Never Say Never 2023

Xiang Tenghui [Wang Baoqiang] is introduced as a former MMA fighter whose name resurfaces in the wake of a troubling incident; the film opens with a raw video from a youth bout, and in 2011 he is arrested and interrogated for his connection to that event. The frame is set, but the story soon pulls back to 2001 in Longshan, Sichuan, where Xiang runs a sand-mining venture with his friend Wang Feng, a partner whose fate quickly becomes tangled with Xiang’s next plan.

The two set their sights on something riskier and more ambitious: a children’s fight club designed to train future champions and, in the process, promote a local product. To fund this venture, Xiang turns to local entrepreneur Wang Jingfu [Xiao Yang], who invests in the project, and the operation rapidly takes shape. They round up a group of local kids who had previously attacked Xiang and Wang, offering them food, shelter, and the chance to learn real fighting. Among the first recruits are two of the oldest: Ma Hu and Su Mu, whose backgrounds are traced and weighed against the promise of a new life.

Trouble follows when Wang Jingfu is arrested for peddling fake goods, threatening the club’s future. Xiang hesitates, but the kids’ stubborn resolve to train keeps him going. The story deepens as Xiang learns that Ma Hu and Su Mu have a sister who is paralyzed and unable to walk; this adds a personal motive for his decision to teach not just for show but with real intent to help. The club’s performances are staged in a bar setting, with a steel cage used to draw crowds. The first events reveal the illusion of fake fights, but Xiang’s insistence on realism pushes the group into genuine, if improvised, combat, drawing bigger crowds and more attention.

As the club grows, a larger opportunity arrives: a chance to perform in the provincial capital. Yet trouble returns when thugs disrupt a fight between Ma Hu and Su Mu, accusing the match of being fake. A real brawl erupts; Wang Feng is injured and arrested while Xiang and the boys escape. Xiang eventually bails Wang out and is urged to train the kids for real competition, a shift that transforms the club’s purpose from spectacle to legitimate sport.

A pivotal moment comes when Xiang visits his family home and confronts his past. He learns he was once a provincial MMA champion who was stripped of his gold after a drug-related incident—an incident that wasn’t entirely his fault, as his coach manipulated him into taking banned pills. This revelation leads Xiang to abandon the staged approach and commit to training his students to fight for real, even when the risks are greater and the costs higher.

Fast forward to 2011, the club has grown into a sizable operation with educators on staff, and a viral video resurfaces showing Ma Hu and Su Mu as children. An offer from an established club, CJ, arrives to sign Ma and Su and bring them into a national tournament, prompting rivalry and tension. Xiang’s defense of autonomy clashes with the young fighters’ dreams of progression; his decision to allow Ma and Su to join CJ ignites public outcry and prompts authorities to scrutinize the club.

A new chapter unfolds when Xiang, now running a silk business, receives an invitation to share his side of the story on a talk show. He travels to see Ma and Su’s sister, who has benefited from the money Xiang helped provide; she sends him postcards showing the twins touring across China. Yet the postcards bear the same stamp, prompting Xiang to investigate. A late-night drive ends in a car crash, and he discovers Ma has attempted to rob another vehicle. He confronts Su, who is now unable to walk, and the truth emerges: Su had been forced to take PEDs at CJ, and Ma had turned to banditry to pay for Su’s surgery. Xiang confronts CJ’s leadership on the talk show, where video clips reveal Ma’s entanglements and Su’s loyalty to Xiang. Xiang admits to exploiting the children to give them a future, a confession that resonates with a torn audience and triggers a broader reckoning.

The consequences ripple outward: CJ’s owner is investigated for PED use and assault, and Ma and Su are released from their contracts under pressure. Su eventually recovers from his leg injury and is able to fight again. The story then jumps ahead to a climactic moment: two years later, Su Mu fights for the FGP world Lightweight title against the reigning Brazilian champion, Connor. In a thriller of a match, Su initially struggles with Connor’s grappling but escapes a rear-naked choke in the dying seconds of the second round and lands a knockout to seize the championship. The final image follows Xiang in the stands, smoking a cigar as he walks away, the atmosphere heavy with consequence and quiet relief.

In the epilogue, the state reopens the door for the club to operate again, signaling a rebirth of the enterprise that began as a makeshift arena and grew into something larger and more complicated. Ma returns to professional fighting after his release, stepping back into the ring with a sense of hard-won experience. The film closes on a note of redemption and continuity, showing how a community can be reshaped by sport, ambition, and the difficult choices that come with mentoring a generation of young fighters.

• Key characters and actors appear in the following first-time connections: Xiang Tenghui [Wang Baoqiang], Wang Feng [Wang Xun], Wang Jingfu [Xiao Yang], Su Mu [Shi Pengyuan], bar-owner Li Mr. Li, Xiang Tenghui’s Mother [Chi Peng], Ma and Su’s sister [Zhang Yitong], and the former child star Su Mu’s Sister’s role.