The episode kicked off with the words of the latest semifinalist, John Wayne Parr, “I'm in the last four. There are only a few people in my way of getting to the final. I'm just gonna start training straight away. I want that belt on my waist more than anything. "

Reminiscing Zidov

The remaining five men remembered Zidov fondly. Soren gave Zidov props for going for it and fighting the match of his life while Dzhabar echoed his sentiments and said that he tried his best but at the end of the day they were both leagues apart in terms of their fighting capabilities. Soren and Dzhabar were both sad that Zidov had left as Zidov was arguably the most well liked contender among all of them and with him gone the loft was certainly going to be much quieter. Sean then entered the room and Dzhabar told him that he had to replace Zidov as the ‘funny man’ of the house. Dzhabar went on to say, “I’m sad that Zidov’s gone. Me and Zidov are good friends. He is a funny guy and if it was quiet and serious situation, he made it funny, you know. I miss him already because I lose one of my friends. Now he’s gone so we just stay here, 5 people left.”



The men all looked genuinely upset at Zidov's loss. Sean said, "Wayne was getting a bit emotional and teary eyed" while Soren said, “He smashed his friend. It’s a bad situation like that when you have to fight. Wayne and Zidov was a mismatch. Wayne had to win and Wayne had to knock him and I think Wayne did it as nicely as you can knock someone out."

John Wayne then entered the room and the men first applauded and congratulated him for his win and then went on to jeer at him jokingly. Wayne laughed it all off. Soren then told him, "Bad situation man." To which John Wayne responded, “This is the craziest experience. You get in the ring and seeing your best mate across the ring ready to punch you out. It felt funny but once the bell went off you know you're ready to do your job. There's so much money at stake that you can't really afford to make any mistakes. We can only fight with who is put in front of us and at the end of the day my job is to get this belt and this prize money."



Dzhabar, in conversation with Soren said, "I can’t believe we have to fight each other and have to smash each other” while Soren quipped, "Like I'm going to smash you." They both shared a good laugh. Dzhabar, in his interview said, "Soren and me, we have to fight each other. When I fight with somebody, I don’t like to talk to him. I try to stay away from him but with Soren I can't. He's a good guy and a good friend so we talk, we still have fun and we just kidding with each other."

Soren then told Dzhabar, "I can't believe you slept with the light on all night. Why?" Dzhabar replied, "I forgot turn it off" and Soren told him it was shining right into his face and Dzhabar replied with the same exact words as before, “I forgot to turn it off." Soren then changed the topic and asked Dzhabar, "So you're going to train in the morning?" Dzhabar told him that he planned to have a hard training session in the morning and a ‘special’ session in the evening. Dzhabar explained in his interview that he did not like to train in the mornings. He said, “Soren asked me if I was going to train in the morning. If I say no, Soren is not going to train too. If I say yes, then Soren is going to train too because everyone wants to be in the best shape."

Soren explained his questions in his interview, "I’ve been asking Dzhabar a lot of times if he's going to be training in the morning. Then he'll turn and ask me the same question. I'm pretty much just joking because a lot of the times he sleeps in. but for me because I'm fighting him, it' s my own little way of teasing him, making him feel a little bit guilty hopefully."

2 Different Fighters

Morning came and we saw Dzhabar sleeping in while Soren was out for a run. Dzhabar said, "For the past few days, I wasn't training in the morning and Soren was training, and last night, when I asked Soren, "Are you gonna run in the morning?” he said, “no”, but when I woke up, I saw Soren going for a run so he lied to me and it's not good." Soren came back from his run, and said, "I want Dzhabar to be fit because I want to have a good fight with him. I didn’t lie to him. I said I'm not going to train and I didn’t train. I got up and ran because I have to lose weight. I didn't train! I ran and stretched!"

Training Harder

Both men measured each other up in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. Dzhabar said, "It's so important for me to win. I don't care who’s gonna stand in front of me. It's just two fights before the final so I need to push myself more. Soren is good with his elbows and he's tall. It's gonna be difficult for me for fight with him." Soren said, "I'm fighting Dzhabar in the last fight of this round. I'm kinda nervous. Dzhabar's a good fighter. He's fought a lot of big names and he's a pretty sound fighter. I'm a little bit nervous because I’ve seen him fight a fair bit and he’s pretty good. Dzhabar's good at punching but I wouldn’t say it’s boxing. He's got wild sort of punches and a good leg kick as well. Dzhabar is quite short so I'm just going to try and catch him as he bounces in. He bounces in and out a lot so I'm just going to try and catch him on the way in. I'm going to be watching out for his hook punches. I don't want to get hit by that at all." John Wayne said, "I really want Soren to win. He's a fellow countryman. If Soren can stay focused and stick to his range and not get into a war with Dzhabar, it'll be nice to see him pull it off."

