True Patriot Love - 3 Fights. 1 Night. 1 Champion. Muay Thai Takes Over Canada

00:00:00.000 on october 3rd my mind was blown go back and take a look at the video from the iron eight grand prix

00:00:12.160 toronto muay thai championship it was incredible what a night of action i think that this event

00:00:18.840 actually brought muay thai to canada in a bigger way than we ever expected it would and it's

00:00:23.880 certainly going to catch on i am delighted to introduce you to will ortiz the champion that

00:00:29.440 night congratulations thank you for having me delighted to have you and this is your belt yes

00:00:33.920 it is and uh that night you sure made ish didn't you i made ish happen that's for sure yeah i made

00:00:39.500 ish happen uh let's talk about the event because uh first of all this is a tournament unlike most

00:00:46.280 people see in any kind of fighting scenario yeah and i i really i felt for you guys that night

00:00:52.560 for a lot of reasons it wasn't until i got to the event will that i realized somebody's gonna have

00:00:58.360 to fight many times tonight and in the first round you saw already what kind of a drain this would

00:01:05.980 be explain how the tournament worked okay so eight man tournament so eight fighters uh bracket style

00:01:12.960 so the winner moves on so essentially that would leave it to get to the title you would have to

00:01:17.460 fight three times um so like hearing it at first you're like yeah i can do that and during the camp

00:01:24.660 my my mind would kind of teeter top i'm like this is insane what am i doing right i wondered that

00:01:30.180 yeah it's like and there's only so so much you can prepare for it like you can kind of train

00:01:36.340 a certain way but typically these kind of tournaments have like a day or two in between

00:01:40.580 you know you get some rest yeah but we had maybe an hour and a half you know i had to kind of

00:01:45.540 calculate okay if there's this many fights when they posted the uh the schedule okay i have this

00:01:49.220 many fights i can have an hour and a half to kind of relax and so on and so forth but going up and

00:01:55.140 down it's i say it's like you're going up and down and the evening is like adrenaline pumped i mean

00:01:59.940 it's uh it's it's it's i think what ufc wishes it was for excitement i mean i mean pyrotechnics

00:02:07.620 and music yeah so uh the incorporation of the cultural element of it was really uh spiritual

00:02:13.860 and haunting it at some points right yeah so like shout out to crew benson they do an amazing job

00:02:19.200 all the ish the ish team they do an amazing job of i have to say really setting a stage there's

00:02:24.660 like you know the ambience the the energy it is it's like a it's like a party it's pretty cool

00:02:30.720 i invite some people to that they've never been to muay thai fights and every time i tell people

00:02:34.560 to go to a muay thai event i'm like it's nothing you've ever been to before you could have gone

00:02:38.980 yeah like you said you could have gone to ufc mma boxing but there's something about you know you

00:02:43.580 hear people hey hey every time someone's landing a strike and wow it's a unique experience cool

00:02:49.160 that's so explain that so every time you land uh every time you land a hit or make usually the

00:02:56.180 crowd cheers away right so usually it's like one group says away and then obviously for the other

00:03:01.660 group they're usually saying away back and forth right if if you've ever had the pleasure of being

00:03:06.260 in a a stadium in thailand or you've seen a video you'll hear it it's just exchanges of people

00:03:11.340 cheering back and forth back and forth almost same energy as like a football game in europe

00:03:15.260 where it's just really it is super into it yeah and that as a fighter you you hear it i i've said

00:03:20.620 in many interviews in the past is like that this gets me going i can imagine you know because you

00:03:25.820 feel your village behind you yeah so you know of course i told the i was tall as soon as please

00:03:30.380 make sure you guys are there so let's do that let's talk about that you you're a hometown boy

00:03:35.100 and you were the hometown favorite.

00:03:37.780 You fought, I met fighters from Mexico.

00:03:41.240 I mean, there was a wide array of talent in the ring.

00:03:45.500 Absolutely.

