As they met up for the last time on the stairs, Stephen first congratulated Yodsaenklai for securing a place in the finals. Yodsaenklai said, "I'm happy my senior came and told me that I was in the finals. I was proud." He then asked the next two fighters, John Wayne and Dzhabar to step forward and shake hands. Jaymee then said that Samsung had sponsored three digital video cameras for the last three fighters. They all whistled in excitement, as they had completely not expected it. John Wayne said, "I was totally excited. For all of us to get a video camera, it's just too good to be true."



They returned to their room to try out their new gadgets. Dzhabar said, "Now we can make our movie here." They started unpacking their video cameras and took videos of each other. John Wayne shouted, "Thank you Samsung!" He said, "Once we got our cameras from Samsung we felt it was the perfect time to shoot some memories here in the loft.” Dzhabar then approached John Wayne to interview him. He asked, "So you're already 13 weeks, how important for you to be in the last four, how important for you to be in The Contender?" They laughed and John Wayne responded, “I've made some great mates. It's definitely one of the craziest experiences of my entire life."



John Wayne said in his interview that going through the memories through the video recorder would be a fun way to look back on all the fighters that were in the competition. The three men then took their video cameras and started to record their own personal take on all the fighters that had left the competition. Dzhabar took some footage of the photographs of all sixteen fighters. John Wayne started with the first fighter to leave the competition: Trevor. “He wasn't here for long, only a few days. But he had a very hard first fight. Trevor, all the best mate.” Next one was James. James fought Sean and his leg cramped up during the fight. We didn't get the chance to see much of the fight but it was a pleasure to meet him. “



Dzhabar was looking at the picture of Rafik and said “One… chicken!” John Wayne continued, “Rafik, the crazy Frenchman that talked too much. Mr. Rafik had an excuse for everything." At that point there was a montage of Rafik saying his catch phrase during the show, "I don't care!” John Wayne said that he was glad to kick Rafik out of the competition, as he was “a pain in the ass.” Yodsaenklai said, "The fourth person to leave was Bruce. The person that made him leave was me. And I was sad for him. I was sorry to see him walk out of the loft. “John Wayne continued, “Poor Alain. He wasn't too fit. He was really sick during the whole time that he was here.” At that point there was footage of Alain showing his cabinet full of medicine.

Yodsaenklai looked at David's bed, as he was the sixth person to leave. “He didn't really talk to anyone. When he trained, he trained. He was hard working. The seventh person to leave was Zach. Zach's Singaporean and he's a kind hearted person.” John Wayne added, "My first Singaporean friend!” John Wayne looked at Zach's bed and said that was where they used to sit and talk about Muay Thai, cracked jokes and had fun. Yodsaenklai continued, “The eight fighter to leave was Pitu. He's gone now and I miss him. I'm sad for him.” John Wayne took a video of the kitchen tabletop and said, “That was where Pitu worked his magic. The night that we got dressed up and he made us a feast. Good memories with Pitu. Another good friend I made during this competition.” Yodsaenklai said that the ninth person to leave was his friend, Naruepol. “My friend. My campmate. I felt sad to have to fight him. I didn't want to fight him. He's gone and I miss him.” John Wayne shared that the top of stairs was where he used to share his time Yukay talking about life and their families. “He's a really nice bloke,” John Wayne said.



Yodsaenklai continued, “The eleventh person to go was Zidov. He's a funny guy. A lot of fun. Everybody likes Zidov. Zidov was a fun guy and before he left he wrote here, he wrote in English, 'thanks to my best friends in the world. I can have respect to you all. Dzhabar see you in BKK. And Yodsaenklai see you in Pattaya! Take care Zidov.'” John Wayne added, "My good friend Zidov. I'm sad to see you go.” The twelfth person to go was Soren. John Wayne said it was unpleasant to see a good friend get knocked out that way. “Hopefully he recovered and bounced back from the journey.”



Finally, the thirteenth fighter to leave was Sean. Yodsaenklai said, “I was sad for him. We've been living together for so long. I'm sorry that I had to fight him. I was the one who made him leave the loft. I like Sean.” Yodsaenklai ended of his diary with the final words, “I'm about to go home. I feel sad. I'll miss it here. I don't really want to go. I'll miss you all very much. Good luck!”

