Calling the next Gina Carano.
“Ultimate Women Combat,” a reality TV series helmed by Lyle Howry Productions, is currently being shopped to NBC Universal and others.
The series will attempt to provide yet another opportunity for the growing army of female mixed martial artists rising to prominence.
Eight women answered an open-call tryout for “Combat” on Dec. 19 at Bas Rutten’s Elite MMA gym in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Ranging between 120-145 pounds, the octet demonstrated varying levels of expertise in their striking, ground skills, and overall conditioning. They all shared a fire in their bellies though.
The show’s premise falls somewhere between “The Ultimate Fighter” and the Oxygen channel’s “Fight Girls.” Sixteen women will be flown to a remote Malaysian resort, housed together, trained and prepped by experts, then paired off to fight over a three-week shoot schedule.
The eight finalists might convene and fight at a live event in the States, said one of the show’s host and producer Marika Taylor. Cross promotion efforts with Affliction or Strikeforce are also in discussions, she said. Spurred on by the success of female superstar Carano’s two appearances for the stalled EliteXC on CBS, Taylor hopes for a TV deal as early as January 2009.
UK standout Rosi Sexton and U.S. counterpart Tara Larosa have already committed as the series’ coaches, along with Brazilian jiu-jitsu mentor Cesar Gracie.
Taylor said the production team has received close to 60 submissions from hopefuls worldwide, which included the U.S. audition and another held earlier in England. Taylor said the show will aim to cast the most experienced female fighters in need of exposure, though a compelling character with competition potential could also make the cut.
For three women auditioning in California, the urge to punish doesn’t stray too far from the family tree.
Vanessa Mariscal, a 35-year-old purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Royce Gracie and Rey Diogo, also happens to be the girlfriend of former IFL champion Vladimir Matyushenko.
Popular UFC light heavyweight Brandon Vera brought two of “his women” to tryouts: his 29-year-old sister Michelle, a budding kickboxer, and his 27-year-old wife, Kerry, a 10-year muay Thai and kickboxing vet who won the first and only season of Oxygen’s “Fight Girls” in 2007.
Roxy “Balboa” Richardson, 30, a 2008 muay Thai champion, was one of the stronger prospects on her feet, though the entire group seemed more versed in the standup genre than on the mats. When Gracie asked each prospect to demonstrate a list of standard Brazilian jiu-jitsu maneuvers on a volunteer, a majority of the candidates struggled with basics like guillotine chokes and armbars.
What Vera’s baby sister lacked for in experience, she made up for in personality.
“You ask me for a kimura, I might give you a margarita,” she deadpanned to the stoic jiu-jitsu black belt.
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