A FORMER kickboxing champion will be seen fighting for the chance to turn professional on a new extreme reality television show.

Luke Holt, 29, of Clitheroe, trained with Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping in 2004/05 and hopes to follow in his old pal’s footsteps.

Bisping shot to fame by winning an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract after competing on The Ultimate Fighter in 2006. And Luke hopes that Nuts TV’s ‘Fighting Hurts’ will boost his fighting career in the same way.

Luke applied to be on the new show, which will earn the winner a year-long contract with Cage Rage, after seeing an advert in Nuts magazine.

It will take mixed martial artists from across the UK and give them the chance to train with some of the top talents in British MMA with the finalists fighting live on the main bill at a Cage Rage event in London.

Show insiders say the aim is to promote MMA in a positive light by showing the discipline and dedication required by fighters and to showcase upcoming talent.

Tonight, viewers will see Luke - a site agent for his own construction firm - and hundreds of others audition for 16 places on the show.

The dad of three said: “I read about it in Nuts and sent the application off but didn’t expect to hear anything more about it.

“But then I got a phone call to go to London for the audition which was very exciting.”

Luke, who was British kickboxing champion from 2000 to 2003 and has also done a lot of boxing, was put through a rigorous test of his skills and a number of interviews during the audition.

If he makes it to the final 16 he will be put through gruelling fitness and training programmes, which will involve an army-style boot camp run by MMA stalwart Ian Freeman.

There will also be individual masterclasses run by top names from a range of fighting disciplines such as wrestling, Brazilian jiu jitsu, muay thai and tae kwondo.

Judges Dave O’Donnell, Neil Grove and Grant Waterman will eliminate contestants from the competition after each weekly episode, based on their ability, style and commitment.

Then the final two men will go head-to-head at the Cage Rage Contenders event live on Nuts TV on November 1 and the winner will be crowned Fighting Hurts Champion 2008.

Fighting Hurts starts tonight at 10pm.