An MMA club in southeastern China is allegedly adopting orphans and training them to be mixed martial artists.
Enbo MMA, located in Chengdu, puts children through intensive training and has kids as young as 12 fight each other without head protection. This is done for the entertainment of an adult audience.
“Conor McGregor is my role model,” one of the children claims in the video posted below.
Enbo trains over 400 orphans, and the gym certainly takes advantage of the youths desperate position:
“What can you do back home?” one of the trainers asks the children. “Shepherd cattle or pigs? Or Be a beggar? Or be a gangster?”
However, the Tibetan police officer who started the club defends his gym, claiming the children were all adopted legally.
Two 14-year-old members of Enbo also defend the club, stating that, while the training is tough, life is better at the there than it is at home:
“There is everything here – food, clothes and a place to live,” said one of the boys, whose name is Xiao Wu, “The food here is much better. There is beef and eggs but I can only have potatoes at home.”
Wu has been training at the club since he was 11.
Still, one has to wonder just how ethical it is to put young children through one of the world’s most dangerous sports.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfgCAGZAinA
