Jon Nutt wants to dominate the world and teach Buakaw how to sing

If you follow combat sport in Asia, then you are probably familiar with Jon Nutt. He is the promoter of Full Metal Dojo (FMD), as well as a UFC pundit for FOX Sports Asia and the host of several online shows including “Live from Bangkok” and “Eat, Pray, Fight.”

He’s also the commentator for Kunlun Fight, the MC for Malaysian Invasion and probably does a bunch of other stuff I forgot to mention. He’s emerged as a major player on the MMA scene but could not be accused of taking himself too seriously.

I asked him a bunch of questions about his various projects. The answers covered everything from his plans to enter the high stakes world of TV cookery to a project which involves teaching Muay Thai legend Buakaw how to sing.

Here they are...

What are your plans for FMD this year?

The plans for FMD this year are very simple. World domination. We plan on getting together, going over different strategies, and then executing a game plan that will lead us to our ultimate goal of world domination. First we take the world, and then we take the universe. Simple plans for simple men. Aside from universal domination. We plan on having four or five MMA events in Bangkok. We plan on doing a bit of E-Gaming, travel show greatness, as well as taking our first stab in the world of culinary greatness with a new cooking show. So I guess the real answer to that question is diversifying our awesomeness along the quest for universal domination.

What are you doing besides FMD?

I again plan on branching out into other areas of content provision. Which I am very excited for. In the E-gaming world we will have the first ever FMD Ironfist tourney this year. And a cooking show with the working title of ‘Full Metal Feast’. That should be more fun than a kick in the crotch. And I really can’t wait to expand on our already successful Fox Sports Asia show Eat Pray Fight. We will be having fun with that one for sure. Trips are already planned to watch Lethwei and teach Buakaw how to sing. The show gives me a lot of creative freedoms. So I plan on taking those freedoms. And enslaving them. Because I’m selfish.

How do you see the state of Thai MMA?

The state of Thai MMA is doing alright. But just alright. It is growing and the youth are getting more and more into it. I said this a while ago, but it’s going to take more time before we see a Thai athlete compete in the UFC. And as I said before I believe it will be a woman. Loma had a huge win in Invicta and I can’t wait to see where her career goes. That was huge win for Thai MMA in my opinion. I really do wish there were just more outlets though. I understand how hard it is to set up promotions but it would be amazing to have more events for Thai athletes to compete in. Heck I’ll even help other organizations if they are thinking of doing shows in the Kingdom. That is actually a plan of ours. Try to grow the sport by helping out others in the industry. Sports entertainment is a tough gig. And mostly everyone is in it for themselves. We don’t see it that way, and are more than happy to help others. On a real major note though. And this is a bit of a read between the lines to what greatness I’m revealing. But years ago, I was told that MMA would never take place in the major Muay Thai stadiums in Bangkok. Now I’m not saying that my team has been invited to do MMA shows at Lumpini, but I’m also not not saying that. You may want to watch out for us doing some events at some major places. Cough Cough, wink wink. Heyyyooooo!

Where did the idea for Eat, Pray, Fight come from and can we expect to see more episodes?

You can for sure expect more episodes. They will be coming at you Vin Diesel Fast and Furious style very soon. Again the guys at Fox are giving us a lot of creative control and I plan on having quite a bit of fun with it. The idea came from me wanting to get out there and do a sort of Anthony Bourdain style show based around combat sports. In fact the original name of the show was, “The Anthony Bourdain of Combat Sports”. But FOX didn’t want any issues with the Bourdain household and I was fine to change the name. Especially as the host will not just be me. My man Andy Whitelaw will also be doing his fair share of hosting as well as other guests. I would like to point out that the name also was supposed to be Eat Prey Fight. Giving that little extra pun magic. But some people thought that was too confusing so we just went with the Eat Pray Fight title where it sits now. This show is going to grow and evolve into something awesome. I am sure of it. The response has been great, the feedback has been heard, and the green light is go time when it comes to making more episodes. The show will also be my first documentary style show that will cross platforms being on Fox on many of their platforms both linear and digital. So that’s awesome. EFP Shanghai coming out this week. watch out for it on FOX.

FMD recently started producing Thai language content, how important is that for FMD development in Thailand?

If you want to reach the masses of Thailand, you need to have it based in the Thai language. I know that it’s very important. We have always played around with it. We had our show in True Visions in Thai. But the market here is still very small, and we are growing to fast. There is just not enough time in the day, or cooks in the kitchen. We would love to make more Thai content and we will. But we also have to think internationally and outside of the box. After all, if FMD is going to carve out it’s own slice of the industry it’s not going to happen by competing with the UFC. But rather educating the fans as to our own branding style and packaging. Full Metal Dojo is basically a real life action movie. And it was not made to compete with anyone. Rather provide an outlet for guys and gals from around the world to live out their own JCVD dreams, come to the original fight capital of the universe Bangkok Thailand, and fight their hearts out in what will be one of the best experiences of their lives. So yeah. We plan on keeping it 100% real. In the Thai language and the English language. And Khmer, Mandarin, and Spanish for that matter. FMD Pig Latin coming soon.

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