About Zhang Mingyang

Zhang Mingyang (Chinese: 张名扬; born August 16, 1998) is a Chinese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background
Zhang was born in Taihe County in Fuyang city of Anhui province in 1998. The nickname 'Mountain Tiger' was given to him by his father since he was born in the year of the Tiger and also because his father hoped he would become brave like one.

When Zhang was seven, he met his uncle who finished his training Shaolin Monastery and trained Zhang in martial arts. At age twelve, Zhang's parents sent Zhang to the Shaolin Monastery to train after a strong request from him. He then started practicing sanda becoming the Henan Province Youth Sanda Champion and the National Youth Sanda Champion at the age of thirteen.

At age fourteen, Zhang was selected to become a member of the Shanxi Provincial Sanda Team.

While on the Sanda team, Zhang accidentally saw a UFC video on the internet. After seeing it, he decided to switch to MMA with the goal of entering the UFC. Despite his family's dissuasion, he left his hometown to move to Qingdao in Shandong province. He joined Sunkin Fight which is a subsidiary of Sunkin Group, a real estate company.