Ballet of Violence

What sets The Contender Asia apart from a typical reality show such as Burnett’s flagship Survivor, is that this is a show where the “contestants” are professional fighters. These are men who do this for a living, and have chosen to temporarily sacrifice that living to be on the show. And they have indeed made sacrifices - Ludwig mentions his inability to fight while committed to the show, and Marcus Oberg turned down a K-1 MAX fight in the spring when he thought filming was imminent. Of course, they are not making this sacrifice for nothing. They are trading off fights now for the potential of bigger exposure and more high profile fights down the road. It’s a gamble they have all decided to take, but as the time off grows from a few months, to a year, to a year and a half, they have to begin questioning if it is worth it. Obviously for Ludwig it was not, and I would not be surprised if other contestants followed his lead.

— Fraser Coffeen - An in-depth look at The Contender Asia Season 2 - Head Kick Legend.  I’m sad to hear that Bang is off this show.  I can’t help but think this would have been the fate of TUF had the Griffin-Bonnar fight not caught like wildfire.