How will the first all-Chinese title fight in UFC history impact China’s MMA community?
It’s early and bitterly cold, but the park next to Xi’an’s city wall is alive with activity. A group of men chat in between sets of muscle-ups on exercise bars. Elderly women walk side by side, clapping their gloved hands, while joggers cut a path through it all, leaving trails of icy breath.
But there is one noise that dominates the soundscape: the periodic “Ha!” of young, eager voices. Rows of children, eight deep, fight imaginary opponents in their martial arts class.