Melody "Diva" Downs is a competitor in the upcoming Vendetta – Queens of Muay Thai eight-woman tournament.

The event will take place in Timaru on November 28, and sees eight of the top Muay Thai fighters in New Zealand compete for the title of Queen of Muay Thai at 63.5kg in a one-night eliminator tournament.

32-year-old Downs is a nine-time New Zealand kickboxing and Muay Thai champion and WKA Intercontinental champion. She has been training and fighting since she was 20 years old, amassing a record of 25-8 with 2 KO’s.

Most recently she defeated Kaitlyn Tucker to win the WKBF 64kg New Zealand title, at TMT – Night of Champions in August.

Fight News asked Melody Downs a few questions in the lead-up to Vendetta.

Hi Melody. Tell me a bit about Team Downs.

“How it all started was, back in 2013 I came off a year break from training. I wasn’t with a gym at the time, so my partner [Kodee Ngatai] and I started training together and things started to evolve from there.

“More people wanted to train with us, and the group started growing. We had our own gym a year or so ago, but as the saying goes, there’s no money in Muay Thai and we were forking out a bit of our own money to keep it going.

“So, we got into some conversations with Core MMA and merged our team into there. So now, we fight under the Team Downs / Core MMA banner. It’s been going really well.

“We keep growing and getting more fighters through, which is great.”

Has Team Downs got any up-and-comers to watch out for?

“Yep, one of them is Tokomaru Taylor. He fought not long ago on the Philip Lam anniversary show up in Auckland.

“He’s only 17 and he punches like a heavyweight. He’s got some goods there which I think will excite crowds.”

Are full Thai rules your favourite to fight under?

“Yeah, most definitely. Almost half of my fights have been under full Thai rules.”

Will Vendetta be your first tournament?

“It will be my first eight-woman but I’ve been in the Worlds before, where you often fight several times a week.

“I’ve done that, but I haven’t fought several times a day, so this will be an exciting, interesting experience I think.”

An x-factor in this tournament is the full Thai rules. Does that mean you’ll be putting particular emphasis on elbows, given the potential to cut and stop an opponent?

“Yeah, I think whenever Thai rules pop up it’s always a factor, trying to strategise around those elbows and knees even.

“I guess with any Thai rules fight you’re always looking for that opportunity to throw that elbow that can cut. I just really like elbows, haha.”

Downs lands an elbow in her August WKBF title fight (photo: Clinton Tudor).

Which of the competitors have you fought before?

“Yes, I’ve fought Mel Mackey before. I’ve got two friends in there – Mel Dykes and Miriam Tio. I’ve sparred them quite often in the past, so we’re kind of familiar with one another’s styles.”

Do you think you’ll be able to hit that kill switch seeing your friend in front of you?

“We’ve had this discussion before. It would suck if we got matched up, but when we get in there, we’ve all got a job to do and we understand that.”

Is your preparation different for a tournament than for a normal fight?

“Yeah, it is different, because there’s that chance that we’ll be fighting more than once, so the emphasis has been on preparing for that.

“Drumming the fitness to the point where we can go 100% for all three rounds.”

What are your thoughts on fully hydrated fights instead of water-cutting?

“I think it’s good to have those kinds of parameters in place because it’s encouraging fighters to fight at weights that are healthy and not adopt unhealthy weight cut strategies.

“With a few people passing away due to really bad weight cuts it’s set a few alarm bells in the fight community to say that actually, we should look at a better way of doing this.

“Hopefully more promotions get on board with this type of weight strategy. I think it’s a positive thing.”

Who will you face in the final?

“Ooh that’s a really hard one. There’s so many good fighters. I honestly don’t know.”

If you could choose who you faced in the final, who would it be?

“I think it would be either Gentiane or Nicola. I know Nicola is no slouch, and Gentiane has been at the top of the game for ages. It would be an honour to share the ring with them.”

Does your fiance train kickboxing as well? Is he your head coach?

“Nah he just yells at us, haha. Normally he is my head coach, but for this fight it’s a bit different.

“I’ve got Mike Gault who’s training me up for this fight, because my other team-mate is fighting on the same night. So Kodee’s had to take him and Mike’s taking me.”

Melody Downs with her fiance and trainer Kodee Ngatai in her corner (photo: Clinton Tudor).

Tell me a little bit about the dynamic of having a coach who’s also your fiancé.

“At the start it was a bit of a bumpy ride, but we’ve got to the point where we’ve got a clear line between training and our close relationship.

“When we get into the gym, we leave all of that out the door and focus on the job at hand. In the gym, he’s the trainer and I’m the student.

What have you got your eye on for 2021, world title fights?

“There have been discussions of a world title. This year was supposed to be the year of international fights but obviously with Covid popping up, that’s really put a spanner in the works for a lot of things.

“Hopefully next year we can get to a point where international travel is safe enough for us to go overseas and fight for those accolades.”

Is there anyone you want to shout out to?

“Yeah, just a big shout out to my coaches Kodee and Mike for all the time and effort that they put into me. Also, all my team-mates.

“Obviously, trainers take time out of their own lives, away from their families to put time and energy into students. Those things are much appreciated.”

Thanks for the interview Melody. All the best in the tournament.

You can follow Melody Downs on her athlete Facebook page. You can follow Team Downs and Core MMA on Facebook.

Tickets for Vendetta – Queens of Muay Thai are available from Ticket Fairy. The event will be live-streamed on Fight News for a PPV cost of $20. Register here for online access.