The Ultimate Fighter: China is an international installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. It is the fourth season produced outside the United States and the first to air in China, on Liaoning Television starting December 7, 2013.
UFC officially announced the season in June 2013. Tryouts were held in July and August 2013 in Beijing, Singapore and Macao. Fighters were looked at in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions, with over 150 applicants. The featherweight and welterweight classes were ultimately chosen. Sixteen fighters competed in two single-elimination tournaments. The final bouts aired live on March 1, 2014. Vietnamese-American Cung Le was the show's mentor and chief coach. UFC fighter Tiequan Zhang and Chinese mixed martial artist Hailin Ao coached the two teams.
Cast
Chief staff Cung Le, mentor and chief coach Scott Sheeley, assistant coach
Coaches
Team Sky Dragons Tiequan Zhang, Head coach Bao Li Gao, Sanda coach Vince Soberano, Muay Thai coach Flavio Bueno, jiu jitsu coach
Team Flying Lions Hailin Ao, head coach (Episodes 1–4) An Hu, Sanda coach Marco Machado, jiu jitsu coach Fred Thomassen, assistant coach Scott Sheeley, assistant coach (Episode 5-) Alexander Gustafsson, guest coach
Fighters Team Sky Dragons Featherweights: Ning Guangyou, Fu Changxin, Yao Zhikui, and He Jianwei. Welterweights: Zhang Lipeng, Albert Cheng, Wu Qize, and Li Jinying*.
*Li quit on episode 2. He was replaced by Fu Ziyi.
Team Flying Lions Featherweights: Yang Jianping, Rocky Lee, Allen Chong, and Shih Liang. Welterweights: Wang Sai, Wang Anying, Zhu Qingxiang, and Dong Xin*.
*Dong was replaced by Yong Shun on episode 5 due to injury.
Referees John Sharp
Episodes
There will be a total of 12 episodes aired on Liaoning Satellite TV, for Season 1. Each episode is one hour long (including advertisements), with a short commentary (less than 10 minutes) following directly after the episode. TUF: China is scheduled to air every Saturday at 22:00 Beijing Time, and beginning January 2014, it will air every Saturday and Sunday, consecutively (also at the same time). The series will end on January 26, 2014."The Ultimate Fighter: China" on December 7, Liaoning TV Premiere
Episode 1: Premiere (December 7, 2013) The episode starts with an explanation about the UFC and the Ultimate Fighter (for those who are not familiar with it). The coaches enter the Ultimate Fighter training center; first one is Tiequan Zhang and then Hailin Ao. Cung Le shows up and explain them the goals of this season of the Ultimate Fighter. The fighters check the training center by themselves and start training with some equipment. The coaches arrive and explain them what the UFC is and also remind them of how important this opportunity is for the history of MMA in China and Asia. Preliminary training matches are held to gauge each fighter's strengths and weaknesses in order to determine the fighter picks made for the two teams: Team Sky Dragons and Team Flying Lions (led by Tiequan Zhang and Hailin Ao, respectively). Team Sky Dragons and Team Flying Lions then picked teams and Le flipped a coin (red for the Sky Dragons, yellow for the Flying Lions). Ao won the coin toss and opted to choose the first fighter. Featherweight selection: Team1st Pick2nd Pick3rd Pick4th PickFlying LionsYang JianpingRocky LeeAllen ChongShih LiangSky DragonsNing GuangyouFu ChangxinYao ZhikuiHe Jianwei
Welterweight selection: Team1st Pick2nd Pick3rd Pick4th PickFlying LionsWang SaiWang AnyingZhu QingxiangDong XinSky DragonsZhang LipengAlbert ChengWu QizeLi Jinying Le announces that fighters could receive $25,000 for Knockout of the Season, Submission of the Season and Fight of the Season. The teams visit their locker rooms and Le visits both of them to remind the teams of focusing on developing together during the season.
Episode 2: (December 14, 2013) The fighters from Team Flying Lions arrive at the house and explore the different bedrooms while they decide which one they should choose. In Team Sky Dragons' van ride to the House, Li Jinying talks about being a guy only used to fitness and that he joined MMA after seeing the fighters in magazines. His teammates tell him that they will help him adjust to the MMA life. He also discusses being the last pick of the team. Team Sky Dragons finally arrive at the house and they start interacting with the other fighters. During the training session of the Sky Dragons, Li reveals it was his first training and that he could not do anything but defend himself. Back in the house he discusses with a teammate who would choose to fight him and he's told that he should focus on developing his game and not letting the others know his weaknesses as they have the fight pick and they'll try to avoid his fight as long as possible. In their next session, Li still struggles with training and is unable to throw or take strikes. Cung Le is not satisfied with what he sees and the coaches discuss Li's future. Le challenges him to stay by doing two 3-minute rounds, but Li says he cannot do it because of his relationships with his teammates. Le tells him to choose one of the coaches then. After being easily dominated by Le's assistant coach Scott Sheeley, Li decides to quit. Le says that this is the best decision and that they will decide between the alternates who will replace him. Team Flying Lions finally starts training and Ao discusses how important it is to train every aspect of the game and with that they will be ready for the fights. He also introduces his coaching staff for the show. Le meets with Fu Ziyi and tells him that he's on the show as a replacement. He is very excited to be there and Zhang welcomes him. The first match-up is chosen by Tiequan Zhang: Team Sky Dragons' Zhang Lipeng vs. Team Flying Lions' Zhu Qingxiang. During the square off, Zhu pushed Zhang away. Coach Zhang compliments Zhang Lipeng's skills and comprehension to learn. Later, Zhu confesses that he pushed Zhang because he felt uncomfortable during their stare down. Zhang Lipeng said that he trained with Hailin Ao in the past and he feels that the coach really wants to see him defeated. He also reflected on how many mistakes he made in his career when he was younger and that now he has a better record and technique. Former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson made a special visit and watched the fight. Zhang Lipeng defeated Zhu Qingxiang via submission (punches) in round 1. After the fight, Le admitted that he was impressed with the back and forth action, especially because it was the first fight of the season. He praised Zhu's attitude and said he could do well with the right training. Zhang chooses the next match-up: Team Sky Dragons' Ning Guangyou vs. Team Flying Lions' Shih Liang.
