It’s time to see if this reality series lives up to all the hype. Produced by Mark Burnett Productions, The Contender Asia brings together 16 of the best muay thai boxers from all over the world to slug it out for US$250,000 of cash and prizes. Pity the final fight for an Asian show is in Las Vegas. Go figure. If violence is not your thing, there is always the show’s host, the decorative Jaymee Ong, who was, of course, chosen for her brains and not her beauty. Included in the list are Singaporean Kim Khan Zaki (aka Zach), who could well become a household name, and Thailand’s ‘Mr GQ’, Naruepol Fairtex. Let’s just hope both make it beyond the first round. 

AXN, Channel 19.