His recent appearance on the Thai television dating game show of that name, has resulted in a Mr Universe invitation.
Jack Ferguson, a 28-year-old professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, who now lives and fights in Bangkok, was under pressure in a whole new way.
"This was my first time being on TV that didn’t involve fighting in a cage", he says with a laugh.
"I still felt all the same nerves, however, because I had to do the entire show in Thai."
Mr Ferguson has been based in Thailand for the last seven years and during the Covid pandemic, he went to school to learn the country’s language.
He said he had no problems with daily conversation but was not fluent.
"People will usually understand what I’m trying to say", he said.
Based on the British show Take Me Out, the objective of the popular television show in Thailand is for the bachelor to obtain a date with one of the single female contestants.
"They brought their mothers and I had to convince their mothers to let me date their daughters. At the end of the show I chose a girl named Chompu."
Since the show he has accepted the invitation to join the Mr Universe competition as the New Zealand representative, the event takes place later this year in Bangkok.
Mr Ferguson attended Waitaki Boys’ High School in Oamaru from 2009 to 2013, although he "dropped out" to pursue his passion for the sport.
"My first introduction to MMA was training with coach Jamie Rhodes at his gym and we began to watch the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] together after training.
"I decided I wanted to pursue it fulltime and moved to Christchurch to train with Karl Webber before moving to Thailand", he said.
Mr Rhodes is based in Oamaru and is the owner of the Rowing Club Gym. Mr Webber is based in Christchurch and is known for being New Zealand mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, Dan Hooker’s coach.
Mr Ferguson is fighting in the South East Asian Fight Championships at present, an event that showcases top fighters around Southeast Asia, helping them work towards UFC contracts. He runs his own gym in Bangkok and is scheduled to compete in the next few months in either Thailand or Japan.
