There's still time to enjoy 'The Contender: Muay Thai'

September 23, 6:00 PMMixed Martial Arts ExaminerEddie Graveline

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As the popularity of MMA continues to grow, fans of the sport are becoming more and more educated about it and what it's really all about. The next logical step for any knowledge-hungry enthusiast is to start learning about the various forms of martial arts that are widely used in MMA. The present cornerstones of the sport, if you will, are wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, boxing and Muay Thai--also known as Thai boxing. You often hear fighters refer to training Muay Thai and most fans know it generally as kick boxing. "The Contender: Muay Thai" is teaching us that it's a sport rich with tradition and way too established to be brushed off with generalities.

As an MMA fan, I've been enjoying the show (aired on Thursday nights on the VS. Network in the U.S.) immensely. Like "The Ultimate Fighter," it takes 16 fighters and whittles them down to one champion, but the similarities end there. The following are some of the best reasons to start watching now if you haven't been all along:

• The second round of fights starts this week. All of the fighters that set themselves apart will be matched up against each other from this point on, which should be amazing.
• The tradition and culture behind the sport of Muay Thai is fascinating. Since the show was shot in Singapore, the Asian flavor is very evident and the producers have done a good job of providing the uninitiated fan with lots of background.
• The fighters are from a completely different planet than the ones we're used to seeing on TUF. Most of these guys have been training in this one discipline for decades. They've spent their lives learning respect and it really shows. They seem to be genuinely good guys that have formed very strong friendships with one another, despite their different nationalities and cultures.
• Unlike TUF, which is geared toward finding prospects, or future stars of MMA, The Contender features some of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world. Imagine an Ultimate Fighter cast that included Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Anderson Silva...you get the picture. It's stacked.