Echuca Muay Thai fighter Reese McMaster had a rather unusual lead-up to her latest fight.
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Echuca Muay Thai fighter Reese McMaster had a rather unique preparation for her latest professional bout.
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Leading up to her fight at the weekend in Johor, Malaysia, McMaster was featured on a four-part reality series promoting the card and its fighters.
The 20 featured fighters on the Coastal Combat card participated in the Coastal Combat Reality Show at the Desaru Coast resort in Johor.
McMaster said she wasn’t even aware of the reality show element when she agreed to the fight.
“One of (trainer Kiw Eikkasit’s) past students from when he was training and teaching in Malaysia actually reached out to him about this opportunity,” she said.
“We didn't actually know about the reality show side of things until a little bit later and until it got a little bit closer.”
The format of the show pitted team Malaysia against an international team of fighters in a variety of mostly physical challenges.
On the female side, McMaster’s team consisted of three Indonesians and a Frenchwoman, making her the only native English speaker in the women’s group.
Muay Thai fighter Reese McMaster in action during a recent fight.
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“It was definitely an experience, I'll just put it that way,” she said.
“It was never anything that I thought I would ever do to be honest, I don't even know how to explain it.
“It was filming from probably 10am in the morning to 11pm at night and we were out all day doing these challenges.
“It was a lot of waiting around as well, just waiting in between takes and all that sort of stuff, but it was good.
“I met some pretty cool people.”
After the filming wrapped in November, McMaster, now fighting out of the newly-opened Muay Thai Lab in Echuca, had two months of training ahead of her bout on the Coastal Combat card on January 24, taking on one of the local Malaysian fighters, Krystel Angel.
Contested over three three-minute rounds the bout was eventually awarded to the Malaysian fighter, all three rounds swinging her way, although McMaster and her team felt she could have easily claimed one or even two rounds after reviewing the fight footage.
“At the end of the day it is what it is,” she said.
Trainer Kiw Eikkasit with Echuca Muay Thai fighter Reese McMaster.
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“It's another fight under my belt and I'd rather come away with the loss knowing I fought well and fought beautifully than winning a scrappy fight.
“(Thankfully) she had good technique because sometimes when people don't have good technique, it's hard to display your own technique.
“She wasn't very well conditioned in the body, so we zoned in on that particularly in round two and three and there was a lot of clinching in the fight.
“I haven't really done that much clinching before, but my cardio held out pretty well, so that's good.”
The 19-year-old made her professional debut last year, winning her opening bout, but only fought once more in 2025.
McMaster is now looking ahead to a hopefully more active 2026 as she looks to build her profile.
“Last year was a very inactive year for me, as much as I would have loved to have fought more times, it just didn't end up happening for one reason or another,” she said.
“I really want to try and be as active on the fight scene as I can this year and make a bit more of a name for myself.”
McMaster’s next fight will be on the Gold Coast in March.
The Coastal Combat Reality Show can be found on the Coastal Combat YouTube channel.
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