 

 

As he wrapped up his hand before he put his gloves on, Dzhabar said, "This fight for me with John Wayne is important. This fight is semifinal fight before the finals, so it makes me a little bit nervous. I'm happy to fight with John Wayne. I'm one step closer to my dream. One step closer to my father’s dream. I’m not scared of nobody. I’m scared of God that's all. “He continued to warm up for his fight as he shared his mindset before a fight.”When I stay in the changing room, I pray to God and I pray like, you know, to give me power for fight and give me victory you know. I wanna win this fight; I want to win this competition. To make my family proud, I want to win this competition. John Wayne is a big name, it doesn't matter if he is a big name or not, he is getting old. I’m gonna fight him, I’m gonna beat him.” Dzhabar said figuratively that he wanted to win the competition more than all the stars in the sky. “Everyone knows me, everyone knows John Wayne. It's gonna be a hard fight. The atmosphere is gonna be like in hell. When I pray to God I feel strong. I'm gonna win this fight.” He let out a cheer with his trainers before he entered the arena.



John Wayne shared his thoughts on the upcoming fight, "I wanna establish myself as one of the top dogs of this sport. I'll do whatever it takes tonight to make sure my status doesn't drop. I put a lot of pressure on myself cause I want to be successful. I want to be remembered as a good fighter. So not only is this fight going to put me in the final, it's going to put my name in stone and hopefully make me a household name. Before every fight I like to visualize my opponent, just thinking about strategy. I'm here because I want to be the greatest fighter ever in this sport. I want to be the guy whom fifteen years from now, people will remember whom John Wayne Parr was. Dzhabar is standing in the way of my dream. I can't lose, I just can't! Dzhabar's a great fighter but at the same time I've been in this fight a whole lot longer. I know he has a lot of holes in his defense. I'm going to capitalize on it. I can beat him.”



For the last time before the finals, both fighters entered the ring and performed the Wai Khru. At the end, John Wayne did his classic gun pose at Dzhabar, who laughed it off good-naturedly. Excitement and anxiety mounted the audience as two great fighters, ten years apart prepared for a fight that would change their careers and life’s.

John Wayne got into action immediately and punched him several times. Although Dzhabar looked like he was in a defensive mode, he went in with a hard kick to John Wayne abdomen. John Wayne tried to kick back however, Dzhabar tried to catch his leg. Finally, Dzhabar managed to catch his leg and kicked the other unsteadying him and causing him to crumble to the ground. John Wayne got up and reached in for a straight-faced punch. Dzhabar skillfully blocked it and punched John Wayne right into his face instead. Again, he caught his leg again and toppled John Wayne. Despite this, John Wayne kept Dzhabar close to the ring ropes and drove him round and round the ring in an attempt to get away from him. They were in a huddle trying to topple each other. In angry passion, they attacked one another ferociously and cleverly they blocked.

 

Finally Dzhabar had stepped up his game and his trainer told him, "Very good you fight him now perfect!” John Wayne's trainer told him, “No need to rush, no need to rush! When you're going to punch throw a leg in first. Don't rush! Don't rush!” We right about on even terms with John Wayne nicking the first round and Dzhabar edging the second.

The third round started with John Wayne taking the initiative yet again as he tried to punch Dzhabar who just kicked his advances away. Dzhabar had seemed more confident in this round as compared to the earlier rounds. He caught John Wayne's leg again and kicked him even harder in the other leg causing him to fall for the third time. Situations continued to move in Dzhabar's favor as John Wayne missed a kick and Dzhabar caught him by the waist hoping to topple him. Instead, they got stuck in a huddle again both desperately tying to topple the other over. They persisted to box each other fiercely. However, John Wayne managed to keep driving Dzhabar around the ring ropes. Realizing it was a successful strategy, Dzhabar tried to topple John Wayne repeatedly. Finally, right before the bell rung, Dzhabar had caught John Wayne's leg again however was unable to kick his other leg off balance.

 

There was a turnaround from the beginning of the fight in Dzhabar's favor. Jaymee, who was obviously shocked by this, confirmed with Stephen if Dzhabar was indeed winning. Stephen nodded in response. In the corners, the trainer continued to praise Dzhabar, “Very good, very perfect! Don't forget when you step to push and kick. Don't go to the ropes, go around. If he comes too close, block and lock.” Wayne's trainer gave him some last minute tips, “Keep advancing that's good. The aggressive fighter wins. Keep pushing in he's backing off he's finished. Be careful of his punches, don't take any risks!”