A few men in the loft

Sean, the sole representative of the Wild Boars remaining in the competition said, “Waking up its pretty quiet around here. As for me, the last member of the blue team left around, there is a sorta sweet element that after not being picked at all I'm the last one standing. Now I can be the captain, leader of the blue team and take my team together, give them a good pep talk, tell them to keep their shit together. But no, the fact remains that I'm not the captain of the blue team, its crazy it's only me."

Sean then went out of the Wild Boars bedroom and joined in on a conversation between John Wayne and Dzhabar. John Wayne was telling Dzhabar that Zidov had told him that if he had lost, he was going to party hard. Dzhabar piped in and said, “Fight hard, party hard." John Wayne joked with Dzhabar and casually mentioned that Zidov had promised him that in the event of him losing he would come down to the loft at 5 in the morning and wait outside with a bunch of girls. John Wayne told Dzhabar of how he woke up at 5 in the morning hoping to see Zidov and the girls but there was no one in sight. As Sean sat down with them, Dzhabar and John Wayne joked about how Sean just had a team meeting with the Wild Boars when he was obviously the last man standing. John Wayne said, "Out of the five of us left, I've got no complaints. It could have been others who were here that get on my nerves but we all get along really well so that makes our time in here really pleasurable.



At that juncture, Jaymee entered the loft and John Wayne asked why she was there since there wasn’t any deliberation or even Chinese Drawer business to attend to. She told them that she recently found out that each Muay Thai camp or gym had their own personalized ‘Wai Khru’ and since they were now part of the the Contender Asia Muay Thai Camp they should come up with a unique Wai Khru of their own. She told them that they were to perform this new Wai Khru with her before the Soren and Dzhabar fight. Yodsaenklai, the sole Thai representative remaining in the competition mentioned in his interview, “The Wai Khru is an important element in Muay Thai. Even in other performance arts we practice the Wai Khru, because all art forms have teachers who pass on knowledge to their students. Before each fight, we perform the Wai Khru to pay respect to our teachers and our parents, who also teach us. It also helps to boost your self-confidence.”

A really inquisitive Jaymee then asked, "So how come some guys only do one lap of the ring and that's it?" John Wayne responded, "When you start off, you start in your corner, and then you ask permission from the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water from corner to corner. You're sealing off the ring and sealing off the evil spirits.” Jaymee quipped, “Some of them just walk around and don't move into the middle.”



Dzhabar then sarcastically added, “Sometimes they walk for an hour. “ John Wayne then explained to Jaymee that when you got in the middle and first sat down, you just relaxed and then when you were ready, you bend down and bow on the ring. John Wayne said in his interview, "It was very surprising, when Jaymee came in and asked to learn about the Wai Khru. It showed that she respects what we do. It's good that we shared a little bit about the dance and a bit of the culture and why we do it. It's not like we just go in there and throw our hands around. It’s actually spiritually and mentally focusing on the moment." John Wayne continued his explanation, “The first one, we ask for permission from all elements and God.” He then taught her the hand and body movements involved in the Wai Khru. He said that whenever the hand went down, the head went down. The second permission was for the inner strength of their mom, dad, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends and whoever else they held dear to them. He then told her that she had to bounce off her hips. She then cheekily asked him why he seemed to thrust his hips more than anyone else. He told her each thrust was done at a different speed and continued to teach her the hand and body movements. In the third one, they were asking permission from their trainers and partners and whoever else had helped them prepare for the particular fight. John Wayne said, “You're just getting your mind off the fight and into the spirituality. You forget the crowd and you forget your opponent and just focus on where you're at. You wouldn’t be at that position if not for all the elements and the people." Jaymee asked the guys if they did the same as well and if they followed the same order. Soren told her that it might be a little different for different gyms but essentially it was pretty much the same.



Dzhabar said, "My religion is Islam, so I can’t do the Wai Khru. I give respect to the corner. This is important in Wai Khru. After that, I just pray in my corner. I can’t say it’s hard to be Muslim in a Buddhist sport. For me, it’s interesting. I give respect to all Buddhists. I give respect to this sport and I enjoy it. John Wayne continued to teach Jaymee the other movements involved in the Wai Khru. He said in his interview, “With every fight it starts the same. You start in your corner and you seal of the ring. Then you get in the centre. We wanted to keep it as basic as possible. Once you got the basics out of the way, we had to think of something unique at the end because we didn’t want it to look like just an everyday Wai Khru." He then told the men that they needed a contender special and came up with some unique moves which were laughed off by the other men. They asked Yodsaenklai for ideas and he said, "I don't know, I don't know." Sean said, "We all used different parts to finish off our Wai Khru. John Wayne used his gun, Yodsaenklai, on occasion used his bow and arrow thing, I used the fireball. We kinda decided at the end that she would finish off with a gun to John Wayne, a fireball to me and a bow and arrow to Yodsaenklai.” He said "As for this activity, I was shy at first, I felt embarrassed, but after a while, we all had fun.”

