EVERY DAY IS AN OPPORTUNITY
Real Fighters Gym is the culmination of 30 years of hard work, training, fighting and learning from and among many of the best fighters in the world. Currently located in the Bluegrass Industrial Park, the gym is home to Team Haycraft, the gym’s fight team. Our fight team is made up of the fighters, coaches and each and every member of the gym that support our cause. We truly are a gym family.
The training program at Real Fighters Gym has been time tested across the country in each and every major kickboxing and Muay Thai tournament. Our fighters compete on the international level in recent years traveling multiple times to Holland, Suriname, Spain, Germany, France, Slovenia, China, Italy and Mexico. Our fighters are well respected across the country from small regional amateur events to televised events such as Bellator & Glory.
Head Coach, Eric Haycraft, has spent his entire life learning the fight game. First as student, then a fighter and now as a coach. He has put himself in the position through his work in the sport to work side by side with many of the sports icons learning first hand from the best! These experiences culminate in the programs at Real Fighters Gym.
Real Fighters Gym offers training programs for the fitness minded, the recreational fight fan and all the way up to developing an amateur fight career all the way to the professional level.
TRAIN ALONGSIDE THE BEST
Eric Haycraft
For the past twenty six years, Eric Haycraft has been teaching the finer points of kickboxing and Muay Thai in Louisville. Building on his experiences as a pro fighter in the early ages of kickboxing and Muay Thai in this region he opened his first gym in 1997. Producing the first home grown fighters in the late 90’s, Real Fighters Gym has gone on to produce numerous regional, national and world champions in kickboxing, Muay Thai and MMA. Aside from the gym, there is not a hat Eric has not worn in the sport from grass roots shows the largest leagues in the world.
Lindsay Haycraft
Originally from Cincinnati, Lindsay moved to Louisville on a soccer scholarship. Looking for a boxing type workout for the offseason, she eventually discovered Eric and his team of athletes. It would be nearly three years before she completed her soccer career to begin competing. In her first year of competition, she won a National Championship and represented the USA at the World Championships in Germany. All while pursuing a doctorate in Physical Therapy. That success would launch an impressive forty fight career that saw her not only with a run at the world title, but also a resume of fighting the very best women in the sport. With the sport’s limitations in the USA, Lindsay was fortunate enough to fight abroad including four fights in the Netherlands, two fights in China, two fights in Suriname, two fights in Russia, Spain, Germany, France and Slovenia. Slovenia was the grand finale of a popular kickboxing reality show that aired across Europe. Lindsay was one of the coaches on this production. After retiring in 2014, Lindsay mounted one last comeback for the opportunity to face Muay Thai legend Valentina Shevchenko. That fight was her one and only pro fight on US soil. After retirement Eric and Lindsay started their family and have three children that are regular personalities at Real Fighters Gym every week.
Lindsay Haycraft
Originally from Cincinnati, Lindsay moved to Louisville on a soccer scholarship. Looking for a boxing type workout for the offseason, she eventually discovered Eric and his team of athletes. It would be nearly three years before she completed her soccer career to begin competing. In her first year of competition, she won a National Championship and represented the USA at the World Championships in Germany. All while pursuing a doctorate in Physical Therapy. That success would launch an impressive forty fight career that saw her not only with a run at the world title, but also a resume of fighting the very best women in the sport. With the sport’s limitations in the USA, Lindsay was fortunate enough to fight abroad including four fights in the Netherlands, two fights in China, two fights in Suriname, two fights in Russia, Spain, Germany, France and Slovenia. Slovenia was the grand finale of a popular kickboxing reality show that aired across Europe. Lindsay was one of the coaches on this production. After retiring in 2014, Lindsay mounted one last comeback for the opportunity to face Muay Thai legend Valentina Shevchenko. That fight was her one and only pro fight on US soil. After retirement Eric and Lindsay started their family and have three children that are regular personalities at Real Fighters Gym every week.
