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I recently met Derek, a Chinese youth from Guangdong province who has a vision. He wants to be an MMA champion.
Life has shoved him into a corner, and he's laying everything on the line — possibly even his life — to break out.
Derek is 15 years old.
He asked me not to use his Chinese name, but he shared his story. He grew up in an orphanage, abandoned as an infant. He doesn't know if his parents are alive or dead, and he doesn't care. He's on his own now, and sees the mixed martial arts cage as a gateway to the respect that has eluded him so far in life.
At the orphanage, and later in school, he was frequently bullied and shamed. He chafes at the memory and spews out an admirable stream of profanity in English. He picked up the language on his own, mostly by watching movies.
Eventually, he learned to fight.
When I met him, Derek had won eight straight matches in the cage. He feels power growing within, both physical strength and strength of mind. "What are you looking for?" I asked. He answered: "Infinity."
He wants to rise. He wants to go to school. He wants to love and be loved. Right now, though, a couple hundred yuan in his pocket feels like a fortune. A full belly is a rarity. He has barely enough to eat — and to fight.
He is laser-focused on his dream, working out five hours a day so he can enter an octagon in a dimly lit private club for a chance to win enough prize money to heal, and then fight again. He might get bloodied. He might bloody his opponent. Either way, it's punishing, dangerous work, if you can call it that.
Youngsters like Derek who have nowhere else to go are easy marks for exploitation. They fight for survival.
Derek lives alone. A week ago, he scraped up everything he had for an entry fee of 500 yuan ($75). The winner would be paid 4,000.
Derek, who weighs 61 kilograms, was paired against a 19-year-old who was 17 kg heavier — a dangerous mismatch. Four years of development matters.
Three minutes per round for 10 rounds, if you can last that long.
Derek unleashed his energy, and the other guy's nose and lip paid the price, bleeding profusely after three rounds.
Then came Round 4. The bigger fellow attacked ferociously, taking Derek to the mat and pounding his head with both fists. "I lost control of my body," Derek told me. "Dizzy."
And then he blacked out.
When he woke up, still lying on the mat, the place had emptied out. Someone at the bar was laughing at him, telling him to get up and go home.
Concussions can be deadly, but Derek brushed it off: "He was so fast. He was better than me," he said. "So I must be faster."
Chinese authorities are taking a close look at orphan fighters. In Chengdu, Sichuan province, for example, they are investigating the Enbo MMA Club, which has trained hundreds of boys as young as 8. All of them want to be champions, though the odds are heavily stacked against them. If desperate children are used for profit, that should end.
With some help, there may be hope for a better future.
About the author & broadcaster
Randy Wright joined China Daily as an editor in 2013. His career spans 36 years and 10 newspapers in the United States in senior management, editorial writing and reporting roles. He served as adjunct faculty at the University of Arizona and has consulted for many publications, including the California Bar Journal for lawyers and judges. He is a licensed pilot in the US.
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