The UFC’s Asian roster is about to make some significant gains.
32 fighters from the countries of China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines will take part in the “Road to UFC” series that kicks off in June. Eight fighters competing in flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight will fight in the opening round of a tournament on June 9th and 10th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, just before the giant UFC 275 card on Saturday, June 11th.
MMA Ecosystem first reported the fights for the opening round, listed below:
FLYWEIGHT
Qiu Lun vs. Wallen de Rosario (June 9)
Choi Seung Guk vs. Rama Supandhi (Date TBA)
Park Hyun Sung vs. Jeremia Siregar (June 10)
Yuma Horiuchi vs. Topnoi Kiwram (June 10)
BANTAMWEIGHT
Xiao Long vs. Kim Min Woo (Date TBA)
Keremuaili Maimaitituoheti vs. Kazama Toshiomi (June 9)
Gugun Gusman vs. Rinya Nakamura (Date TBA)
Wulijiburen vs. Shohei Nose (Date TBA)
FEATHERWEIGHT
Lu Kai vs. Angga Hans (June 10)
Hong Jun Young vs. Koyomi Matsushima (Date TBA)
Yi Zha vs. Keisuke Sasu (June 10)
Lee Jeong Young vs. Xie Bin (June 10)
LIGHTWEIGHT
Balajin vs. Ki Won Bin (June 9)
Aili Muratbak vs. Pawan Maan Singh (June 9)
Asikeerbai Jinensibieke vs. Kim Kyung Po (June 10)
Anshul Jubli vs. Patrick Sho Usami (June 10)
The method of choosing the next round of fights- due to take place in the fall- is unknown. The winners of each tournament will receive a UFC contract, although other fighters that impress the UFC brass could very well receive contracts as well.
In addition, a handful of non-tournament bouts will fill out the two cards on June 9th and 10th. Zhang Mingyang vs. George Tokkos (first reported by Alex Behunin) takes place on June 9th, while Josefine Knuttson vs. Seo Ye Dam (reported by Frontkick Online) takes place on June 10th. Welterweights Kim Han Seul and John Adajar will likely compete as well, potentially against each other.
The series airs on UFC Fight Pass at 3:30am EST / 12:30am PST on June 9th and 10th.
UFC 275 takes place in Singapore and features a championship double-header. Brazilian light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira puts his new belt on the line against the dangerous Czech striker Jiri Prochazka in the main event, while flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko looks to record an incredible seventh title defense against Taila Santos. Also on the main card, former strawweight champions Zhang Weili and Joanna Jędrzejczyk battle for a second time since their epic war two years ago.
Stay tuned to MMASucka for more updates on Road to UFC.