00:03:46.320 But were you aware that you were sort of the hometown fave

00:03:49.880 and that you had a lot riding on you?

00:03:51.560 A little bit, you know, like...

00:03:53.280 Hey, before we go any further,

00:03:55.480 please hit the subscribe button right now.

00:03:57.860 If you want the raw debates,

00:03:59.700 the full uncut conversations you won't see here,

00:04:02.080 head straight to tplmedia.ca.

00:04:04.240 subscribe and lock in your membership trust me you don't want to miss what happens behind the

00:04:08.740 paywall all right back to the show pressure um and you know we were kind of talking about it

00:04:14.360 because yeah all the guys were coming from out out of the out of the city and yeah i mean i looked

00:04:19.500 at it one i had the advantage i was very close you know i was very close to home i had my friends

00:04:24.000 and family there but at the same there's that a little bit of that pressure you know some people

00:04:28.560 will say pressure isn't real but it's absolutely it's a it's a thing you know you have you don't

00:04:33.380 want to disappoint anyone you know but I think it's my 12th year in the in the sport now I've

00:04:39.720 already had those kind of disappointing moments where I'm like oh you know I would tell people

00:04:43.420 I'm so so sorry you know I'm sorry I lost for you guys but they said look we didn't come here to see

00:04:47.360 you win or lose we came here to see you we came to see you so yeah that morning I remember waking

00:04:52.080 up I'm like yeah there's nothing whether I win or lose I have people supporting me you know what's

00:04:57.280 so cool is that there's a vibe among the fighters that is respect honor and love first yeah that's

00:05:06.060 very much a muay thai thing and i i think you know i try to keep it that way you know some people like

00:05:11.420 to kind of you know it's not to call anyone out specifically but some people like to kind of

00:05:16.180 delve the the show showmanship into it where it gets a little show booty almost like the ufc a

00:05:21.020 little bit yeah you know but i think muay thai if you go you know if you look at the culture in

00:05:25.020 thailand the land of smiles everyone's very respectful you know you'll see fighters they'll

00:05:30.440 hug it out after after fights and that's how i've tried to do it you know yeah i have some of the

00:05:34.540 closest friends i've had in the sport are people that i've fought against you know i can see that

00:05:38.700 because you you almost uh leaving the ring yeah the camaraderie it's like instantaneous yeah

00:05:45.320 absolutely um almost like the the winner is important but only so important yes the coming

00:05:51.780 together in that ring that moment those combat seconds those flashes of uh energy that happen

00:05:59.540 are two people that celebrate it afterward regardless of the win yeah exactly it's like

00:06:04.500 they say it takes two to tango you know you have two guys in there and if there's no opponent there's

00:06:08.900 no there's no fight right oh this was not tango this was not tango this is a precision striking

00:06:16.980 uh very physical uh very fast at times uh combat for uh sport the striking was shocking to me now

00:06:27.860 throughout the evening you guys start with pads and i noticed the pads throughout the evening

00:06:32.020 and and benson or karina here i didn't know this i didn't know that it became more fierce so now

00:06:37.060 you've fought your first fight yes you fight your second fight the gear is less padded yes the shin

00:06:43.700 guards are less padded yeah by the time you get to your last fight there's nothing left there's

00:06:48.340 nothing there you're you're all of your uh pressure points are exposed yeah wow for the

00:06:56.900 last fight huh yeah you know maybe you guys go backward on this one anyway it's i i'm no uh

00:07:02.660 expert in the field yeah i can give you yeah so like i think um you know once you get you know

00:07:08.980 you're in the sport long enough you know you get used to uh kind of one you don't really train with

00:07:15.220 like with the gear and uh i will say about the gear those little caution guards there's nothing

00:07:19.860 protecting them really it's more so like yeah i think i'm safe but no but you still have that

00:07:24.500 impact after the fight you feel on your leg you're like okay that didn't really protect much yeah

00:07:28.660 interesting where i find in the sense that when you remove the gear it actually you take less

00:07:33.300 damage because now you're like visibly aware of okay maybe i can you know if you've ever trained

00:07:39.260 you've clashed a shin or a knee a couple times it's one of the worst feelings take me take me

00:07:44.960 inside that uh getting hit yeah feeling i mean i it's something i have to always try to explain to

00:07:52.160 my my students like just take it it's it's one of those things where it's like the more you think

00:07:57.080 about it the more it's gonna hurt yeah so sometimes you just kind of gotta okay i'm gonna get hurt

00:08:01.640 this is the sport is a common saying it's called muay thai's pain yeah it's from a a famous trainer

00:08:07.000 down and he said that in an interview and people just rode with it and it's absolutely true like

00:08:11.320 you're gonna have to experience a bit of pain whether that's with the training through the

00:08:14.280 bumps and the bruises and if you train yourself you know to do that every day when you get into

00:08:18.920 the fight at least you're you're already mentally prepared there before you leave today you're gonna

00:08:22.600 liver kick me i'm gonna i'm gonna handle it uh probably not uh but take me to another place

00:08:30.200 in your mind if you don't mind now you're in the last you're you're entering the ring for the last 0.85

00:08:34.520 fight uh pyro's going off there's a video of you playing behind looking the best you ever looked

00:08:41.640 the music is pumping the lights are down the spotlight's in and you enter that last fight

00:08:47.960 you've got an opponent who's in the same head space as you what's going on in your mind

00:08:52.600 really honestly just kind of be in the moment you know um i made a point recently i said this camp

00:09:02.360 was just filled by gratitude like i said that morning i woke up i was like you know there's no

00:09:05.780 pressure here so kind of walking out i was just you know this is this is the last this last shot

00:09:10.720 i got one shot to make but i'm just gonna have as much fun as i can and kind of that mindset again

00:09:16.900 it's you know it comes with a bit of experience in the game right i will give respect to my

00:09:21.040 opponents i i know those guys are 22 23 years old i know those guys will be on the world stage in no

00:09:26.980 time you know this was my kind of okay this is i had those little little hills i've already

00:09:31.940 challenged already so i walked in there with that just uber confidence you know and i heard my you

00:09:37.920 know i heard my team cheering for me uh this is like one of the first times i've ever been kind

00:09:42.100 of in that ring where i looked at the crowd and like i yell at them i give them our little chant

00:09:46.580 i go one two three we go south side nice i looked at them right before the fight and that that got

00:09:51.460 me gone like yeah let's go i'm here my people this is my ring you know this is my ring this

00:09:55.380 is my belt and i told myself that and as soon as that that first bell went i was like hey we're

00:09:59.940 ready to go a very quick favor before we continue a large percentage of you who watch or listen to

00:10:06.580 tpl media every week aren't subscribed yet our simple commitment to you is that if you find value

00:10:13.140 there if these discussions make you think if you want our uncensored debates deeper dives and

00:10:19.540 extended sit downs head over to tplmedia.ca and subscribe there directly it takes just five

00:10:26.500 seconds costs nothing keeps you informed so thank you now back to the show this is your town this

00:10:33.940 is your belt uh now this will happen again you're going to enter the ring again with this belt around

00:10:42.180 your waist how do you feel about that i don't want to think about that right now yeah if i'm being

00:10:50.340 really honest i get the impression by the way that as much as you love yeah that this is sitting here

00:10:55.140 it has almost no meaning to the overall arch of your story with muay thai absolutely and again

00:11:03.460 it's not to say like you know when definitely when you start you know when i was 18 years old

00:11:07.780 i'm like yeah i want all those shiny trophies but you know you get through the sport a bit and

00:11:11.620 there's there's there's that there's that process you get the belt you're like oh that's it it

00:11:16.580 it almost is like oh i've all been working towards you know you have it we're like huh that's it and

00:11:22.820 it kind of again it goes back to it's a credibility no no absolutely and you know the way i put it

00:11:28.020 it's like adding like a phd you add little letters to the back your name there and you know i guess

00:11:32.500 this is to be passed along to your students absolutely one more experience i keep that at

00:11:36.020 the front and like i said i put it around the kids and it was great to see their smile oh i bet

00:11:40.580 they would love it like oh yeah like you know hey keep dreaming buddy the future of muay thai in

00:11:45.460 canada how does it look to you oh bright extremely bright um you know i've you know i do this full

00:11:52.180 time i do as a coach i also do as an official so i'm kind of you know around the community often

00:11:57.380 and i love what i'm saying you know i think more people like myself who have a lot of experience

00:12:02.020 need to be putting a bit of that time back whether you know you don't have to do it full time like

00:12:05.380 me but i think the natural way forward to give yourself some sort of purpose in the sport without

00:12:11.700 kind of you know a lot of people when they retire they lose that purpose and i think for me giving

00:12:17.220 back is one of the easiest ways i can do it and if i can be a part of again the guys that i beat

00:12:23.140 if i can be a part of their journey when they become world champions hey you know i'm happy to

00:12:27.540 be a part of that but i think that you have a a bright future and a long runway for that uh at

00:12:34.020 your age and the way that you are uh positioned it was really an incredible evening i don't think

00:12:40.660 people understand what they're in for when they go to an ish promotion muay thai fight it is the

00:12:46.260 most fun you can have the the fighting is i don't know how to put it it's delightful it's electric

00:12:53.540 and electric yes just super like the first time i was at this show i was as a spectator for my

00:12:59.060 for my teammates and i looked up i'm like i want to be it yeah it's fun well look i'm going to

00:13:05.460 recommend uh when ish does this again you've got to get tickets you've got to get out there and

00:13:10.340 if if uh you know combat and striking sports are something that you're really interested in

00:13:15.460 this is fighting like you're not going to experience in any other way and i will tell

00:13:19.540 you this we are proud that you're our guy thank you so much uh for putting in such an effort here

00:13:26.180 at home yeah it's kind of cool to have it is the home guy win it is it's like sometimes the

00:13:33.220 storybook ending doesn't happen but like i feel like in this way it was almost that that little

00:13:37.240 bit of a storybook chapter i want people to follow you where can they keep up with you uh and and

00:13:42.400 follow what you're doing with the gym and uh the training that you're doing yeah so i'm i'm mostly

00:13:47.220 on instagram my handle is william n that's my middle name and then ortiz william n ortiz they

00:13:53.760 can find me there. I post, you know, post me with a root beer after training. That's kind of my

00:13:58.100 shtick. I'm really trying to get a root beer sponsorship. What's your root beer? What's your

00:14:02.880 favorite root beer? A&W. A&W is the- All day, every day, Will Ortiz. I got the zero sugars now

00:14:08.120 because I got to, you know, you got to keep it. I'll take the sugars. You take the zero sugars

00:14:11.920 and we'll split the case. Well, I hope there's a lot of root beer and a lot of joy in the future

00:14:17.160 Muay Thai for you. And I will say one more time to Corinna and to Benson, congratulations to

00:14:23.540 ish promotions for bringing this to canada and putting it on the map yeah and like we said this

00:14:29.120 is just gonna help grow the community even more you know you'll have guys like oh i want to get

00:14:32.860 on that you know guys girls they're looking like yeah when there's the tournament for that i want

00:14:36.640 to get on that you know so i'm happy to be the first one that did it nice you know happy to push

00:14:40.760 that forward yeah i think that you're going to be a really good representative of this brand for

00:14:45.980 sure and uh i wish you a great year ahead toward the next belt thank you uh and uh thanks so much

00:14:52.160 man appreciate your time thank you thank you for having me okay now kick me the liver

True Patriot Love - October 17, 2026

3 Fights. 1 Night. 1 Champion. Muay Thai Takes Over Canada

Episode Stats

Transcript