WATCH TIBETAN EAGLE: Tibet’s first UFC fighter, Su Mudaerji’s journey to Octagon cage in Chinese MMA

Oct 02, 2026

Shanghai (China), September 02, 2026 (ANI): The road to fight night is built on repetition. Sweat-soaked training sessions. Bruises that haven't fully healed. Drills done so many times they become instinct. But for this contender it's also a journey that began far from the bright lights of the octagon. Video journalist, Nicoco Chan said, “I'm in Shanghai with Su Mudaerji, otherwise known as the ‘Tibetan Eagle’ or ‘Sumu’. He is the first Tibetan fighter to compete in the UFC and is a rising star in Chinese MMA. Ahead of his next bout, we're here to learn what it takes to get into the cage and how he got here to begin with.” Long before packed arenas and UFC rankings, Su's world looked very different. He grew up in the mountains of China's Sichuan province, helping his family farm potatoes, corn and watermelons. UFC felt a world away. UFC fighter Su Mudaerji, said, “I had watched UFC fights before, but it was very difficult to imagine, I didn’t dare to imagine, that I could actually compete there. At the time, I think my dream was simply that, if I trained in combat sports, maybe one day I could appear on TV. That already felt like a huge dream. After appearing on TV, I won a championship belt, then fought in the UFC, and eventually made it into the top 15. And that’s where I am today.”