Chinese MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong started some online trolling by dismissing traditional martial arts as fraudulent. That didn’t sit well with tai chi practitioner Wei Lei who issued a challenge to Xu.
Unfortunately for Wei, tai chi is not a combat-focused sport. Xu demolished Wei in about 10 seconds in a livestreamed fight. It was an embarrassing mismatch. Xu was one step away from just taking Wei’s hand and telling him to stop hitting himself.
Here’s a closer look at the ending of the fight.
Following the fight, Wei came up with a few pretty creative excuses for the loss. One was that he wasn’t used to the new shoes he was wearing and the rubber soles caused him to slip. Another excuse was that if he really tried, he would have killed him and “a loss of life” would cause “disharmony.” It’s unclear whether or not he commented on the loud groan the reporter let out.
Xu has offered a rematch, but Wei has yet to accept. Which is odd. That doesn’t sound like the actions of a man who was clearly outclassed and beaten bloody.
While a rematch most likely won’t happen, multimillionaire founder of Tiandi No. 1 drinks company, Chen Sheng, issued his own challenge in a watered down version of Bloodsport. He’s giving out $1.45 million to any traditional martial artist who can defeat Xu.
The prize money will be distributed over 5 matches. The winner of each match gets $218,000 while the loser takes home $72,000.
“I want him to understand, he used this kind of extreme method to provoke Chinese traditional culture, and will need to pay the price,” said Chen, who also known as “the king of pork” in Guangzhou where he launched the Guangdong No. 1 Food Co.
Tai chi masters Lu Xing and Wang Zhanhai, Shaolin Chinese boxer Li Shangxian and monk/martial artist Yi Long are a few who’ve accepted the challenge of brain damage.