Survivor is an aspirational reality TV show which features Americans in an isolated setting tormenting one another to win a cash prize.
The show’s success spurred the UFC to create The Ultimate Fighter in 2005. Sixteen MMA hopefuls were cooped up in a house and given elimination fights which culminated in a final fight with a UFC contract as the prize.
That punch-up – between Forrest Griffin and Stephan “American Psycho” Bonnar – was an absolute slobberknocker* that put the UFC on the fight entertainment map. The promotion sought to repeat that success with The Ultimate Fighter China in 2013.
TUF Middle Kingdom
Middleweight Cung Le served as head coach for the show, overseeing Team Sky Dragons and Team Flying Lions. While both teams had some standout fighters, early attention focused on yoga instructor Li Jinying, who had no fighting experience and said he was reluctant to punch other contestants. After two rounds of sparring with one of the assistant coaches, Li quit and was replaced by an alternate.
The finale, held in Macau during UFC Fight Night: Kim vs. Hathaway in March 2014, proved more salubrious as Zhang “The Warrior” Lipeng (张立鹏) defeated Wang “The Fire Kylin” Sai (王赛) and earned the precious contract. But neither fighter went far in the UFC. The organisation found little success with the Chinese...the men, anyway.
Soft (punching) power
When the UFC debuted in Macau in November 2012, women weren’t allowed to fight. In 2026, a squad of Chinese women –headed by former strawweight champ Zhang “Magnum” Weili (张伟丽) – spearhead the UFC’s efforts in greater China, boosting the international profile of the Las Vegas-based organisation.
Zhang’s popularity is based on her positive attributes: she’s a dominant and winning fighter, she’s respectful of her opponents, and she’s personable. She represents Chinese soft power: the concept that success in cultural areas translates to a positive image overseas.
Movies and music face linguistic barriers, but knockouts require no translation. Zhang, whose signature walkout song is “Swordsman & Sea of Laughter” (沧海一声笑) from the 1992 Cantonese film Swordsman II (笑傲江湖II東方不敗), thus serves as an unofficial ambassador for the nation.
Soft power is based on persuasion, and in 2019, Zhang persuaded the UFC to award her a championship belt by knocking out Brazilian Jéssica “Bate Estaca” (“Pile Driver”) Andrade in the first round. Her star has risen since.
Doctor Sleep
Friday night’s Road to UFC: Macau Day 2 event witnessed the rise of another Chinese soft ambassador from the pugilistic realm. In the main event, straw weight Shi Ming (石铭), a 27-year-old fighter from Kunming, trapped Indian fighter Puja Tomar in an arm triangle choke, forcing Tomar to tap out.
The submission victory added onto Shi’s reputation after her November 2024 headkick finish of Feng “Little Flower” (冯萧灿) Xiaocan, a knockout so spectacular that commentator Michael Bisping immediately dubbed Shi “Doctor Sleep”: “Doctor” because Shi holds a Master’s degree from the Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and “Sleep” from the impromptu naps she dishes out to her opponents. The diminutive yet muscular strawweight fights in the same division as Zhang Weili and perennial contender Yan Xiaonan (闫晓楠).
While Zhang wasn’t fighting in Macau, she was in attendance, along with flyweight champion Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko from Kyrgyzstan, welterweight Li “The Leech” Jingliang (李景亮) and flyweight Wang “The Joker” Cong (王聪). Wang seeks to improve her already impressive 9-1 record when she battles Tracy Cortez in Las Vegas this July.
* “Slobberknocker” refers to a fiercely contested, highly physical, or violent confrontation—most commonly a hard-hitting sports match or a chaotic fistfight. The word is a colourful English compound combining slobber (saliva/drool) and knocker (one who strikes). The literal imagery implies a blow so powerful that it knocks the spit or drool right out of someone’s mouth. – Gemini
Feng “Little Flower” Xiaocan (left) trades kicks with Kyrgyzstans Farida Abdueva at “Road to UFC Macau” Day 2, at Galaxy Arena in Cotai last Friday. – Photos: Getty Images and UFC
Headliner Shi Ming is declared the winner during her bout at “Road to UFC Macau” Day 2, at Galaxy Arena in Cotai last Friday.
