Muay Thai Stuff’s Blog

Hi everyone, I had a chance to interview Zach regarding his career and the Contender Asia. Here is some bit from the inside.

Oak: How are you doing, bro?
Zach: Am doing great. Been very busy since The Contender Asia.

Oak: How long have you been doing Muay Thai?
Zach: I started when I was 17 and did it for fun and needed to lose weight!! Was abit of a chubby kid…90kg over!! All thanks to moms cooking!!

Oak: What fighters did you look up to as you were growing up?
Zach: I remember reading about Diesel Noi and how he had amazing knee strikes. How he was undefeated for so long. I only ever saw one of his fights on the internet and I was impressed at how he used his height to is advantage with his knees!!

Oak: What brought you into the show?
Zach: Well I’ve been fighting regularly for WMC and Stephan Fox said to me that he would like to give me a chance to go on the show. I was reluctant at first,because I knew some of the guys in there had alot more experience than me!! I talked to alot of friends and family and they supported me and said that I would be stupid to not take the offer. Im glad they all believed in me.

Oak: How do you feel about the show?
Zach: Well filming it and watching it is 2 totally different things! We never imagined what it could be like….and we were really sooo amazed by it when we saw the first episode. And the episodes just keep getting better and better. I think the show will do wonders for the sport. Muay Thai is so much more than just fighting.

Oak: Can you tell me about the house and your team mates?
Zach: The Loft was very cool. We didn’t know what to expect at first but I think when we saw it for the first time we were all pretty impressed!!! The Tiger Kings are all a bunch of really down to earth gentlemen. We all just got along very well. And even now after the show alot of us still keep in close contact.

Oak: How is about the other team?
Zach: Well blue team were loud and yeah they were also pretty cocky sometimes. But we took it in our stride and laughed it off. Don’t think it wouldn have made very interesting TV if all of us were just all so nice and sat around reading. hahah Yukay and Sean were my favourite to hang out with in the blue team.

Oak: Can you tell me about the accident in Episode 1?
Zach: Well the whole challenge on Episode 1 was just a disaster. When they told us what it was someone said,”If one falls,both falls coz we’re tied to each other an then we’re screwed.”…And guess who fell!!??…To make it worse it had rained all day,the lanes were narrow and I think it just wasn’t my day. We werent pleased about it. but we still had to do it. Me and Soren did a test run and it was ok. I remember running and Soren was behind me and I said “Keep Up” and next thing I know,I was on the floor Soren landed hard on my right shoulder and I just heard a loud riping sound on my shoulder and I knew I dislocated it. It really just was a bad way to start things off in the comp. The Blue team and Red team were very angry at the challenge and the producers apologized to us after saying that the challenges to come will be less dangerous as they don’t wanna risk anymore injuries from challenges.

Oak: What if you were picked you in Episode 1?
Zach: Well nothing you can do…Just gotta fight and do your best!!

Oak: What do you think about Yodseanklai?
Zach: Yodsaenklai is a MACHINE…..his kicks are just amazing. I mean the way he balances and Im amazed at how hard it is for people to read when he’s going to kick coz he’s so natural at it. Apart from fighting he is also a very funny guy. He really did put an effort to learn english while he was there. Ohh and one more thing…Yodsaenklai can EAT!!!!!!!!

Oak: What do you think about JWP as the team leader?
Zach: JWP is an awesome team leader. He knew what to say and when to say things to motivate us. He was just a really nice guy in general. Im very happy that he picked me into his team. Was a real honour to have been part of the Tiger Kings wth JWP as my leader.

Oak: Who are the toughest guys in this show?
Zach: I’d say JWP,Yodsaenklai,Jabba,Bruce. Are prolly the toughest in the house!!!!

Oak: Ok, that’s all. Thank you for your time, Zach. Good luck in the future!!
Zach: Thanks bro!!!

If you guys have any question for him, feel free to post below.

More about Zach, visit his blog: Zig Zach blog

“Strong Mind, Fighting Spirit”

Episode 3 is very exciting. Rafik seems to be a bad guy since day one. This week the house refuse him.