Both men prepared

Soren said, "Right now I'm very glad I'm here. This competition's good, I've learnt a lot since I've been here. Dzhabar’s funny in his own little way. The way Dzhabar is, a little bit uncontrollable at times maybe because he doesn’t have that discipline in the form of a father figure. Dzhabar’s father died a few years ago so he's been without a father. I grew up with just my mom and my sister so we both don't have that father figure. I think my mother did a pretty good job of being the mom and the father. I've never really had a father so I don't really know the difference. "

Dzhabar, who was praying as part of his pre fight ritual said in his interview, “I was born in the south of Russia. I grew up with my friends on the street. I can say I know life. I know the hard, hard way of life. It's made me stronger I think and I know how to be in the hard way of life. Soren, he's a smart guy, good culture but you grow up with your mother all the time, sometimes it makes you weak. Me and Soren, we're good friends so for us it's going to be difficult to fight each other but in the ring, there can only be one winner. One guy will have to win so when we go in the ring he's gonna be my enemy. Then after the fight, we’ll be friends once again, good friends."

One hour to the fight

As the fighter prepared in their respective locker rooms, Stephen announced in the ring. "As you have seen before every fight, the fighters perform a little dance called the Wai Khru. Now the boys have asked Jaymee, our host, to perform a special version of the Wai Khru combining all the Wai Khrus of the contender boys so I think it's something very special. I'd like to call them in."



He then introduced the boys, Sean, Yodsaenklai and John Wayne along with Jaymee Ong into the arena. Stephen placed the mongkok on Jaymee's head. All four of them performed and everyone cheered. Jaymee was decked out in Muay Thai shorts and a tank top looking just like one of the contenders. She performed it perfectly just as she was taught. She mimicked taking out a gun and shot at John Wayne who in turn mimicked catching the bullet with his mouth. She went on to shoot an arrow at Yodsaenklai who caught it from the side and broke it. She finally unleashed a fireball at Sean who blocked it.



John Wayne said, "I think everyone respects what we do. It's a little bit of the dance and a little bit of the culture of why we do it. It’s actually a lot to it. There's a lot about it spiritually and mentally and just focusing on the moment." Regarding the upcoming fight John Wayne said, "Out of Dzhabar and Soren, I really like Soren. He's a fellow countryman and it'll be nice to see him get into the semifinals. Two Aussies, hopefully Soren can pull it off tonight."

30 minutes to fight

As Soren psyched himself up for the fight he said "I do look at every fight like a stepping stone. I want to be the best the best possible Muay Thai fighter I can be. My goal when I fight is to fight the way I want to fight mentally. I don’t want to be impatient. I want to fight my game and that’s what I want to definitely do tonight. I’ll show everyone who I am in the ring. His trainer told him, "Push and kick like you mean it. If you don’t, he’s gonna catch your leg.”

Soren showed his trainer exactly how he was going to launch his kicks and his trainer said, "Yeah, just like that!" Soren said, "I'm very glad I'm here, but it's a little bit hard being away from home. I like to call my mom on the day of the fight but it's just another thing I’ve got to adjust to. I really thought about going home tonight. The fight is where you get ultimately judged. People see you. You can be the best person training in the gym but in the ring if you don't fight well that's what everyone will remember." Stephen then went into Soren's room and gave him some words of encouragement, "Tonight you can make history you know. You can be the second Aussie, moving in there. You can step out of the shadow of John Wayne Parr tonight, you know that don’t you. Let’s do the big one. Dzhabar's all fired up."

Soren’s final words before the fight were, “And here I am two fights away, from possibly winning $150, 000. I don’t think Dzhabar can beat this person."



In Dzhabar’s locker room, we saw him putting his gloves on as he said, “This time it's the biggest competition in my life. Now I need to think all the time about this fight. All the time when I go in the ring, I go inside for the win. I'm in a good shape so I’m gonna fight. I’m gonna do all my best and then it’s up to god."

He started working with his trainer as he said, "I can say I have one motivation to fight, I fight for my father, for dreams of my father. I like to be in the way of warrior. I like to fight. I like to have war. I like to have this adrenaline rush when you stay in the locker room before the fight. I like it; it's like a drug for me. Muay Thai is one way in my life. I am really hungry for fights. I am angry in the fight. It's because of people for whom I do it." Stephen psyched him on further saying, "Tonight is going to be a hard fight. Soren's a technical boy, he's taller, and he’s heavier so you're going to have to give it your all. Okay this one is for everyone." Dzhabar said, "I make one step forward so I don’t want to take two steps back. I want to be in the final and I want to win the final so I have to win this fight. I have to win this fight. I can't lose. I have to win."

