Report: MMA club adopts orphans, trains them to fight

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 27:  Jon Fitch of the USA is pinned to the cage by BJ Penn of the USA during UFC 127 at Acer Arena on February 27, 2011 in Sydney, Australia.  (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Credit: Mark Kolbe

Credit: Mark Kolbe

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 27: Jon Fitch of the USA is pinned to the cage by BJ Penn of the USA during UFC 127 at Acer Arena on February 27, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

A mixed martial arts club is under investigation after allegedly adopting hundreds of orphans and training them to be fighters.

Authorities in the Sichuan province of China are investigating the Enbo MMA Club after a video posted online shows two 14-year-old boys, Xiao Long and Xiao Wu, in a cage fight, according to the South China Morning Post.

The video alleges the teenagers are just two of nearly 400 children who have been adopted and intensely trained in mixed martial arts over the past 16 years.

The children allegedly have been adopted from an impoverished area of China after the company received approval from civil affairs authorities.

En Bo, the club’s founder and former armed police officer, says in the video he opened the MMA club as a way to get children off of the streets and provide an alternative to crime.

Club supervisor Zhu Guanghui said the club was under investigation, but En Bo claims in the video that all of the adoptions are legal and have been endorsed by the government, according to the South China Morning Post.

Despite the controversial nature of the club, Xiao Wu, one of the fighters featured in the video, claims says that he doesn’t want to leave the club.

“There is everything here – food, clothes and a place to live,” Xiao Wu said in the video. “The food here is much better than at home. There is beef and eggs here, but at home I can only eat potatoes. [If i go back home] I will have to take up labouring jobs.”

Read more at the South China Morning Post.