Today on the Thermopylae Team Combat YouTube channel the fist episode of Kings of The Hill was launched. For those that have not watched Thermopylae before and love combat sports this you should enjoy.
Thermopylae is basically one team against another with the winner of each match having the choice to stay and fight the next opponent. In the last series I can recall one fighter knocking out 4 other fighters before retiring handing over the ring to another team mate. These guys are tough and the Russian teams are normally all military made up of spetsnaz which is special forces.
Kings of the Hill is an international tournament with 8 countries involved with the winner moving into the semi finals and the losing team eliminated. The first episode features France vs St Petersburg which may mean we will have 2 teams representing Russia.
If you looked at the French team lambs in a slaughter house may pop into your head and only the quality or lack of it saved the French from being annihilated. My guess is this is the Russian "B" team as the well known fighters were not involved.
I have always wondered if the UFC selected a team to take on the Russian team who would win and my bet hands down would be with Russia. The UFC protects fighters too much worrying more about generating revenue than who should be fighting. The Russians do not avoid fighters because this is not their profession as most of them are military men first and foremost. There is no grappling or floor work in this, but that does not mean the Russians do not train this technique as all special forces do close combat training
I have to admit I was not overly impressed or blown away with the first episode of King of the Hill, but it is too early to pass judgement as I guess the bigger teams will or are expected to face off in the semi finals. There should be some new talent highlighted as there are 8 teams of 4 fighters each. The French were crap even though they were bigger and more muscular than the Russians. Muscles mean nothing in one on one fighting and is more about the skills you possess and the desire or will to win.
Thermopylae is one combat sport I would like to see grown into a regular sporting event as I believe it could become very popular. I could think of nothing that would get everyone's attention more than a Russia vs USA team combat fight. Sports like boxing have gone backwards with the social media influencers turning boxing into a circus.
The UFC have introduced slapping via the new Power Slap tournament they are hosting so maybe Thermopylae will happen in the future. Dana White is not oblivious of this team combat sport and has to be paying attention.