Every time the story of Rongzhu is told, there’s an important fact to point out right off the top, not only because it defies belief, but it foreshadows things to come: the lightweight has been fighting professionally since he was 16 years old.
Of course, he’s not the only fighter in the world to start so young, but he’s one of the only to have such sustained success over that stretch. Now aged 25 and in his second run under the UFC banner, Rongzhu has compiled a record (26-6) that many fighters ten years his senior haven’t had time to achieve, like his opponent this week at UFC Shanghai: Austin Hubbard.