Know This Fighter: China’s Zhao Ya Fei

China’s population is without a doubt ginormous. When I was a kid, I thought the word ginormous was a made up word because it didn’t seem like a real one. The same can be said for China’s population. Seriously, how big a country do you have to be to be able to have a population of 1,347,350,000. It just doesn’t seem like a real number. If that wasn’t insane by itself, the annual birth rate was 16.04 million in 2011 and 52% of the population are made out of males. The numbers are mind boggling and it’s something no one will ever be able to really keep track of. Luckily for MMA fans, the only person from China you have to know this week is  Zhao Ya Fei.

Zhao Ya Fei will be representing China at ONE FC: Rise of Kings this Saturday, October the 6th. Zhao will be facing UFC Legend Jens Pulver in the first round of the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix. Many consider Zhao to be a top Chinese prospect. Zhao is a native of Henan, home of China’s martial arts famed Shaolin Temple, and he currently has a MMA record of 3 wins and 2 loses. Zhao was last seen competing at China’s Ultimate Fighting Alliance where he defeated another Chinese national, Ge Bao Da via decision. Zhao is a Sanda expert and has recently trained at the Xian Sports Institute with Vaughn Anderson in preparation for the upcoming fight with Pulver.

While Pulver is coming into this fight off a loss to top contender Eric Kelly, he is still being seen as the favorite to win this bout and progress to the next round of the Grand Prix tournament. However, it’s up to Zhao to prove everyone wrong. This will be the biggest fight of his life and it’s his one chance to prove to the world that he is one of the rising stars in Asian MMA. So check out the video below and watch him battle a legend this Saturday at ONE FC: Rise of Kings. You never know, he might shock the world and make a name for himself, and when he does, you can proudly say that you know this fighter (see what I just did there).