Round 1

The fight started of in typical Muay Thai fashion with both Dzhabar and Soren teasing each other as they traded punches which were either blocked or evaded. The fight soon erupts into life as Soren launched a high kick to Dzhabar’s face which was duly blocked off before they traded more calculated punches. Soren was busy taking the initiative being the aggressor launching kicks at Dzhabar’s abdomen and head while Dzhabar casually defended himself well. Dzhabar managed to connect with a kick of his own to Soren’s thigh before Soren showed his tremendous technique as he unleashed a combination of kicks straight at Dzhabar’s waist. This must have served as a wake up call for Dzhabar who finally awakened from his slumber and in one swift movement hit Soren with a kick into the right side of his face which sent him crashing to the floor.

This clearly rattled Soren, who seemed dazed at the fact that he was losing out after just 1 kick from Dzhabar despite having dominated the earlier part of the round. Dzhabar saw that Soren had lost his bearings and took charge and sent a string of punched straight into Soren’s head forcing him into a corner. Soren tried his utmost to fend off Dzhabar’s charge by catching his leg and countered with punches of his own into Dzhabar’s abdomen. Soren tried capping off the fine move with a hard kick at Dzhabar but Dzhabar somehow evaded and launched his own counter attack with devastating consequence. He unleashed a hard punch right into the left side of Soren’s face and Soren got knocked out cold.





With no sign of Soren even trying to climb back up, the doctor came rushing in and we saw Soren gasping for breath as worry bestowed the faces of the crowd. An oxygen mask was put onto his face to ease his breathing. Dzhabar looked as though he was about to burst into tears as he felt responsible for hurting Soren. Slowly, a very dazed Soren got up and hugged Dzhabar who pulled him up. Dzhabar secured himself the last spot in the semifinals of the Contender Asia by virtue of a knock out.

Post Fight Interviews

A victorious Dzhabar said, "Today I win I'm happy I stay here. I did it for my father first and second for my family. I’m really happy to stay here but it’s so bad to knock your friend out." John Wayne said told him all it took was one powerful jab and he was on his way. They both hugged and Dzhabar went on to say, “Someone had to win and I win today. I stay here. I thank god forever.”

The men discussed the fight and then general consensus was that none of them expected the bout to be as short-lived as it was. Sean felt that Soren did not even stand a chance against Dzhabar’s ‘crazy hands’ as John Wayne put it. John Wayne went on to say in his interview that fight only proved that against Dzhabar, they had no room for error as he’s got an artillery of big punches. Yodsaenklai felt that Soren could not handle opponents with good punches and both John Wayne and Sean echoed his sentiments. In his interview, Sean said, “We've had a few stoppages in this competition, but they've been fine like ouch that hurts but an actual brain shuts off knock out is kinda rare. It’s a really nasty knockout. It's really rare but it does happen." I feel bad for Soren.” John Wayne said, “To come this far and to have it end this way. It's very sad for Soren to come this far and end in the way it did tonight, bad enough to lose but to lose by a virtual knockout is absolutely devastating,

Soren Bids Farewell

Back in Soren’s locker room, we witness the doctor asking Soren’s question to ensure his metal health was in order. Soren said, “I’m feeling a bit spacey. He pretty much caught me completely off guard. Dzhabar knocked me out." He seemed to have some sorta memory loss as he was unsure of when exactly the knock out occurred and once the trainers told him it was just in the first round, he grew very upset. He said, “You just sort of try and put the pieces together like I’m in Singapore and kind of like that. I don’t remember waking up. I only remember what I saw when I first woke up. I remember Dzhabar coming over and hugging me making sure I was alright, It’s a huge disappointment." Just then, Stephen walked in to check on Soren and Soren mustered the words, “I got smashed.”

Stephen did his best to encourage him and told him that he had just gotten caught cold. Soren told Stephen, “I haven't been home for a long time. He said in his interview, I’m just looking forward to going home and seeing my mom.” Stephen immediately placed a phone call to Soren’s mom and Soren told her about his knock out defeat. After hearing words of encouragement from his mom, Soren’s mood seemed to be uplifted and he said, “It’s always good to talk to my mom. You know she always makes me feel better. She's the bomb. At the end of the day, my mom will always love me. It doesn’t matter if I get knocked out three times in a row, she’ll always be there.”



He hung up his mongkok as we bid farewell to Soren with his finals words, “This year's been about becoming my own person my own man and tonight it’s just another step. I learned a lot and it’s not all about the fighting. I learned a lot about myself and about life. What I've learned about myself is worth a lot more than a lucky punch. Tomorrow is a new day and my next fight's right around the corner."