The UFC sees extraordinary opportunity in China, the world’s largest economy. The immediate hopes at present lie in no small part on women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili. But the league built a second Performance Institute in Shanghai to grow to sport in China. The first fighter to “graduate” from there and earn a UFC contract is Alateng The Mongolian Knight Heili, who debuted at UFC on ESPN+ 15 on August 31, 2019, and is currently 2-1 in the big show.
Now two more fighters from the Shanghai Performance Institute have UFC contracts – Na “Dragon Girl” Liang and Aori Mongolian Murderer Qileng.
We’re so proud to see Aori Qileng and Na Liang graduate from our program and wish them all the best as they continue their journey into the UFC, said Kevin Chang, the UFC’s APAC senior vice-president, to Nick Atkin for SCMP. The hard work, sacrifice, and dedication our athletes put into improving themselves is tremendous.
This is only the beginning and the next generation of UFC fighters from China and Asia are right behind them. There’s so much potential in this part of the world that if properly developed will reach the highest levels of the sport, which is the main reason we decided to invest in and build the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai in 2019.
Liang, 24, from Heilongjiang province, was the WLF women’s flyweight champion, and is on a four-fight win streak. Qileng, 27, from Inner Mongolia, was the WLF bantamweight champion, and is on a six-fight win streak, four of them inside the distance.
In other promising news for the nation, Su The Tibetan Eagle Mudaerji debuted in the UFC’s top 15 flyweights this week. Mudaerji is on a three-fight win streak, including a Performance Bonus winning KO of Malcolm Gordon at UFC Vegas 15 on November 28, 2020. He used the $50,000 to stay in the USA and train at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. Other Chinese prospects training at TAM include Song The Kung Fu Monkey Yadong, Li The Leech Jingliang, and Yan “Nine” Xiaonan.
In addition to bringing tremendous talent to the UFC, in a sport overpopulated by Pitbulls and Assassins, the Chinese fighters are bringing some colorful new nicknames. My most to least favorite are:
1. The Kung Fu Monkey
2. “Dragon Girl”
3. Mongolian Murderer
4. The Tibetan Eagle
5. The Mongolian Knight
6. The Leech
7. “Nine”
Nine gets lost in translation. The word in Mandarin for the number nine sounds like luck, so the nickname is sort of like Lucky-ish.
UG, what’s your favorite nickname, and what do you think about the prospects of more UFC champions from China?