The fight between Rafik and Dzhabar shown one point: Dzhabar did not attack Rafik when he was on a floor, while Rafik attacked Dzhabar when he was not ready.

When it came to the eliminate fight, JWP vs Rafik, I think it is a good matched. Although, Dzhabar fighting Rafik will be more exciting but that may not be a professional fight. It could lead to angry Fight Club style. Dzhabar shown his respect to this sport and his team mates decision.

In the ring, JWP seemed slow but he has good techniques. I think there was emotional involved in his move. He may want to win too much. Anyway, his experiences help him to protect himself from Rafik weapons.

Rafik, although with his big mouth, shows everyone he has a big heart too (at least in the ring). JWP’s nose got cut by Rafik elbow. The two did their best. JWP won by points.

It was a good fight.

This is a quick link to official pages of the 16 fighters of the Contender Asia 2008. 16 fighters from 12 countries. The more detail about each fighters will be available soon. Here we go:

Alain Sylvestre from Canada

Bruce Macfie from Australia

David Pacquette from England

Dzhabar Askerov from United Arab Emirates

James Martinez from USA

John Wayne Parr from Australia

Naruepol Fairtex from Thailand

Jose Pitu Sans from Spain

Rafik Bakkouri from France

Sean Wright from Scotland

Soren Mongkontong from Australia

Trevor Smandych from Canada

Yodsaenklai from Thailand

“Yukay” Joakim Karlsson from Sweden

Zig Zach from Singapore

Zidov Dominik from Switzerland

Who is the strongest ?
Man, it is hard to say. But I will go for Yodsaenklai, John Wayne Parr and Naruepol

What do you think?

“Hey Frenchie ! Big mouth, Small heart”

The Wild Boars won the competition again. They picked James (USA) to fight against Sean (Scotland). There was a heat between Rafik and Sean. (and Rafik with every else). I like the phase Yod said to Rafik: Hey Frechie ! Big mouth, small heart. It is not important whether this was a setup or not. The phase is surely true and should be remembered.

Sean won the fight. He has a better muay thai skill. James seems to be a strong fighter but his muaythai skill cannot match the other guys.

The Contender Asia: Episode 2 FULL

Thanks to mymuaythai.com and leexh for the vdo

The Contender Asia: Episode 2 Recap

“Don’t use elbows, feel sorry for him”

There was nothing much on the first episode. Mostly, it is about introduction for these fighters. The fight was Trevor (Canadian) against Naruepol (Thai). I have to say this was not a good matched. Naruepol has much more experience and skill. There was no doubt because he started fighting since he was very young.

The Contender Asia: Episode 1 FULL

Thanks to mymuaythai.com for the VDO

The Contender Asia: Episode 1 Recap

If you already know what it is, you can skip this post.

The Contender Asia is the reality game show that contain 16 muay thai fighters form various countries. Each episode (week), one fighter will be eliminated. The role is simple. 16 fighters were split into 2 teams: red (the Tiger King) and blue (the Wild Boars). Each episode, the two teams will compete on the given game. The winning team can pick one fighter from the losing team and one from their for the fight.

At this moment, three episodes have been shown. I think this show is quite interesting and you guys should see it. From now on, I will be after this show and will try to put useful resources as much as possible.

Big thanks to Zach, one of the Contender, who introduced me into this.

Here are some useful websites about the show
The official website: http://www.contenderasia.com/
News and updates, general information and community

MyMuayThai.com: http://www.mymuaythai.com/
This is a Muay Thai Blog. The owner, Nopstar, is real for the Contender. I saw him after this show since the beginning (since choosing fighters last year). There are also many fans share comments and useful resources about the show.

K-1fans.com: http://www.k-1fans.com/forum/
Alex, the owner of K-1fans, is also a big fan of Muay Thai. He has two dedicated topics about the show: one for the spoiler and the other one for no spoiler.

Zig Zach’s blog: http://www.zig-zach.blogspot.com/
Zach is the Contender from Singapore. He will provide an deep story about the house.

Man, that’s it for today. See you !

!!!! RESPECT ALL, FEAR NONE !!!!