Al Batal (The Champion) has completed production and preparing for its second season on FOX Movies under the guise of a new format.
The revamp focuses on gradually transforming Al Batal fighters into world class athletes and the MMA reality show aims to provide fighters of Arabic origin with an opportunity to realise their dreams.
Fighters are taken through an intensive training program, led by carefully selected teams of professional coaches, as they compete for the title of Al Batal.
For its second season, Al Batal has recruited 12 semi-pro fighters, 2 world-class MMA coaching teams, 1 professional athletic conditioning team and implemented an extensive training and nutrition program.
All of this is designed to help shape the contestants into better, tougher and smarter fighters.
American Ray Elbe, heading the Black Team, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt and MMA veteran with an impressive 25 – 11 record.
Ray Elbe: MMA fighter, coach and reality TV star
Currently teaching at Kuwait Combat Athletics, Elbe has been in the game for over 12 years and is considered one of the top MMA coaches in the region.
Elbe is assisted by coaches Ole Laursen and Saphaprom Sophaprom (Khunsuk).
French-Algerian Mehdi Baghdad, meanwhile, is the Yellow Team Head Coach.
Baghdad fights out of Team Quest in California, with a 9 – 3 record and is a regular sparring partner with the likes of Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen and Tarec Saffiedine.
Baghdad proved his worth as a fighter by becoming the lightweight WBC Muay Thai World Champion in 2011 as well as K-1 champion of France and Belgium.
Mehdi is assisted by coaches Jorge Lopez and Cédric Escudero.
Dubai-based FAST Athletic Training Team will be providing professional athlete-standard coaching and training in strength, conditioning and nutrition.
This coming fall 12 fighters, eager to prove to the world they have what it takes to become the best, will have an opportunity to prove just that through their blood, sweat and tears.
