SINGAPORE, 7 April 2020 – REBEL Fighting Championship (REBEL FC), a dynamic fightainment company, has partnered with renowned Chinese director Xie Dikui, to co-produce its first foray into reality television. The Singapore-born REBEL FC becomes the first Southeast Asian company to announce an MMA talent hunt-based reality show in China, for which they had also roped in China’s famous combat sport show producer, Zhang Nan, last year. The show, slated to release in 2021, will seek out the next generation of MMA talent from the streets of China.
For the reality show, Rebel FC will tour the provinces of China and pick promising MMA talents, who will get a chance to train under veteran coaches and fight in a professional tournament. The winner and top performers in the tournament will be awarded contracts and become a part of REBEL FC’s signature events, where they will have the opportunity to showcase their skills on an international platform, and compete against top tier professional athletes for world championship titles. The reality show’s concept is in line with REBEL FC’s brand purpose of grooming ‘fightainers’, who are talented, genuine, inspiring and champions of not just the sport, but of life.
Xie Dikui is a household name for his work on one of China’s biggest reality shows in the past decade, Where Are We Going, Dad? (Chinese: 爸爸去哪儿; pinyin: Bàba qù nǎr), on Hunan Television, which debuted in 2013 and is currently being filmed for the sixth season. He was the director for the series’ first (2013), second (2014), third (2015) and fourth seasons (2016), as well as two movie adaptations of the series. The series attracted an average of 75 million viewers per episode every week and an astonishing TV viewership of 190 million people in the 2015 season finale. Owing to a solid track record, Xie is best suited to be the executive producer for Rebel FC’s MMA reality show.
“As we look to expand our influence in China, the MMA reality show serves as the next strategic move to reach a wider audience. A 10 to 12 part reality show series is a huge undertaking with a multimillion-dollar investment. With Xie, we have a visionary executive producer, who shall help conceptualise the show, capture the drama and hunt for talent with remarkable life journeys. We expect the reality show to lead to a captive audience and gain fans nationwide, and alongside inspire the younger Chinese generation to believe that they too can become, MMA superstars. This will help elevate REBEL FC to be the leading fightainment company in China,” says Justin Leong, Chief Executive Officer, Rebel Fighting Championship.
The MMA reality show is a quantum leap for Rebel FC as it looks at fostering home-grown martial arts superheroes, unlocking their spirit on live camera and taking the thrill of the MMA sport to a mass audience, seated in the comfort of their homes.
“Reality shows, if done right, are massive revenue generators. By creating a profitable venture, we intend to scale-up our matches and grow MMA from the grassroots levels to be a mainstream sport in China. We would look to pump money back into the local communities, to develop martial arts talent,” adds Justin.
“Combat sports isn’t new to me, and it is one of the most engaging sports and entertainment avenues in China right now. I am delighted to come onboard REBEL FC, as the Executive Producer for their upcoming MMA reality show. I have been in the media industry for over 20 years, but this presents itself as an opportunity that opens new doors for me. I am keen to help build the future legends of MMA that will one day represent China on the world stage. The possibility that some might even choose to transition from MMA competitions to show business, and perhaps become the next Bruce Lee in the entertainment industry, thrills me. Justin has a visionary plan and I am committed to ensuring this MMA reality show is an instant hit,” says Xie.
Xie will be co-producing the reality show under the banner of Hunan Xiyue Culture Media Co., Ltd (湖南皙悦文化传媒有限公司; pinyin: Húnán xī yuè wénhuà chuánméi yǒuxiàn gōngsī), which was set up by him in 2016, after spending nearly 20 years with Hunan Television. He started as a news reporter and editor with the TV station, before becoming a news producer and finally realising his potential as a producer and director of documentaries, reality shows, and variety programmes. With Xiyue Culture Media, he continues where he left off with Hunan Television, specialising in the production of entertainment shows for China. Xiyue Culture Media is partially funded by Tencent Holdings Ltd., one of the largest multinational technology and entertainment conglomerates in China, that is best known for WeChat, a messaging, social media and mobile payment app, and Tencent Video, a video streaming website with over 900 million mobile monthly active users as of March 2019.
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