The Ultimate Fighting Championship is sharing its high-performance training expertise with the launch of a nationwide fitness contest in China.

The UFC, with support from Migu Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Mobile, recently announced a partnership with the General Administration of Sport of China's leisure sports administrative center to jointly host an MMA-inspired physical fitness competition series.

The first-of-its-kind series, featuring training methods and standards tailored for MMA athletes, kicked off its opening leg in Chengdu on Saturday and is scheduled to conclude its first season at the UFC's Performance Institute in Shanghai.

The competition is divided into three age groups — 6-12, 12-16 and adult — and will feature a variety of contests such as striking skills, wrestling test, reactions and grip strength test.

The series is aimed at raising awareness of the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle, improving fitness levels among the Chinese public, and encouraging greater sports participation of all ages and backgrounds.

"In collaboration with China Mobile Migu and the UFC, the new 'Comprehensive Physical Fitness Competition' aims to make use of international scientific training experience to engage more people in scientific fitness through the mass media, stimulate their enthusiasm for sports, explore their sports potential and make sports and fitness a part of public life," said Hu Qin, secretary general of the China Martial Arts Development Commission.

Recognized as a global standard-setter for high-performance physical and rehabilitation services, the UFC has designed the programs and tests, established the rules and scoring system and provided the equipment for each event.

"We know how to test and evaluate the various techniques in our sport. And these have all been integrated into this mixed martial arts-inspired fitness competition," said Kevin Chang, UFC senior vice-president and head of UFC Asia.

"We also have expertise in training the nontechnical aspects of all sports of which strength and conditioning are particularly relevant here …We've trained countless elite-level athletes of all sports disciplines, and this has contributed greatly to how we've designed the format of the competition."

The joint initiative to launch the fitness contest reflects the UFC's commitment to not just helping develop the country's burgeoning MMA scenes but also facilitating the entire sports and fitness sector, Chang added.

"I think it goes much broader than that," Chang said of the UFC's investment in China including the establishment of the Shanghai PI.

"We want to come in and lend our expertise in overall sports science in the various aspects of training for athletes of all disciplines to improve their chances of success."

Migu, a major digital content aggregation platform, and China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in China, will promote the competition via their extensive platforms and by producing "compelling original content".