A 12kg body cut proved to be too much for Girish Rae when he contested Elite Thai Kickboxing's king of the ring in Auckland.
The 30-year-old Dunedin man had to shed the weight so he could make the 72kg limit for the eight-man elimination series.
He said in hindsight, losing that much weight in seven weeks was too hard on his body and it would be the last time he attempted it.
Rae was the South Island's only representative in Saturday's middleweight event.
The series required the winner to defeat three men in a single night and claim the $4000 prize money.
Rae won his quarterfinal by a points decision against Auckland's Taylor Holland, before losing to eventual winner Joe Hopkins, from West Auckland, by a stoppage in his semifinal.
Rae said even though he lost and was not happy with his performance he still loved the experience, and it was great to get back in the ring after a three-year hiatus.
He said Hopkins had agreed to fight him in three to four months at a more suitable bodyweight of 75kg.
"The positive to come out of this loss is I am once again in fighting shape and I will be back training by the end of the week".
Rae's preparation for the king of the ring was hampered by a wrist injury he suffered six weeks out from the event, but he did not use that as an excuse.
He said the one thing he did wrong with his preparation was help a friend shift some gear out of Carisbrook three weeks before he fought.
"I was weighing 78kg and thought the work would have helped me cut more weight, but it had a reverse effect and I gained an extra 4.5kg."
Rae will now turn his attention to preparing fighters from his Fi-G gym for a December fight night in Dunedin.
He said he hoped to have between three and five fighters competing.
Rae turned professional in 2005 and immediately went to Thailand, where he won 33 of his 38 fights.
While in Thailand he trained at Andy Thomson's Kiat Busaba Muay Thai training camp. He said Thomson was like a father figure to him.
Thomson said from Thailand that Rae was a character around his camp, a hard worker, could run like the wind and had a lethal ability to knock people out.
Rae has won 31 of his 33 fights by knockout.
During his time in Thailand, Rae trained woman at Chiang Mai prison. Thailand lets its prisoners fight in teams against other prisons. Rae said it was an eye-opening experience and something he will never forget.
"One moment you are training with the women, the next you are sitting with the guards and the women were not aloud to make eye contact. It was a whole different world."
Two weeks ago, Rae was elected as the Oceania representative on the World Muay Thai Council, which is the governing body of the sport.
Saturday's main event saw former Dunedin man Erik Nosa lose his heavyweight World KickBoxing Federation title to Auckland's Antz "Notorious" Nanson. Nosa still holds the super heavyweight WKBF title.