John Wayne had obviously realized he was losing out and decided to change things around as he went out all guns blazing. Dzhabar stuck to his strategy of counterattacking John Wayne’s advances by catching John Wayne’s trailing leg. However, John Wayne had obviously learnt from his previous mistakes and stood his ground. Dzhabar ended up holding his leg without being able to throw anything or topple him over. The referee finally pushed them apart and they smiled in acknowledgment to each other. Both men knew each others tactics and they both had to come up with something new to retain their advantage. Initially, they seemed reluctant to make the first move. John Wayne then started to attack with repeated underhand punches to Dzhabar's face. Again they moved slowly as if calculating each other's move. Dzhabar kicked him straight in the abdomen and John Wayne stumbled back with the pressure. They moved at a much slower pace in attempt to topple each other from the waist. Dzhabar kicked, missed, slipped and fell onto the ground. They continued to attack each other with punches got stuck in a huddle. Finally, John Wayne toppled Dzhabar before the bell rang again.

 

Due to the closeness of the match, Yodsaenklai told Stephen whoever won the next round would be the winner. The trainer told Dzhabar, “It's 50-50. I want you to put in more in round five. Do more damage in the next round. No running away. Stay, kick, and punch. Punch hard. One round. One more round to go, stand your ground.” John Wayne's trainer said for the final time, “Be more threatening. A threatening fighter is a fighter that wins. When he comes in lock his waist and push him to the ground. Lock his waist if you can and throw him down. Retaliate, keep retaliating and be the aggressor.” In the final round, both were neck and neck. Whoever managed to gain the upper hand would be able to win the fight and get into the final.

Unlike the other rounds, it started slow with mostly kicks. Eventually, it started getting fiercer. In an attempt to kick, Dzhabar almost slipped on the ring and missed. They were watching each other’s body language, evaluating each other's next move carefully. As much as they attacked each other, they were constantly missing each other as well. Finally, John Wayne attacked Dzhabar with flurry of punches. Dzhabar, in retaliation, attacked him with a hard kick that almost toppled him. Dzhabar finally caught his leg and toppled John Wayne but unfortunately fell over him as well. Towards the end, both were punching and kicking each other hard, hoping to gain the last few points that would give the edge above the other. The bell rang signaling the end of the round and the fight.

 

Both ran around the ring assuming they had won. In essence, it was difficult to tell who had won at that moment, as it had been a close fight till the end. Yodsaenklai said to Stephen and Jaymee, “Close fight. Close fight.” Finally the commentator announced that the winner had only won by one point. And it was the red corner, John Wayne Parr! John Wayne, ecstatic, said, "It was a very technical fight. Every time Dzhabar attacked, I attacked back. I put the pressure on the whole time. It's my third win in a row. I'm so happy I got this far. I've a shot at winning the title now against Yodsaenklai. Accomplish something I never thought I could achieve. I'm here and I'm so happy, so happy! Dzhabar, all the best.”

 

Dzhabar looked devastated as the trainer told him, “You did good. Beautiful. You have to use your brain. If you were the same size, you and John Wayne same same." Through tears, Dzhabar said, “Feeling upset because I was just one step to the final and I was waiting for this all my life and today God gave me chance but I didn't take it. I love fight but life will continue and world will continue so...” Dzhabar continued to regret, “Maybe I should have done something more, Maybe I should have pushed myself a little bit more. But I did all my best so... I did all my best. John Wayne Parr wins so I guess acceptable like this.” He started to write a note on his country's flag. “God wants it to be like this so I have to take it. I gonna fight. I’m waiting for next fight. I cannot live without this drug, Muay Thai for me is a drug. I can't live without a fight. I have to go so I won't forget this great time. I hope to keep in touch with everybody else in this loft.” At that point, he finally broke down and started to cry. He hung up his mongkok next to the rest who had left the competition. He continued on, “I'm young maybe people say I'm young, young, young. But time is going to past by fast. Doesn't matter if I’m young or old, I need to do my best. I need to do everything fast. “He hung up his flag on the ring ropes before he left the loft. “It's difficult for me but when you lose. It makes me stronger and if you lose and you're over, you're not a warrior. I'm Dzhabar and I lose and I'm warrior. I'm gonna continue.”