Philip Villa

Philip Villa is an Italian serial entrepreneur and martial artist. He is the founder of Yokkao, a leading sports company. Villa’s firm covers a vast range of services including sports event management, manufacturing and distributing sports accessories, a Muay Thai training center, and streetwear-inspired clothing line. 
Villa is known for promoting international sports events, worldwide seminars, with a global team of sponsored fighters. His entrepreneurial ventures have been featured in CNN, National Geographic Travel, Wall Street Journal, and Vogue magazine.. 
Villa has been featured in several media outlets including LA Progressive, Yahoo, Influencive, Net News Ledger, The American Reporter, American Daily Post, Market Watch, and several others.
 
==Early life and education==
Villa was born and brought up in Italy. Villa was an avid fan of combat sports since he was a kid and hence decided to pursue his career as a sportsperson. He moved to Thailand in 2007 and started his training in Muay Thai at the Sityodtong Muay Thai Gym in Pattaya.
==Career==
While learning Muay Thai in Pattaya, Villa got the opportunity to get acquainted with several prolific fighters as well as learn about the Muay Thai industry in depth.
In 2010, Villa began his entrepreneurial journey by establishing Yokkao. A sports company that manufactures Muay Thai gear and equipment. Villa’s company also promotes worldwide seminars, international events with the help of a global team of sponsored fighters. Just after two years of its inception, Villa organized Yokkao’s first official event, YOKKAO Extreme, in 2012 in Milan, Italy, which was sold out accommodating over 12,000 attendees. Several renowned and top athletes participated in this event, which resulted in YOKKAO Extreme becoming one of the biggest Muay Thai and kickboxing shows ever promoted. 
In 2013, Villa promoted three back-to-back events in Pattaya. A year later he partnered with UK promoter Brian Calder, to widen the scope of YOKKAO 8. Ever since then, Both Villa and Brian Calder have promoted over 20 sports events across the UK. 
In 2016, Villa started the Yokkao Training Center in Bangkok. At this training center, Villa signed with elite fighters - Singdam Kiatmoo9 and Saenchai to train in the camp. The training center is also open to tourists and has been visited by several celebrities such as DNCE’s Joe Jonas Mia Kang and others.
Since the inception of Yokkao, Villa has signed numerous world champions such as Buakaw Banchamek, Saenchai, Sudsakorn Sor Klinmee, Dzhabar Askerov, Singdam Kiatmoo0, Liam Harrison, Jordan Watson, and several others.
In 2020, Villa announced a new streetwear-inspired collection which was launched in Milan in 2021. The sportswear collection was designed in Italy, comprising 70 men’s and women’s pieces. Villa recently, in 2021, signed another set of renowned fighters for the Yokkao Fight Team including RodtangJitmuangnon, Nuenglanlek Jitmuangnon, Aida Looksaikongdin, and DuangdawnoiLooksaikongdin. Not only that, but Villa also signed a transgender athlete, Nong Rose Baan Charoensuk, in order to show his solidarity for the community and expressing the idea of inclusivity in Muay Thai.
In just a decade, Villa has managed to create a vast network for his company Yokkao. It also deals in product distribution at an international level. Villa launched Yokkao warehouses in Asia (Bangkok), Europe and United States (Las Vegas). This logistic strategy makes YOKKAO the first and only Muay Thai brand to be globally distributed.
Villa in 2021 announced that he will work on filming a Muay Thai documentary this year. 
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* Official website
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Category:Italian entrepreneurs
Category: Italian martial artists
Category:Italian sportspeople