Speaking of Sanda, with Wang Cong winning her last fight, China now has 4 ranked UFC fighters and of course 1 UFC champion. This unironically makes it one of the strongest Asian MMA countries at the highest levels right now despite being quite late to the game and not having a warrior culture. Something that should be noted is every fighter now or before that became ranked out of China has a Sanda base.
Not too long ago there was some narrative that China was somehow against MMA coz it exposed their fairy tale Kung Fu or whatever. Yet Sanda which is literally state supported has pulled through and there is even a UFC performance institute in Shanghai. Someone like Zhang Weili is a huge star in China. This is a demonstration of how pure hard results can crush narratives. But more importantly it shows how China can come across something new and embrace it contrary to what people think.
While there is a long way to go before competing with the big boys like Russia, Brazil and of coz the US, it shows it can be done and its not impossible. One thing that is lacking though is the coaching and gyms in China are still quite bad. I believe all the ranked fighters as well as the champ train overseas.
