AKAThailand.TV
Mike Swick
Founder, Owner & CEO of AKA Thailand
Entrepreneur. Visionary Behind AKA Thailand. 15x UFC Veteran
- 15 career UFC fights
- Featured on season 1 of the Ultimate Fighter TV Show
- Featured In Esquire Magazine as a Rising Fitness CEO In Asia
- Nicknamed Quick after finishing 4 UFC fights in a combined 5:10
- One of the original members of Team AKA
- Has trained in Thailand since ’00
- Designed & built AKA Thailand from scratch.
Mike Swick is best known as a 15-fight UFC veteran, but his true legacy extends far beyond the cage. As one of the UFC’s most recognized and consistently ranked top-5 contenders in two weight divisions, welterweight and middleweight, Swick built a global fan base through his explosive fighting style, relentless work ethic, and dedication to excellence. But his greatest fight wasn’t in the Octagon, it was bringing a dream to life, from scratch, in the jungles of Thailand.
With a background in business that began during his UFC career, including founding and building one of the largest screen-printing factories in the California Bay Area, capable of producing over 11,000 t-shirts a day, Swick proved he could thrive both inside and outside of the cage. After successfully exiting his first business, he turned his attention to an idea that had started as a sketch on paper: a one-of-a-kind destination gym resort in paradise.
Starting with nothing but dirt and five trees, Swick designed every detail of AKA Thailand by hand, overseeing the entire build from the ground up. What followed was the creation of the most unique fight training resort in the world: a 2-acre, luxury-level fight and fitness campus nestled in the tropical mountains of Phuket.
Today, AKA Thailand is the #1-ranked Muay Thai School in Thailand, officially voted by the Thailand Government four years in a row (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024). The gym has become internationally known for its clean, intimidation-free environment, luxury facilities, elite instruction, and welcoming culture. It attracts not only professional fighters and athletes, but also celebrities, entrepreneurs, first-time beginners, and high-performing individuals from around the world.
Swick’s passion for innovation is reflected in every part of the facility, from the custom-designed 3-meter-deep saltwater pool painted to resemble a sunken fight gym, to the 17.5-meter Alpha Tower with ocean and jungle views, to the white sand poolside VIP café, and the immersive digital content experience, including apps, NFTs and a broadcast network. His strategic blend of combat sports, hospitality, and high-end design has turned AKA Thailand into a very popular global destination.
In addition to building AKA Thailand, Mike has been featured in Esquire Magazine and other outlets for his rising presence as a foreign entrepreneur in Asia. He’s launched and sold multiple businesses, created the “Real Quick with Mike Swick” podcast (featuring guests like Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and many UFC world Champions and stars as well as actors, comedians and everyone in between), and launched his Savage Life Media agency and Swick Savage brand. He also created AKA Thailand TV, a digital streaming platform that broadcasts weekly live fights from Thailand and his original Fight Club series, allowing everyday guests to train and compete live in front of a global audience via the AKA Thailand TV HD Livestream.
Through it all, Mike remains deeply connected to AKA Thailand and the people who train there. For him, building the gym wasn’t just about bricks and branding, it was about creating a reality he dreamed of living, and building a space where thousands of others could come, grow, and transform their lives as well.
This isn’t just a gym. It’s a dream that became a blueprint, and then a global destination and training phenomenon.
And for Mike Swick, it’s only just the beginning.
If there is one thing that sets Mike apart from other fighters, gym and business owners it is his social media presence and well-spoken, humorous and humble demeanor in interviews and on camera. Mike got his start on “Real Quick With Mike Swick”, a web series Dana White gave him the opportunity to run with in 2005. This gave Mike the ability to hone his camera presence while visiting interesting places and interviewing celebrities such as 50 Cent, Samuel L. Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Nick Cannon, Jamie Presley, Magic Johnson and more.
In 2006, Mike became the official host of all the UFC PPV’s for AMP’d Mobile. Being the first mobile phone on the market to show live fighting events, Mike hosted all UFC broadcasts through 2006 and 2007. Today, Mike uses the media skills he acquired throughout his UFC career to push the AKA Thailand brand via live feeds on his Facebook, by doing gym video series, and a variety of other videos with an array of narratives coming out of AKA Thailand.
In 2017, Mike rebuilt and revamped Real Quick With Mike Swick by turning it into a Podcast. With his mikeswick.com website being a living breathing machine of information and entertainment, it only made sense to get a podcast going as well. Mike custom built a new studio dedicated to the show, onsite at AKA Thailand, and was one of the fast growing MMA Podcasts on Youtube, until he took a hiatus to focus on his battle with Stage 4 Cancer, of which he luckily beat.
In its short existence, Mike had a range of guests that included some of the most famous fighters in the world as well as comedians, actors, musicians and even Hollywood agents like the one that represents Dwayne Johnson, Brad Slater.
Mike has now brought the podcast back and made it a more laid-back lifestyle show where he focuses on just having fun and good conversations with VIP and interesting guests that visit him and AKA Thailand.
In January of 2018, he made a short docu-cast with Dana White meeting a Thai girl, whose life he previously saved, and the video went viral. This along with many other behind the scenes and mini-casts, make the show unique and always entertaining.