The host and mentor of the Contender, Stephan Fox, needs no introduction in the Muaythai world.  

Stephan’s passion for the sport began at an early age and grew immensely when he came to Asia as an athlete, starting his career in the days when Muaythai was almost unknown outside of Asia. At this time Muaythai was fairly disorganised on a world level, and the Thais dominated the sport.

Through his determination to make an impact on the sport and through hard training, breaking new limits, he forged a successful ring career, winning many titles such as World Title, Intercontinental Title South-Pacific in Thailand and abroad.

Following his big retirement fight, Stephan Fox was appointed as the Chairman of the Oceania Muaythai Federation and became the driving force behind the huge growth of the sport in Australia.

A native of Germany with many links to European sporting bodies, he went on to develop strong bonds between various National Federations.  

In 1995 the World Muaythai Council (WMC) was established under the directive of the Royal Thai Government to foster and promote the art of Muaythai and Stephan was one of the founding members. Since the year 2000, he has held the position of WMC Vice President, working hard to grow the membership from 39 countries at its inauguration meeting, to 112 countries in 2008.

Stephan was also the driving force behind taking Muaythai into the Olympic mainstream – in his position as General Secretary of the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur, the offcial world governing body for amateur Muaythai, he focussed on this dream and in 2006 Muaythai was included in the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and became a true member of the Olympic family.

Stephan travels tirelessly from one country to another to encourage and promote the sport, and runs his own television program. In addition, he is a firm believer that sport can make a difference, and as such is the Secretary of the Muaythai Against Drugs campaign, with the President being the Privy Councillor to HM the King of Thailand. This campaign uses Muaythai as a tool to keep children off the streets and through the values of Muaythai, help them to become positive and productive members of society.  

As part of this campaign, during the tragic tsunami disaster of 2004, care packages to a value of over US$1 million were distributed.

A true Muaythai pioneer, Stephan has an affinity for the sport which combined with his administrative abilities, extensive knowledge and fun personality makes him the natural candidate for the position of mentor and host of the Contender show. Due to his achievements in the sport, as a fighter, trainer and administrator, he is respected and trusted by fighters around the world. His training regimen is regarded as one of the toughest in the world, but his sense of humour is even tougher.

The Contender is honoured to have Stephan Fox in the Contender team as his expertise is an important ingredient in ensuring the series is an accurate reflection of the culture of the sport and art of Muaythai.