Jayden Eynaud lifts lid on Muay Thai career, MAFS experience ahead of WBC cruiserweight world title fight

Long before his search for ‘the one’ played out on national TV, Jayden Eynaud had already found love. Have a look inside his incredible Muay Thai journey.

Gold Coaster Jayden Eynaud in his element. Picture: Supplied/AFS.

It was a case of love at first sight.

Long before his search for ‘the one’ played out on national reality TV, Married At First Sight star Jayden Eynaud had already uncovered his passion for Muay Thai.

“I knew from the moment I saw guys punching and kicking each other I didn’t want to do anything else,” Eynaud explained ahead of his fight with German Gerardo Atti on the Gold Coast this weekend.

“I didn’t want to work, I didn’t want to go school or hang out with friends, all I wanted to do was train and fight.

“I knew from the second I walked into the gym that that is exactly what I wanted to do with my life.”

Jayden Eynaud has been in love with Muay Thai for the best part of his life. Picture: Supplied.

That realisation dawned on Eynaud when he was just 13, and came at a much-needed time for the directionless teen.

“I was an angry kid who needed an outlet and some direction in life,” Eynaud said.

“I was struggling in school, then I started training and it gave me focus, it taught me how to set goals and achieve them, how to work hard.

“You get humbled in this sport and you get beaten up a lot … it gives you something to work towards.

“I just love fighting, I love winning and that’s all I want to do.”

Jayden Eynaud. Picture: Supplied.

Winning in the Muay Thai arena has become habitual for Eynaud of late, and he successfully defended his World Muaythai Council cruiserweight world title against Paul Banasiak late last year.

The Gold Coaster is now awaiting the opportunity to claim the World Boxing Council’s Muaythai cruiserweight world title from Atti on July 13 when the pair face-off at the SOPO in Southport for Muay Thai League 11’s main event.

Victory would see Eynaud achieve his “pinnacle” and hold the cruiserweight world title belt in both of Muay Thai’s major councils, the WMC and WBC.

Jayden Eynaud knows a thing or two about winning belts. Picture: Supplied.

“(Atti’s) strong, that’s why he’s got that world title,” Eyanud said ahead of the fight.

“But I know how to beat him and I’m ready and excited to prove that I’m the best in the world and take his belt.

“It just comes down to who trains the hardest and who fights the hardest and I guarantee that’s going to be me.”

Eynaud rose to fame earlier this year when he appeared on Channel 9 reality program Married At First Sight.

The 27-year-old described the show as a “good opportunity” as – in theory – it streamlines the dating process and bypasses break ups.

“The show was amazing, we had some really good people and had some good experiences,” he said.

“The whole experiment itself was super challenging but a lot of fun, I learnt heaps about myself and relationships, overall it was an awesome experience.”

Eynaud made headlines during ‘confession week’ on the show when he claimed to have made his ex-girlfriend watch him sleep with her best friend to get back at her for cheating.

He was partnered with Eden Harper however they have since split, and he now boasts an Instagram following in excess of 130,000.

Jayden Eynaud (middle) and his brother Mitch (right) have both appeared on MAFS. Picture: Supplied.

“Obviously there’s a little bit of hate here and there but the love outweighs the hate tenfold,” he said of the online aftermath following the airing of the show.

“I’m not the kind of person who really gives a shit about what other people say anyway.”

Aside from fighting and TV, Eynaud teaches Muay Thai and manages staff and security teams across nightclubs, having previously worked as a bouncer on the Glitter Strip when he was just 18.

Jayden Eynaud celebrates a hard fought win. Picture: Supplied.

He also has “a couple of small businesses on the side”, and maintains that the MAFS experience didn’t alter his life in any way.

“I’m still the same person doing the same things in the same job with the same goals and values and morals,” he said.

“I’m not one of those people who come off the TV show and suddenly they identify as a ‘MAFS person’, they post MAFS, they talk MAFS, they MAFS and they’ve got nothing else going for them in their life, that’s all they have. In a year or two’s time when the next season is on and everyone’s forgotten about them, they’re left with nothing, that’s not me.

“I didn’t go into MAFS to become somebody who I’m not or to change my whole life.

“I went on there to find a partner, it didn’t work, and I move on.

“I’m still the same person.”

Originally published as Jayden Eynaud lifts lid on Muay Thai career, MAFS experience ahead of WBC cruiserweight world title fight