Episode 3: (December 21, 2013) Cung Le and the coaches bring some beer for the fighters while they gather together to watch UFC 166. The fight pick from last episode is shown again and both fighters analyze how they should perform to win it. Hailin Ao feels that this will be a good match as Shih likes to strike and Ning prefers to wrestle. Tiequan Zhang also thinks that Ning is a good fighter and he's a good example for the rest of the team because of his commitment to training. Ben Henderson helped Team Sky Dragons with some wrestling training and complimented Ning's skills. Huang Jianxiang, the show's host, decided to make a prank with Team Sky Dragons. He pretended to be the replacement and welcomed the Flying Lions after their training session. Ning and his teammates discuss Shih's skills. Meanwhile, Team Flying Lions writes supportive messages for Shih and help him launch a Kongming lantern. During the weigh-in, Chong called out He Jianwei. Coach Vince Soberano reveals that Shih was his student for 3 years, and Ning is his student for one year. He is having a hard time watching the fight because of his feelings for both fighters. He goes to the locker room before the fight and does not watch it. Ning Guangyou defeated Shih Liang via knockout (punch) in round 2.
Episode 4: (December 28, 2013) Zhang chooses the next match-up: Team Sky Dragons' Albert Cheng vs. Team Flying Lions' Dong Xin. Hailin Ao visited the house to support his fighters, specially Shih, who lost his fight. He gave them red hot water bottles to play around with in training and warm themselves. The color was specially chosen to pick on the Sky Dragons team. Allen Chong believes that Team Sky Dragons probably chose Dong because he lacks jiu jitsu skills to compete against Cheng. Before the weigh-in, Team Flying Lions was uncomfortable with Ao's absence. After the weigh-in, Le brought them to their locker room and revealed that Ao had to leave the show for personal reasons. Therefore, the three assistant coaches are now responsible for making the decisions together. Dong Xin defeated Albert Cheng via TKO (punches) in round 2.
Episode 5: (January 4, 2014) Dong Xin enters the training center along with coach An Hu. Cung Le is waiting there with a doctor, whom explains to Dong that the results of his exams after his fight revealed a broken hand. He will be unable to continue training and fighting for the rest of the show. His teammates give him support and Le mentions that he will recommend him to fight in the live finale. After Dong leaves, Le mentions that his assistant Scott Sheeley will help them with training and will be in their corner. He will only work with them and won't interact with Team Sky Dragons' training. An chooses the next match-up: Team Flying Lions' Yang Jianping vs. Team Sky Dragons' Fu Changxin. Le welcomes Dong's replacement Yong Shun to Team Flying Lions. He mentions later that he doesn't know anything about him and he noticed that he is a very quiet person. It is not revealed if he will enter directly to the semi-finals or if he will have to fight before. Fu mentions that he wanted to fight Yang because of Yang's big experience as a fighter, while Yang mentions that he wanted Fu because he's not a strong fighter. He also says that he admires Fu's courage during the fight pick to raise his hand as a sign to fight him. Team Sky Dragons shows up with a special cake to celebrate He Jianwei's birthday. Famous actor Daniel Wu made a special visit and watched the fight. Yang Jianping defeated Fu Changxin via submission (armbar) in round 1.
Episode 6: (January 5, 2014) Fu Ziyi reveals that he wants to fight Wang Sai next because of Wang's fame around Chinese MMA and that he just wants to challenge himself. He mentions that being in the octagon is worth even being beaten by Wang. Wang Sai says that he knows the other team watches videos from the fighters of him team to discover weaknesses, but he believes that he barely has weaknesses and it will be hard for them to find out. Fu mentions that he never received such amount of professional training since he was 20 years old (He is 35 now). Later, some scenes reveal that he was cutting weight already. even though the next fight was not announced. He says that this might be the last chance of his life and that he will fight regardless of how he is feeling. An chooses the next match-up: Team Flying Lions' Wang Sai vs. Team Sky Dragons' Wu Qize. Fu seems to be surprised that he wasn't picked to fight now. Tiequan Zhang said that they were worried about Fu's weight and they made him cut weight because of that. He also says that he's surprised with the fight pick. Wang decides to joke around with the other fighters by wearing a red shirt and pretend he's fighting his own teammates in the house. Some of the other fighters believe that his behavior sometimes is annoying. Wu reveals that he already faced Wang in the past and what his opponent does not know is that he exercised a lot ever since and have made great progress. He says he is relaxed and the pressure is on Wang to perform due to being more famous than him.