While it might seem like a more logical springboard for a career in showbiz, a Taipei nightclub sent Zhang Jing-xiong on a journey that will see him headline the fight card at a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event to be broadcast to millions of viewers across Asia.
The 27-year-old from Taipei will fight Mitch Chilson for the Superfight Championship belt in Singapore on Thursday as part of the Martial Combat series, billed as Asia’s Ultimate MMA fighting championship.
Chilson, nicknamed “The Dragon,” boasts a record of 16 international wins and a reputation as a talented fight tactician. Zhang, however, is the undisputed and three-year reigning Sanda champion of Taiwan and won a national K1 championship last year.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TMMA
Speaking at his gym in Taipei earlier this week, the man from Muzha recalls that by his late teens he had come to the conclusion that school wasn’t really his thing. Throwing himself into sports with a vengeance, he made the school judo team, showed promise at taekwondo and was a good enough cyclist to be selected to take part in a competition in Malaysia.
Zhang’s dream of attending a sports university was dashed, however, and the disappointment was so great he gave up sports.
He started drinking, smoking and going to nightclubs, where he slaked his thirst for competition by playing pool. One of his haunts played host to an altogether more physical form of recreation, however: unlicensed fighting tournaments.
Zhang proved to be a natural, emerging undefeated from 94 three-minute free-for-all bouts.
“I fought all comers. Trained fighters, big guys, foreigners, gangsters,” he says through a translator, miming someone closing their eyes and swinging their fists wildly.
His victories encouraged him to develop the basic Sanda skills one of his pool playing pals had taught him and enter formal competitions.
Zhang studied various martial arts, but his main focuses of interest were Sanda — a Chinese hand-to-hand self-defense system and combat sport — and kickboxing.
More recently, Zhang — whose razor-sharp reflexes earned him the nickname “Lighting” — has tried his hand at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, an experience that brought home the importance of grappling, in order to be a well-rounded fighter.
“I underestimated this form of fighting. I took part in a competition and ended up with a mild concussion, so I started brushing up my ground-fighting skills,” he says.
With the addition of grappling to his repertoire, opportunities in the fast-growing world of MMA have opened up for him. Zhang isn’t making any rash predictions about Thursday’s fight, but is confident ahead of his first overseas contest.
“I’m going to go for it,” he says. “You can’t have any reservations in MMA. If you’ve got any doubts, it’ll affect your performance and you’ve got to give 110 percent.”
Thursday’s bout will be broadcast in Taiwan on Star Sports on May 25 at 10pm and repeated the following day and on June 1.
“Hopefully the fight will open some doors for me and get me some international exposure,” Zhang says. “It’ll also bring more awareness of the sport in Taiwan, something the Taiwan MMA Federation has been working to achieve.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ADRIAN HARDIE
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