Fight Circus is often described as the bombastic lovechild of WWE and UFC if it grew up in Thailand and was given a tablet of acid. That description may sound dramatic, but it is surprisingly accurate. Born in the chaos of the pandemic, Fight Circus became a beacon for every unusual combat sports idea you could dream of. It caused a wave of imitators, including the now famous fragments from random corners of Russia. Carjitsu. The Wheel of Violence. Siamese boxing. Penalty boxing. Foot in the band boxing. Blindfold boxing. You get the idea.
Gabi Garcia, Mayhem Miller and Mix Master Mike headlined one card chock full of surprising cameos
Fight Circus
Most fans have seen at least one Fight Circus clip by now. Blobtang smokes a cigarette to crown his now iconic strike. Jon Nutt fights two men in suits known as Bank and No Money. Moments that broke the internet and turned the promotion into a cult phenomenon.
Fight Circus celebrates being a total shitshow in the best way possible. It invites fans to expect the unexpected and embraces entertainment at full volume. I recently covered their US debut at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. It was a two-night spectacle that drew a surprising amount of firepower from the MMA media. Ariel Helwani was there filming a documentary for his channel. John Morgan, the man who asked the first question to countless UFC pressers, was ringside. When the hardcore people show up for the organized chaos, something interesting happens.
The card offered everything the fans came for. Charles ‘Felony’ Bennett came up against Street Beefs’ viral sensation Death Sentence. Mac Life’s Oscar Willis went beer boxing with bare-knuckle fighter Mark The Shark Irwin. UFC veterans Alex Caceres and Marcus McGee met in a human cockfight. Then came the shock of the night. Two masked Labubus began fighting until they revealed themselves as Gabi Garcia and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. The crowd erupted.
All of this unfolded in an environment that felt completely unhinged. Exotic dancers on the walkway. Little people participating in skits. Unpredictable interruptions from every corner of the room. And at the center of it all was Jon Nutt, the ringmaster with boundless energy and zero hesitation. With Nutt, there’s always the possibility that he might quit hosting and pick a fight. Earlier this year he boxed UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in a wheelchair. Matt Brown fought Blobtang in Thailand. Anything can happen and usually does.
Blobtang deserves a special mention. Part folk hero, part outlaw character, part viral magnet. As Nutt told me, “Two guys who were just there came over and it was like we’d never seen anything like it before. Like the WWE of Muay Thai.” When I asked if you could ever replicate a Blobtang, Nutt laughed. ‘You don’t do that. You can find them in a fishing village in the north of Thailand. You should go to Sriracha, where they still fish with nets.
Blobtang’s strikes alone could yield a card. The man should have merchandise, fishing rods, cigarette notes, the whole thing. They even got fined for one of his Marlboro-inspired entrances.
For Nutt, the double header in Las Vegas felt like a milestone. “The first night felt like a trial run. The second night felt like a play,” he said. “To have a Vegas show come to Vegas, have back-to-back nights and have them both be successful, we got compliments from both of them.”
When asked what he likes most about running Fight Circus, he said: “Hanging out with my friends and doing creative things like this. In strange places to have new experiences.”
Fighters feel the same way. Jonny Tello, the number one footed tire boxer in the world, summed it up in two words. “Fight Circus.”
Looking ahead, the promotion has several dates lined up in Phuket to close out the year, with a new US show in the first quarter. If anything will further elevate Fight Circus, it might be a little more danger and a little more violence to tighten up the formula.
When Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent start sharing your clips, the dirty little secret of the Covid era has clearly morphed into something much bigger, brighter, and stranger. Complete with an army of little people.
To quote Jon Nutt one last time: “Just join the circus.”
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