'Contender' kicks into action with Singapore version

[( o Y o )]

Saw discussion of this awhile back here but it seems JWP has now signed the contract! : http://www.sportzblitz.net/Forum/topic.asp?whichpage=1&ARCHIVEVIEW=&TOPIC_ID=9956

SINGAPORE (Hollywood Reporter) - Mark Burnett Prods. has teamed with Singapore production house Imagine OmniMedia to co-produce the reality competition series "The Contender Asia," marking the first adaptation of the "Contender" format that doesn't center on traditional boxing.

The focus of "Contender Asia" is the martial art of Muay Thai, a form of kickboxing. The series, scheduled to start shooting in Singapore at the beginning of August, will air on



http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN0825312020070708

Good luck JWP!!

[Lord Gaul]

I have said since I heard of this that I am watching it no matter were its aired.

[El Presidente]

Go gunslinger!!!111

[virgil]

Out of interest when this was being put together I was offered a spot in the series,but declined as I'm only now figuring out this low kick thing.lol

MT being a different thing altogether and I thought I would be at a vast disadvantage to begin with.

War Gunslinger!!

[El Presidente]

You havent been done in with the low kicks so far Virgil. So you must be doing something right :)

[Global Honored]

Great news. WAR JWP! The perfect choice for the series, the knowledge, the coaching ability and experience, plus the everyman attitude to relate to casual fans. This is sure to be a hit. Can't wait to see it. Hope there is a way for us in the states to see this.

[RHK]

WAR JWP!

[Global Honored]

Finally got someone sending me the KickFighters documentary that Nat'l Geographic shot.

[JWP]

Cheers guys. This is going to be crazy. 16 fighters living in a house with two teams of 8. We have three fights over 15 episodes then the final will be in vegas Jan. Someone posted yesterday that the prize money has gone up to $250,000 for the series winner. There will also be a voting system were the fans can vote on a three fight undercard in the final.
Its goining to be aired ESPN, Foxsports in Australia and one of the main Asia networks. They said they were happy with the boxing contender but want to make this one even better.
Bad thing is once in the house it will be lock down with no computers or mobile phones so no one leaks the info, even if we lose we have to live on location. No internet, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Lord Gaul]

Sounds great JWP.

Do you know of any other fighters at the event? And does anyone know if Eurosport is picking it up, because I will be training in Holland and I don't want to miss it?

[( o Y o )]

No internet?? **No porn??????? :-(** LOL

Sounds like a good time. I think it would have been great seeing both JWP and Virgil in the house pulling pranks on unfortunate drunk fighters though!! lol

[RHK]

sounds good JWP! your my pick to win!

btw, any word on the rules and length of the fights?

[Soulrise]

has anyone seen the trailer?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wFUoqNVc0qU

[origamidoug]

Confirmed fighters:
-Yodsaenklai Fairtex
-John Wayne Parr
-Naruepol Fairtex
-Kim Khan Zaki aka “Zach”
-Wanlop Sitpholek
-Dzhabar Askerov

Rumored are Trevor "TNT" Smandych, Bruce "Preacher" Mcfie, Rafik Bakkouri, Joakim Karlsson, Lamsongkram Chuwattana, Soren Mongkontong, and Domenik Zidov. Arslan Magomedov was in, but now is apparently out with a broken wrist. Some very good names on there, I just hope it ends up airing in the US. Good luck JWP!

All taken from: http://www.mymuaythai.com/contenderasia/

[US Tomato Can]

You guys have actually seen the Contender right? I thought I was watching an episode of the 60s Batman with all the goofy sound effects and editted fights. They need to slice out created drama (let's bring the family for the fight and get a closeup when daddy's gets beatup)that Burnett is known for.

Basically, I don't see a need for a reality show called the Contender whatsoever. Of the cast already announced I see some champions. Looks like the likes Of Yodsanklai, Wanlop, and Lamsongkram needed no assistance from reality TV to determine who was a champion or a contender.

[origamidoug]

Well let's be honest, the Contender is not a sporting event or organization. The original series was created to get former boxing fans to come back to the sport or get new fans to come on board--hence the drama. The people that were already fans either watched out of curiosity or stayed away because none of the fighters were championship caliber.

With this series, I'm sure they've got the same goal--bring in new fans. The difference is now they have some top shelf fighters which, drama filled as the show will surely be, gets me interested at least. And it gets at least one of these guys a nice chunk of change ($250,000 US) and some international TV exposure.

[US Tomato Can]

Well let's be honest, the Contender is not a sporting event or organization. The original series was created to get former boxing fans to come back to the sport or get new fans to come on board--hence the drama.

Not really. And you'd be wise not assume the likes of Leonard and Stallone have boxing best interests at heart. It's to line pockets. Which I have no issue with whatsoever with.

That said the core on paper premise behind Contender was giving good but unknown fighter a chance at getting some presitge and bigger maqrquee fights. It worked too.

The people that were already fans either watched out of curiosity or stayed away because none of the fighters were championship caliber.

It was flat out bad. No reflection on the fighters but it was bad, not well thought out show. Near the end of the 1st season NBC run reportedly ratings picked up when stupid challenges were gone and it became about the fights.

With this series, I'm sure they've got the same goal--bring in new fans. The difference is now they have some top shelf fighters which, drama filled as the show will surely be, gets me interested at least. And it gets at least one of these guys a nice chunk of change ($250,000 US) and some international TV exposure.


True enough.

