Chinese MMA: Rickson Gracie and Tim Sylvia round out an all-star guest list at Art of War

At the recent Art of War 12: Invincible MMA event in Beijing, the sponsor His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi apparently shelled out enormous amounts of money to ensure that some of the biggest names in MMA and BJJ were in attendance.

Over the past weekend, the Art of War 12: Invincible show in Beijing, China featured some of the biggest stars in MMA and BJJ. The show was announced by Michael Buffer, referreed by BIg John McCarthy, and had an unbelievable number of other stars. The people that I can personally confirm include Tim Sylvia, Rickson Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Royce Gracie, Royler Gracie, Rolles Gracie, Jeremy Horn, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, Bas Rutten and Fabricio Werdum.

With such a prestigious crowd, one would have hoped that the MMA card was any good, but unfortunately it was relatively terrible. The first half of the show was the undercard, which featured fighters who looked like they had little to no idea what they were doing. Ugly ugly standup, very poor BJJ, and conditioning that ensured the action ground to a halt if the fight continued on long enough. I actually really like the Art of War format, which has 3 rounds of 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and then 2 minutes with no judging (if the fight is not finished then it is a draw), but ithe 10 minute first round was torturous to watch with subpar fighers.

The second half of the show was slightly better, with more skilled fighters who would not have looked out of place at some regional shows in the US, but no one approaching elite level MMA. Rolles Gracie fought a Russian figher whom he submitted in the first round, while the main event was a classic China vs. Japan match. The crowd is overwhelmingly in favor of local fighers, but unfortunately most of the Chinese fighters I have seen thus far lack the experience and training to compete at a high level. 

Overall, Beijing has a very small but growing MMA scene. There are several BJJ black belts out here who run training academies (including the Black Tiger Academy taught by two of Pedro Sauer's blackbelts Professor Chet Quint and Jeff Olsen and Beijing BJJ Academy run by Pedro Schmall) but there is definitely a lack of quality MMA shows. However, it is a huge market and I personally hope that the sport begins to gain more popularity out here. With over 1.3 billiion Chinese people, it'd be only a matter of time before a few stars would emerge if the sport caught on.