EDITOR’S NOTE: Kickboxer 3 was on USA Up All Night on June 7, 1996; March 22 and July 12, 1997 and January 7, 1998.

Frank Lane (Richard Comar) is running a white slavery ring in Brazil, just as kickboxing champion David Sloan (Sasha Mitchell, Cody from Step by Step who somehow has taken over from JCVD after Tong Po killed his brothers shortly after Kickboxer; yes, your happy ending was ruined in the sequel) and his trainer Xian (Dennis Chan) arrive in Rio de Janeiro for a championship bout. He’s nearly robbed by a street kid named Marcos (Noah Verduzco) but he ends up becoming friends with him and his sister Isabella (Alethea Miranda).

Lane is the manager of Eric Martine (Ian Jacklin), the Muay Thai fighter that David is defending his belt against. He destroys a young fighter in an exhibition, turning the fight into the grudge match you’d hoped that it would be. Of course, Isabella gets kidnapped and the whole thing becomes a fight for her life, but any movie that ends with a cute street urchin stabbing an evil white guy in the stomach is OK with me.

This was directed by Rick King, who also made Prayer of the Rollerboys and was a writer of Point Break. On the amazing Hidden Films, he spoke about how rough this movie was to make and how hard Mitchell was to deal with.

“The guy was a nutjob,” King said plainly. “The crew hated him and liked me. One of the grips was a cop, and he said, “If that guy ever touches you, I’m gonna arrest his ass and throw him in the nastiest Brazilian jail you’ve ever seen.””

Writer Dennis A. Pratt also wrote Leprechaun 4: In Space.