chimchimm5

iTrader: (9)

Nice

fizay

mongolian wolf goes BEAST MODE! I had to replay the counters a few times, they were so fast.

d-ta

iTrader: (1)

didn't realize the level of talent in chinese mma was coming up to this degree. i'm impressed. zhang made it look like a cakewalk.

definitely looking forward to seeing him fight more in the future.

04GG

iTrader: (33)

I was out of town so I missed this one.

Choku Dori

iTrader: (2)

Zhang and Liu Hailong are two of the best in a sea of mediocre or worse talent.

iLoqin

iTrader: (5)

Uhh.. haven't you watched some MMA from asia? Those guys are stupid fast.

Choku Dori

iTrader: (2)

A lot of Mainland Chinese and Korean fighters are still not world class yet. Generally speaking, they lack technical skills and knockout power. Hopefully with time and experience though, they'll improve and be able to mix it up with the Americans, Brazilians, Japanese, Dutch, etc. I base these observations of the performances I see in Pancrase, Shooto, Deep, GCM, Art of War, Spirit, etc., and also K-1 (especially the Asia GP) and Wu Lin Feng (it always feels like a waste of time watching it, yet I can't ever stop haha!)

iLoqin

iTrader: (5)

I've seen some crazy things in K-1 with all the different ethnic background fighters that come from there... even the ones that made Silva submit. Yet no person in the UFC has figured that out. I've seen enough videos and I know there are fighters who can hang in the UFC, as shown with the OPs post. They might not be the bomb droppers, but they're quick and think fast.

Choku Dori

iTrader: (2)

You're thinking of Pride, and those were the glory days of MMA, a whole 'nother level of fighting back then. You're also thinking of the Japanese fighters Chonan Ryo (who did the flying scissors heel hook on Anderson) and Takase Daiju (who triangle choked him). It's no surprise, considering that the Japanese have doing pro MMA since the eighties (with Shooto) and have had style vs. style competitions well before that even (look up Antonio Inoki's fight against Muhammed Ali in the '60s). That being said, Anderson Silva has shown tremendous improvement in his skill set since his matches against Takase and Chonan.

If you're trying to imply that all East Asian fighters are at the same level, I would have to disagree. It has nothing to do with race or ethnicity, but it does have to do with nationality in the sense of training infrastructure within various East Asian nations. As stated, Japan's been in the game for a long time and has had experience fighting against some of the biggest names in MMA for decades (and has also produced some of the biggest names in MMa like Sakuraba Kazushi, Sakurai Hayato, Sato Rumina, etc.); hence, the level of development of training is greater (note the proliferation of purpose-driven MMA, kickboxing, and grappling gyms in Japan, many of which stable pro fighters). Compare that to South Korea, where the scene is still nascent -- there are only one or two arguably world class gyms (Japan-headquartered CMA Korea and Pusan Team MAD, maybe Team Tackle) with only a small level of fighters that can hang at the international level (Kim Dong Hyun comes to mind, while Parky and Korean Zombie are honestly still B-level despite their fighting spirit; Dennis Kang doesn't count since he's Canadian and washed up haha). To prove that this has nothing to do with ethnicity, though, look at Akiyama Yoshihiro, an ethnic Korean Japanese national who is a well-rounded and dynamic fighter that's currently signed to the UFC (although he is admittedly not fighting with smart game plans these days).

As for Mainland China, since the MMA scene has only entered the country within the last five years or so, it's practically nonexistent -- most fighters, even the best Chinese fighters like Zhang Tiequan, are San Da converts. If you look at the first Art of War event, most of the San Da converts are completely clueless after they hit the mat post-takedown. A number of them also lack KO power despite decent striking placement. It's all because of the nature of San Da rules, which they are accustomed to and have trained in for their entire pro careers until now. However, in this short time, we can see that someone like Zhang has progressed this far. Although he's the exception rather than the rule at the moment, it offers a glimmer of hope for the future of Chinese MMA.