[Toffa]

It was confirmed last night at Evolution 11 that Preacher and Soren will be there.

[Lord Gaul]

Singapore's Zach is confirmed as well.

[Soulrise]

Speaking of The Contender, the third season of the U.S. boxing version has started and this year ESPN will be showing the fights in their entirety on the website. That's definitely a huge step up. I couldn't stand the first two seasons since I had no way of knowing if the decisions were just or not. Hopefully the Muay Thai version will either have the full fights right on the show or at least posted on the internet like this third season.

[Lord Gaul]

I think that showing the whole fight is going to be good for the Contender, but I think that the Muay Thai version will be better regardless.

[nzproud]

This is interesting.. can't wait to see them battle! It would be awesome to chuck in masato, buakaw and all potential best middle weights in there.

[Lord Gaul]

They do have the best middleweights in there. The best middleweights in full Thai rules. Yodsenklai can hold his own against anyone in the Max. In full Thai rules I don't think but two of them can hang with him.

[Global Honored]

Spoil us with results. Anyone have info on what channels this is going to be on or if they will have a website so we can watch it in USA?

As for Sugar Ray's Contender..Sugah Shane and De La Hoya were in promo...I missed it last night, what the heck happened?

[danvari]

Here is a site with a bit information about The Contender Asia
http://www.mymuaythai.com/contenderasia/.

If we take a look at the fighters I would say that the biggest name is Lamsomkrang. He has held the Rajadamern-title (which together with the Lumpini-title is the most prestigeful title that you can hold in Muay Thai) and is very famous in Thailand.

Yodsanklai is a great fighter as well, though in my opinion not at the same level as Lamsomkrang.

JWP is always fun to see and I wish him all luck in this competition.

Naruepol Fairtex is a former Lumpini and Rajadamnern championm, and also a great fighter.

Dzhabar Askerov is a russian fighter that I've heard is really really good, haven't seen him in action myself, but the russians have a lot of really good fighters that haven't fought that much internationally.

Soren Mongkontong (or eminent AIR NTG as he's known nowadays) is a good Australian, but I don't think he's up to par with the greatest in this competition.

And of course I wish that Joakim Karlsson will do well in this competition, though he has his work cut out for him.

Wanlop Sithpolek is also a quite good fighter, or at least he has been a good fighter. Don't think he's really got what it takes to win this though.

To say the least, this competition is stacked with talent, and I don't mean up-and-coming talent, I mean fighters who have proved themselves time after time to be among the absolutely best in their weightclasses. I look forward to seeing this show.

[Global Honored]

Thanks, much appreciated. JWP will be a "home team" favorite around here.

[Dado]

Dzhabar Askerov is a russian fighter that I've heard is really really good, haven't seen him in action myself, but the russians have a lot of really good fighters that haven't fought that much internationally.

Saw him fight here a few months ago. Beat a local favourite with a left hook KO in the first round. He is a powerful puncher.

[Razor Bump]

John..... get the money mate!!!!! lol Hope you win it all. Have they stated what day it will be in Vegas? I would like to attend.

[( o Y o )]

so, filming has ended, right?

[US Tomato Can]

so, filming has ended, right?


It has and early reviews point to it being quite unwatchably bad.

[Soulrise]

It has and early reviews point to it being quite unwatchably bad.

This person seems to like it: http://www.mymuaythai.com/archives/raffiks-mouth/

I had mentioned in an earlier post that there seemed to be some tension between Raffik Bakouri and some of the other contestants. I think it’s fairly safe to say there was some truth to that.

In the beginning of this clip they did a recap of last weeks action, it seems as if Raffik got under a lot of peoples skin fairly early. Even Yod was in on the shit talking… I was pretty impressed.

From what I’ve seen the show looks phenomenal, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’m looking forward to this.

Too bad the clip that the guy uploaded has since been taken down :(

[US Tomato Can]

Oh man that was high comedy! Basically Jabbar and Raffik got into and started attacking one another physically all the while cursing each other out. Then they get broke up and Raffik attacks Jabbar with a blindside punch again.

The blogger is alright but sometimes I don't think he's right at all or sometimes I think he skims too much without really being fair. But then again it's his blog and he can do whatever he pleases I suppose. He's a Bunkerd gym kid so there's some home team repping there but it's still a nice blog.

[Soulrise]

Have you already seen the episodes??

As far as the blog goes I like it since it's pretty accessible for newbies like me, plus he has a lotta links to fight footage which is my primary interest.

[US Tomato Can]

I accidentally saw one episode in it's entirety and then the link died and I couldn't get to it any longer.

The show's OK as long as you take it for what it is: reality TV. Dragon boat races and blue and red teams having nothing to do with the sport. Plus most of the Thais are stadium champs and really don't need to prove to be Contenders.

They should take a cue from the western boxing Contenders and be about the fights not the drama or dumb challenges.

[Soulrise]

Was the fight at the end of the episode you saw edited like how they edit the U.S. boxing fights or did they show it in full?

[US Tomato Can]

Editted and with sound effects. :(

[RHK]

i also saw the clip of Raffik and Jabar going at it.

US Tomato Can, got any spoilers for us :)

[Fozzy]

i hope they didnt ruin a good thing *sigh* i never was a fan of the competitions in the contender one, but i did enjoy the last season, it's to the point, no competitions, elimination fights, and is much better IMO..

~foz

[US Tomato Can]

Nah, no spoilers. Sorry kids but I don't want to get this site in trouble even peripherally.