Zhang Tiequan, or Zhang Tie Quan (, born July 25, 1978), often anglicized to Tiequan Zhang, is a Chinese

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

, who last competed as a

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

in the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

. A professional competitor since 2005, Tiequan spent most of the beginning of his career fighting in the Art of War Fighting Championship in his native

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, until he signed with WEC in the United States. He is notable for being the first fighter from China to be signed to the UFC and the first to win a bout with the promotion.

Background

Zhang began training in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

and

Mongolian wrestling Mongolian wrestling, known as Bökh ( Mongolian script: ; Mongolian Cyrillic: Бөх or Үндэсний бөх), is the folk wrestling style of Mongols in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and other regions where touching the ground with anything other ...

as a child and won the Inner Mongolian Wrestling Championships at the age of 16. After this, he was recruited to fight at one of

's top

Sanshou Sanda (), formerly Sanshou (), is the official China, Chinese kickboxing full-contact combat sport. In Chinese language, Chinese Language, "Sanda" originally referred to independent and separate training and combat techniques in contrast to "Ta ...

academies where he was under the tutelage of Sanda coach, Zhao Xuejun. In 2005, Zhao convinced Zhang to move to MMA making him one of the earliest professional MMA fighters in China. Zhang is also China's first-ever brown belt and black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

When the Art of War Fighting Championship, China's largest mixed martial arts organization, was founded in 2005, the company's founder

Andy Pi Andrew Pi (nicknamed Andy; ; born 1973) is a Chinese Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioner and businessman. He is best known as a founder of Art of War Fighting Championship (AOW), the first professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in ...

invited a number of fighters from Zhang's academy to fight there. Zhang then took up mixed martial arts and won his first thirteen fights, over a five-year period, all by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

or submission.

World Extreme Cagefighting

In August 2010, Zhang joined World Extreme Cagefighting, one of the largest mixed martial arts organizations in North America. He was expected to make his WEC debut against Alex Karalexis at '' WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan'' in September 2010. However, Karalexis was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer

Jason Reinhardt Jason Reinhardt (born October 31, 1969) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2011, Reinhardt fought in the UFC and King of the Cage. Mixed martial arts career Early career After compiling a 1-0 amate ...

. Reinhardt was then also forced from the card after failing a prefight eye exam and replaced by Pablo Garza. Zhang won the fight via submission in the first round. Zhang then fought Danny Downes on December 16, 2010 at '' WEC 53: Henderson vs Pettis'', the WEC's last ever event before merging with the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

. Zhang tasted defeat for the first time, losing via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010, WEC merged with the UFC. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. For his UFC debut, Zhang dropped down to

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

and faced

on February 27, 2011 at '' UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch''. Zhang showed accurate counters in the first few moments of the fight before eventually attempting a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compared to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

which led to a

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

victory just 48 seconds into the first round. Zhang fought Darren Elkins on October 8, 2011 at ''

UFC 136 ''UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 8, 2011, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event coincided with a two-day UFC Fan Expo held at the George R. Brown ...

'', and lost the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). Zhang repeatedly attempted unsuccessful

s which left him on his back where he was unable to scramble and received punches and elbows for the majority of the bout. Zhang was expected to face Leonard Garcia on February 26, 2012 at

UFC 144 ''UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 26, 2012, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Venue UFC 144 was held at the Saitama Super Arena in the ...

. However, Garcia was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer

Issei Tamura is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of Pancrase. A professional competitor since 2008, he has competed for the UFC and Shooto. Mixed martial arts career Early career Tamura made his professional ...

. He lost the fight via KO in the second round. Zhang returned to

is expected to face

Jon Tuck Jonathan Cruz Tuck (born August 28, 1984) is a Chamorro professional mixed martial artist. Tuck is the first Chamorro native from Guam to be signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and competes at the Lightweight division. His of ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

on November 10, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 6. He lost via unanimous decision in a back-and-forth fight.

The Ultimate Fighter: China

In November 2013, it was announced that Zhang would serve as one of the coaches on The Ultimate Fighter: China, the China-based version of

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

which began airing in December 2013.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 15–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fuel TV: Franklin vs. Le , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, SAR, China , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–3 ,

, KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:32 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–2 , Darren Elkins , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–1 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) ,

UFC 127 ''UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, February 27, 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, February 26 in Nor ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–1 , Danny Downes , Decision (unanimous) ,

WEC 53 ''WEC 53: Henderson vs. Pettis'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on December 16, 2010 at Jobing.com Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. The event was the first time that Zuffa has ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–0 , Pablo Garza , Submission (guillotine choke) ,

WEC 51 ''WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on September 30, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. This was the only event that the WEC hosted in Colorado. Backg ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 ,

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county located in the United States, U.S. Colorado, state of Colorado. It has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sect ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0 , Daniel Digby , Submission (neck crank) , Legend Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Kowloon Bay Kowloon Bay (Chinese: 九龍灣) is a bay within Victoria Harbour and a neighbourhood within Kowloon, Hong Kong. The bay is located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island. It is the eastern portion of Victor ...

, Hong Kong ,

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

bout. , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 , Caloy Baduria , Submission (armbar) , URCC 15: Onslaught , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:21 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Yonglong Zhu , Submission (kimura) , Ultimate Martial Arts Combat , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:06 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Arthit Hanchana , Submission (triangle choke) , Xian Sports University: Ultimate Wrestle , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:46 ,

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Caloy Baduria , Submission (guillotine choke) , URCC 13: Indestructible , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:03 ,

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Malik Arash Mawlayi , Submission (punches) , AOW 10: Final Conflict , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:48 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Erik Kalseth , Submission (ankle lock) , AOW 9: Fists of Fury , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Seong Hee Kim , Submission (triangle choke) , AOW 8: Worlds Collide , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:39 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Shashi Sathe , TKO (punches) , Art of War 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:57 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , De Gi Ji Ri Hu , KO (punch) , Art of War 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:04 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Yun Tao Gong , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Art of War 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:59 , Beijing, China , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Salvador Domasian , TKO (punches) , URCC 7: The Art of War , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:48 ,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Zhao Yun Fei , Submission (choke) , Art of War 1 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Beijing, China ,

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Tiequan 1978 births Living people Chinese male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Chinese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Chinese sanshou practitioners Chinese male sport wrestlers Chinese people of Mongolian descent Martial artists from Inner Mongolia People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Bökh Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu