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| Marika Orel: Where Is The Arena Contestant Now? Her Muay Thai Career After Netflix. |
Marika Orel has continued to build her career in combat sports since appearing on Netflix's The Arena, turning her experience on the reality competition into another reason to push herself towards professional fighting. The French athlete entered the first season hoping to secure a €100,000 professional MMA contract, but her journey did not unfold quite as planned. Although she ultimately left the competition without the prize, her experience was only one chapter in a much bigger sporting story. With several Muay Thai championships already behind her and years of training shaping her progress, Marika has continued to demonstrate that one disappointing result does not have to define an athlete's future.
Netflix's The Arena brought together 38 amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, comprising 19 women and 19 men, with the ultimate goal of awarding one male and one female contestant a professional MMA contract worth €100,000. The format gave aspiring fighters an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities under pressure, with every challenge potentially affecting their chances of progressing.
Marika entered the competition as someone who understood that she might not be the favourite. Rather than treating the underdog label as an insult, she used it as motivation. After all, being underestimated can be useful when everyone else has already decided what you are capable of doing.
Marika Orel's elimination from The Arena was not the end of her fighting ambitions. Her early experience in the competition was particularly frustrating because she wanted to demonstrate her technical ability inside the cage. During the second elimination fight, her scheduled opponent, Nada, withdrew from the competition for personal reasons. The matchup was consequently halted, and Marika was declared the winner. Technically, she had progressed, but the result did not provide the opportunity she had wanted. Winning without getting to fight is hardly the most satisfying outcome for someone who has spent countless hours preparing to prove herself.
That unusual turn of events left Marika with unfinished business. She had entered the competition to test her skills against other fighters, not simply to collect a result on paper. Without a proper contest, she had little opportunity to demonstrate what she could do, leaving both the audience and her fellow competitors without a clear picture of her abilities. In a competition where reputation can influence expectations, that uncertainty was hardly ideal. Still, she continued to work hard and waited for another opportunity to show the coaches what she could bring to the cage.
One of the important moments in her journey came during a team challenge involving calorie-burning exercises. Marika and Ashita were the final two contestants still completing their respective tasks for their teams. Marika did not finish first, putting her in a position where she could potentially face an elimination fight. However, she was not selected at that stage, meaning her fighting ability remained largely untested in the competition. It was an awkward situation for someone who had signed up specifically to compete. She was there to fight, yet the format kept finding ways to make her wait.
Rather than allowing the uncertainty to discourage her, Marika took matters into her own hands. During the following matchup, she asked the coach for an opportunity to prove her abilities. Before making his selection, the coach asked her to spar with him, giving her a chance to demonstrate her technique and determination directly. The session impressed him enough to earn her a fight against Jade. At last, Marika had the opportunity she had been asking for, and there would be no need to wonder whether she would get inside the cage this time.
Unfortunately, the fight against Jade ended with Marika's elimination. Despite putting considerable effort into the contest, she felt she had not been able to make full use of her boxing skills. It was a disappointing outcome, especially after having to wait so long for a proper opportunity. However, she did not treat the defeat as proof that she lacked the ability to succeed. Instead, she reflected on the importance of learning from losses and committed herself to working harder. That response said plenty about her mentality. A competition can expose weaknesses, but what happens afterwards often matters far more than the result itself.
Marika's established Muay Thai career provides a clearer picture of her abilities than her brief run on reality television alone. Her interest in combat sports began when her older brother encouraged her to try Muay Thai. What started as a suggestion developed into a serious passion, eventually becoming a major part of her life. She continued to train, refine her techniques and build the discipline required to compete at a high level. Her older brother's encouragement therefore played an important role in setting her on a path that would lead to significant achievements in the ring.
Sport was not her only priority, either. Marika also pursued an education in law, enrolling at the University of Bordeaux in 2018 and studying there until 2020. She also developed her legal knowledge through the Institut Supérieur du Droit.
By the time she appeared on The Arena, she was still studying law alongside her ambitions in combat sports. Balancing academic responsibilities with the demands of training and competition is no small task. Professional fighting already requires commitment, and adding legal studies to the schedule certainly makes the usual excuse of being too busy sound less convincing.
Her progress in Muay Thai has been particularly notable. Marika became a three-time French Muay Thai champion, with titles won in 2022 and 2023 among the achievements highlighted in her sporting journey. Those accomplishments reflect the experience and preparation she had accumulated before stepping into the Netflix competition.
Rather than relying solely on the attention generated by reality television, she had already been developing her reputation through competitive sport. Her record in Muay Thai also demonstrates why it would be unfair to judge her entire career based on a single elimination fight in a different discipline.
In February 2024, Marika achieved another milestone with a victory in the World Boxing Council Intercontinental Championship, defeating a Mexican opponent. The result added another significant achievement to her combat sports journey and reinforced her determination to continue progressing.
Later that year, she was interviewed by Carte Blanche Bordeaux in September, discussing her introduction to fighting, the challenges she had encountered and the experiences that had helped shape her as an athlete. These experiences offer a broader understanding of her ambitions than a television competition can provide in a handful of episodes.
Throughout her development, Marika has remained associated with Amani Bordeaux, where she has been guided by coach Laurent Amani. Having a consistent training environment and an experienced coach can make a substantial difference in a fighter's progress, particularly when moving between competitions and working towards more ambitious goals.
Her career has involved more than collecting titles; it has also required maintaining the discipline to keep training when results do not arrive immediately. That process is rarely as glamorous as a television montage makes it look, but it is the part of an athlete's journey that often matters most.
One of Marika's more recent documented fights took place in May 2026 against Carolina Prestia, at an event organised by the French Muay Thai Academy, known as the Académie Française de Muay Thaï (AFMT). The appearance provided another opportunity for her to continue competing outside the reality television environment.
As of October 2026, her wider ambitions remain connected to building a professional career in combat sports, although her future opportunities and any subsequent results should not be assumed without confirmation. Her participation in The Arena may have introduced her to a wider audience, but her sporting development extends well beyond the Netflix series.
Marika also shares glimpses of her training sessions, fights and everyday experiences on Instagram, giving followers an occasional look at the work that goes into her career. Social media offers athletes a way to connect with supporters beyond the ring, particularly when television appearances bring new people into their audience. For Marika, those glimpses help illustrate the continuing commitment behind her sporting ambitions. The public might see a fight lasting only a few rounds, but the preparation behind it involves considerably more time, repetition and effort than a short highlight clip can ever show.
Outside the gym, Marika appears to value the relationships and experiences that make life more interesting than a relentless training schedule. Her time on The Arena also gave her the opportunity to build connections with fellow contestants, despite the competitive nature of the programme.
She has expressed the importance of respect in combat sports, recognising that opponents deserve consideration even when they are fighting for the same prize. It is a useful reminder that competition does not have to mean hostility. Two athletes can push each other to their limits and still acknowledge the work required to get there.
Her relationship with her older brother also remains an important part of her personal story. His encouragement helped introduce her to Muay Thai, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to championships and a place on an international streaming platform. It is a fairly impressive return on one suggestion from a sibling. Of course, the years of training and hard work were Marika's own responsibility, but having someone encourage you to try something new can sometimes make all the difference. Not every life-changing decision arrives with dramatic music and a television crew.
Travel is another interest that features in Marika's life away from competition. In March 2019, she visited Thailand, enjoying its coastal scenery and blue waters. Seven months later, she travelled to Cambodia, where she had the opportunity to experience a different culture. In April 2022, she visited Martinique, the French Caribbean island known for its beaches and distinctive landscapes. These trips provided a contrast to the routine of training and studying, allowing her to experience places beyond the environment in which she spends much of her time preparing for fights.
Her travels continued in August 2025, when she returned to Thailand and explored Bangkok and Pattaya City. The following November, she enjoyed the beaches of Biarritz in southwestern France. By July 2026, Marseille had become another destination on her list, offering the chance to admire the city's landmarks and Mediterranean surroundings.
Although her competitive career requires a demanding schedule, these experiences show another side of her life: one that includes exploring new places and appreciating moments away from the pressure of performance. Even dedicated athletes need a break from measuring progress in rounds, repetitions and championship results.
Opinion: Marika Orel's story is a useful reminder that reality television does not always tell the whole story of an athlete. The Arena gave viewers a chance to see her determination, but the format also left her with limited opportunities to demonstrate everything she could do. Her elimination against Jade was disappointing, yet it should not overshadow her achievements in Muay Thai or the work she has put into developing her career.
Three French championship titles and an intercontinental victory are meaningful accomplishments, not consolation prizes for someone who failed to win a television competition. Her combination of sporting ambition and legal studies also makes her journey more interesting than a straightforward tale of chasing fame. The real test now is whether she can continue turning experience into progress. Fighting careers rarely follow neat scripts, and thankfully, Marika's ambitions do not have to end when the cameras stop rolling.
So, where is Marika Orel now? She has continued pursuing combat sports, sharing parts of her training and competitive life while working towards her longer-term ambitions. Her journey on The Arena did not deliver the professional MMA contract she wanted, but it gave her another experience from which to learn.
With her Muay Thai achievements, continued training and interests outside the ring, there is more to her story than one elimination. Whether you discovered her through Netflix or have followed her fighting career for years, do you think Marika has what it takes to establish herself as a professional MMA fighter? Share your thoughts and let us know which contestant from The Arena you would like to see us cover next.