November 22, 2025 | 12:00am
Mark Striegl has received newfound payment and recognition after an impressive performance on the Netflix reality series “Physical: Asia.” The longtime mixed martial artist, and Philippine sambo athlete caught the attention of the public with two wins in the series. Still, he remains unaffected and unaltered, generous with his time and accepting requests for interviews and photographs.
“At first, when they first contacted me, I thought it was a joke,” Striegl laughs. “I actually thought maybe it’s a scam or something. Because I was a fan of the first two seasons. Once I started talking to them, I was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s real.’ So it’s game on, and I gotta prepare.”
All contestants were brought to South Korea earlier in the year, and were dismissed once their teams were eliminated. Everyone signed a non-disclosure agreement, requiring them not to discuss any aspect of the competition. In addition, they produced promotional content for Netflix.
The most difficult part was not knowing what to prepare for, since the challenges were not immediately made known. Mark simply decided to get in the best shape he possibly could, knowing that the exercises would push everyone to their limits. He counts the ball wrestling event against Thailand’s Sunny Wechokittikorn as the toughest challenge, wherein both of them nearly passed out due to exhaustion.
The combat sambo fighter was also pleasantly surprised to see a lot of the athletes that he looked up to in the competition itself.
“It was totally a trip,” says Striegl, who was born in Japan and has been in combat sports since he was eight. “Robert Whittaker is here, all of these star athletes. Yushin Okami, the team captain of Japan. I trained with him years ago when I was 17 years old. He gave me my first black eye.”
While making the rounds of various media. Striegl is now training in Metro Manila for the Asia Oceania Sambo tournament mid-2026. He enjoys all the creative content online after he won the hanging challenge. He cites the artwork of him dangling in a jeepney and MRT train car as his favorites. For his part, he constantly posts videos of scam combat coaches, which he calls “bullshido,” putting a humorous take on all the fake masters online. He remains the chill, friendly guy who enjoys life, and always gives it his best.