Xu Xiaodong is back at it. The Beijing based MMA trainer and fighter, whose nickname is ‘Mad Dog’, has started 2019 with another MMA vs. traditional martial arts fight and another brutal stoppage.
Xu’s victim this time around is the 56-year-old Tien Ye; a self-proclaimed kung fu master whose name may translate to ‘Wild Fury’ (Chinese names often have multiple translations).
The South China Morning Post reports that Xu vs. Ye went down in a kick-boxing rules match after a Chinese tycoon offered a 30 million yuan ($4.4million) incentive to Ye if he could beat Xu. Ye was reportedly guaranteed 3 million ($440,000) even if he lost.
Footage of the contest, which was aired on television in China, is presented below thanks to YouTube user ‘01其他 Unlisted’:
In the opening exchange of their fight Xu dropped his hands and allowed Ye to land a number of shots to his jaw. Xu then covered up and threw a couple of leg and body kicks at his opponent.
After that Xu decided to throw some punches of his own. He landed at will, obliterating Ye’s nose in the process. The referee called for a break, prompting Xu to theatrically lean against one of the ring ropes.
Ye’s face was a bloody faucet at this point. His corner attempted to stem the blood with a towel, but eventually some more specialized care was called for. This resulted in Ye being bandaged up to the point that it looked like he was doing the Bird Box challenge (h/t SCMP for the reference).
While all this was happening Xu was playing to the crowd, acting like he had somewhere else to be. When the referee allowed the action to restart, Ye was at least half blind thanks to the hilarious bandage job that had been committed against him.
Despite not being able to see Xu, Ye swung wildly and may have caught ‘Mad Dog’ with a decent punch. Mercifully, Xu opted against battering Ye in the face and instead dropped him with a hard leg kick.
The referee stood Ye up and the fight continued with Ye headhunting (blindly) and Xu defending while throwing leg kicks. However, Xu got tired of kicking after a while and decided to throw a counter punch that sent Ye to the canvas and almost out through the ropes.
For some reason the referee felt Ye should continue. After the restart Xu threw a lazy spinning kick, which missed. Ye then grabbed Xu, who was facing in the opposite direction, and threw punches until the bell sounded.
In the second round Xu threw more leg kicks while letting Ye punch him in the face. Xu’s kicks had turned one of Ye’s thighs bright purple by this point. After around a minute of attacking Ye’s bruised leg Xu decided to do something different, a flying knee to the body. It landed and Ye fell for the last time.
Xu’s fight, and victory, over Ye proved as controversial as everything else Xu has done over the past two years.
Xu first became known after battering a tai chi master in an underground gym fight in Chengdu back in 2017. That fight came after Xu claimed that traditional martial arts were a scam and not appropriate for self defense or combat.
Xu’s comments about traditional martial arts intensified after that fight, much to the ire of the wulin (China’s traditional martial arts community). Xu then issued an open challenge to martial artists who thought they could beat him.
The challenge went viral on Chinese social media before posts on the popular platform Weibo began disappearing. Xu’s Weibo account was also taken down, leading him to tell the BBC that he would cease his challenge and instead learn traditional martial arts himself. This lead China-watchers to believe China’s government may be responsible for the social media takedowns.
Not long after this Xu was back in the news, after an attempted MMA vs. tai chi mass brawl was broken up by police. After that, Xu’s challenged seemed to have gotten somewhat gentrified. His next MMA vs. traditional martial arts fight went down in front of TV cameras and a bevy of security/police personnel.
Xu’s next style vs. style fight might already be in the works, against someone who was not impressed with his win over Ye. South China Morning Post reported that Kunlun Fight kick-boxing champion Zheng Zhaoyu called out Xu after this most recent fight.
That outlet stated that Zheng called Xu vs. Ye a fight between a “madman and an idiot.” Zheng also said he would knock Xu out in 30 seconds if they ever had a kickboxing match.
In response to Zheng’s mocking, Xu responded with the following message: “Little kid Zheng, I tell you, I hit the fake fighters and cheaters which has little to do with you. You are doing this because you are trying to take advantage of it.”
Xu then accepted Zheng’s challenge.
Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow to find out if this actually happens.
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