jump from the amateur level to professional right away; it's something that every fighter has to go through. In order to compete at that level, you really have to hone your skills, and I think that the number one concern that the boxing commission had had was that fighters would be protected. So with having had amateur Muay Thai for some time and also having amateur world champions in Canada and people achieving higher levels, I think that it's inevitable that professional would be the next step because pretty soon these amateur fighters won't be able to fight anybody here anymore, right? So it's just the next step, but I think it's very, very difficult because I think MMA fans want to see it happen right away; they want to have the top fighters, but the actuality is that you can't compete at a high level until you're ready. I think that the process of the commission is to make sure that there's safety and regulations for the sport and that all the people participating, you know, there's no legal ramifications and no one gets really hurt. It's really the right way to go, and I think that the ground work that they've set will allow it to finally take the next step for professionals. Hopefully, we'll be a part of it.

TFN: Part of what I've heard regarding the legalization of Muay Thai in Ontario was that it was passed through because of its ties with Thai religion. Is that part of how it was passed through?

Brown: I don't know, I think that's a little speculation. I think that it's because it's a national sport of a country. There's a lot of support from the Thai government; there's always politics involved in international and foreign affairs between cultures, and I think that because it's such a big deal in Thailand, when it was presented to the government here, they had to recognize it here a little bit more because it's something that's been practiced 2,000 years in a country. For them to completely snub it and say, ‘No, we're never going to do it,' would almost be like turning their back to a country. So I think that the process of Muay Thai being a martial art first and foremost helps it to get international and to get recognition with government bodies.

TFN: So back to your fight June 20 in Jamaica. It has built into a super card. There are four title fights -- John Wayne Parr, Kaoklai and yourself. What do you think of the main event, WBC title fight between Malaipet and Yodsanklai Fairtex?

Brown: Well, the first thing I have to say is, for myself, it's really an honor to be on this card. I mean, all the fighters on this show are the top of the world in their respective divisions. So for me to just watch it would be great, let alone participate on it. I think that all the fights on the card are really, really well matched. Dennis Warner and In Sync promotions put the fights together and they did a really, really good job. Malaipet and Yodsanklai is going to be an amazing fight. I mean, there's a lot of speculation, there's polls on the Internet; everybody has their opinion of who's going to win. A lot of people think that Yodsanklai is going to dominate him because he's been having a lot of success lately, but Malaipet is very, very wiley, very, very smart, and he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve, so I don't suspect that Yodsanklai is going to walk right through him. I think it's going to be a really, really tough fight, and it's going to be a pleasant surprise for Yodsanklai also to fight Malaipet. I also know that in Thai culture, when there are two top fighters, the gyms of each fighter tend to place bets on the fight, so I think that there's a little bit of jawing going back and forth between the two gyms. When that happens, it motivates the fighters even more to be prepared because they don't want to let anybody down. I suspect that it's going to be an amazing fight.

TFN: So speaking of those two and their gyms -- Yodsanklai Fairtex and Malaipet Team Diamond ... what's behind Thai fighters adopting and changing their last names to that of their gyms? It's something you only really see from Thailand.

Brown: Well, when I was in Thailand I had to do the very same thing. When I trained at Siam Number One, I became Clifton Brown Siam Number One. It denotes the gym that you train at and also it's your sponsor. So Team Diamond are the people who are sponsoring Malaipet, and Fairtex gym is where Yodsanklai trains and is getting sponsored by. So the fighter not only represents himself -- he represents his gym, his training partners and all the fighters that have come before him at that gym. So there's a lot of responsibility involved in doing Muay Thai, and there's a lot of responsibility in representing the sport properly.

TFN: You're very familiar with Malaipet. Your trainer, Suchart, says that Malaipet is like his little brother, and he'll be cornering him in Jamaica. And you were both a big part of Superleauge back in the day. Malaipet's recently jumped over to the MMA world, most recently getting disqualified for illegal elbows against Thomas Denny in ProElite. What do you think of his move and Thai fighters, such as ‘Cro Cop,' Bas Rutten, Melvin Manhoef and Malaipet crossing over to MMA?

Brown: I think it's something that is really, really good. Obviously any form of martial arts and any form of competition in martial arts is good for the sport and getting exposure to everybody. These guys are good exponents and good representatives of Muay Thai because sometimes there are guys who perform on MMA shows and they say that they're Muay Thai fighters, and you see their technique, and it's not quite Muay Thai. So, I'm very happy to have people doing it properly representing the sport, and you can see how effective it is. I think it adds a little bit more spice to the sport. It's a matter of what style would be what style or what strategy will beat what strategy, and so it makes it more interesting for the fans, and I think it brings more of the kickboxing world and kickboxing fans to come and watch MMA, as well.

TFN: So, just for the MMA fans out there, what do you think of MMA? You don't have to be too nice, and would you ever consider such a path?

Brown: To be quite honest, MMA is not really something that I'm considering to do for myself at the moment. However, there are a few people who I would be very interested in competing against. I would definitely like to fight Anderson Silva; we're about the same weight, [and] he's a Muay Thai practitioner. That would be something I would like to do, but to go through the whole process of starting at the beginning and building up is something that I'm not very interested in because I've had such a long career in Muay Thai. If you were to compare the two, I mean, they're different sports. It's like apples and oranges, and I'm a Muay Thai practitioner, a Muay Thai coinsure, so I definitely prefer Muay Thai. However, I think MMA has its place; it's a growing sport, and I think that people should support it. However, I'm still trying to wave a PomBam over here for Muay Thai and trying to get people's attention to Muay Thai because it's something that's been going on for thousands of years. There's a lot of culture and history and beauty to this sport, and it's very exciting to watch when you see two fighters who are very skilled at it doing it.

TFN: Well, you answered part of my next question, which was regarding anyone you would like to compete against. You mentioned Anderson Silva. What about with kickboxing ... is there anyone out there that you would like to meet down the road, or even again?

Brown: There are always a few fighters at that level that you want to compete against, you know. It's like the NBA; you've got Kobe Bryant, and you have, you know, Steve Nash. You've got all these good players at the same time to compete against each other, and right now, in Muay Thai and kickboxing, there's Tyrone Spong, there's Carnage, Nathan Carnage Corbett from Australia, there's Andre Hootnick from Czech Republic. Carnage I've met before. I'm sure that at some point in my career I may meet the other guys, and I'm looking forward to meeting them in the ring.

TFN: Well, I'll be looking forward to you and Kaoklai on June 20 and of course the rest of the card; it's a huge card. Thank you very much.