Meet Taiwan’s first pro female Mixed Martial Arts fighter

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By Zhang Dayu and Qi Jianqiang

With her casual smile and modest manner, Jenny Huang will not strike you as the fierce-looking fighter that locks her opponents to submission in the ring.“I was really into Jackie Chan when I was a kid,” she says, “I tried to imitate his moves every time I saw him on TV and my dad would always joke about sending me to Shaolin Temple.”

The Buddhist shrine in central China’s Henan Province is famous for its Kung Fu monks.

“I took it seriously until I realized they don’t recruit girls,” she adds.

However, beyond wrong first impressions, one will find an indomitable warrior inside Taiwan’s first professional female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter.

26-year-old Jenny Huang is late to enter the MMA scene but she is yet to meet an opponent that could stop her. (Photo: Jenny Huang)

Since her debut in 2015, Jenny has kept a flawless record and her streak of victories granted her a rare opportunity to challenge the championship belt.

In MMA, fighters are allowed to use a variety of fighting techniques enabling them to both strike and grapple their opponents, either standing or on the ground. As a result, intense cross-training has become a crucial step for those competing at the top level.

Being the only pro fighter in her club in Taiwan, Jenny decided to leave home for better training at a professional MMA club in Tianjin, a northern coastal city on the mainland.

“We have known each other for a few years and Jenny contacted me when she was presented with the opportunity,” says the club’s General Manager Ben Shen.

Starting as a Muay Thai gym for amateurs, the club has now 3,000 registered members and houses 12 professional fighters known as the Tianjin Top Team. Ben owes the success to MMA’s expedient growth and aims to take his athletes to compete at an international level.

Pro MMA fighters at a training session

China’s sports market is currently estimated at around 1.7 trillion yuan (247 billion US dollars), and the central government is looking to almost double the figure to 3 trillion yuan (436.3 billion US dollars) by 2025.

The huge growth potential has driven major international players in MMA to tap into the Chinese market.

ONE Championship (ONE FC), Asia’s largest MMA promoter has chosen China as the venue to five of its 15 events this year. Victor Cui, the group’s CEO says they plan to double this number next year.

“Fighters are emerging in this country. Every day new fighters contact us to get into our events,” says Victor.“We plan to take Chinese athletes and build them as global superstars.”

As the market continues to grow, athletes like Jenny are gaining more exposure and influence on public opinion.

60-70 Chinese fighters are competing in One Championship, and the number's rising every year (Photo: One Championship)

“There are a lot of (MMA) fans out there, especially females who used to think fighting is too violent,” says Ben, “but as we promote the game, they now realize that the fighters are just ordinary people who choose such lifestyle.”

The increased popularity of MMA has created a trend among sports enthusiasts to explore it as a training option. As for Jenny, her eyes are set on the big prize.

“Winning the championship belt is part of my dream, but it’s not the end.”

“I hope to fight on bigger stages and let the world know Jenny Huang from the city of Taipei.”