The UFC is an ever expanding promotion who are constantly on the lookout for new and upcoming talent from all over the globe.
As of late, Dana White and the UFC have begun to tap into the Asian market more often in recent years. With their ‘Road to the UFC’ tournament now an annual occurrence, it’s clearly a market that the UFC are focussing on. On top of this, they opened up a second UFC performance institute in Shanghai in 2019, one of only three in the world.
We take a look at five of the best Asian fighters currently in the UFC. Get great odds on these fighter’s upcoming bouts at the best betting sites in the Phillipines.
Best Asian Fighters Currently in the UFC
Zhang Weili
How can any list of Asian UFC fighters without mentioning the first ever Chinese champion, Zhang Weili. The women’s strawweight champion made a splash in the UFC when she joined the promotion at 16-1 and quickly rose to the ranks of a contender.
After just three promotional fights, Magnum gained a title shot and made impressively short work of Jessica Andrade, ending things in just 42 seconds to capture the belt. Following that belt, the vicious striker put on the best women’s fight of all time against the former long time champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Despite losing the belt, she quickly won it back just three fights later, dominating Carla Esparza to a second round finish.
The 35 year old also featured as the co-main event against fellow Chinese compatriot, Yan Xiaonan at the historic UFC 300 event.
Yan Xiaonan
Speaking of Yan Xiaonan, she also makes our top five. The 35 year old is 17-4 and recently came up short in a title bid. Despite that, however, she was able to finish Andrade in impressive fashion prior to this, as well as navigating her way past Mackenzie Dern in a fight night main event.
She sits at #10 in the women’s pound for pound rankings and will, inevitably be looking to get back to winning ways after disappointment at UFC 300.
A striking specialist, if Xiaonan can put together as little as two more wins, we could see her in a title shot once more.
Song Yadong
One of the most well-rounded, hardest hitting and likeable bantamweights on the roster, Song Yadong is one of the best Asian fighters on the roster. Kung Fu Kid entered the UFC at just 20 years of age and now, still just 26 years old, he’s made a name for himself at 135lbs.
Although he’s picked up three promotional losses, he’s bounced back and still finds himself in contendership for a potential title shot in the future. With 14 UFC outings to his name, Yadong has recorded six finishes and, impressively, already headlined three fight night cards.
He’s clashed with two former title challengers as well as a former champion and although it hasn’t always gone his way, he’s performed well each and every time. Against Cory Sandhagen, he only came up short due to a cut suffered by the Chinese native.
The future is bright for Yadong, with at least 10 years left in the game.
Rafael Fiziev
Kazakhstan-born Fiziev is without a doubt one of the best strikers and most dangerous men in the entire lightweight division. Entering the UFC at just 6-0, the now 31 year old actually lost his promotional debut. With that being said, what he learned from that loss put the whole division on notice.
He’s the holder of six straight post-fight bonuses, which saw him notch $300K in bonuses. His three performance of the night winning bonuses over Renato Moicano, Brad Riddell and Rafael dos Anjos allowed him to climb as high as #6 in the rankings at the time.
His battle with Justin Gaethje, a former multiple time title challenger, was a salivating for fans. The fight could have reasonably gone either way, however, it was the American that got his hand raised on the night.
Fiziev attempted to rebound against Mateusz Gamrot, however, he suffered a knee injury, which has kept him out of action since September 2023. Let’s hope that he can get back into the octagon soon!
Jun Yong Park
Aside from having one of the best nicknames in the business (The Iron Turtle) Jun Yong Park has gone under the radar in recent years as a legitimate middleweight contender. With a 7-3 UFC record, he’s only lost to solid competitors at 185lbs. Anthony Hernandez, Gregory Rodrigues and Andre Muniz are the only men to get the better of the South Korean. These are some of the best guys in the division.
Three straight rear-naked victories in a row saw Park almost get to a rankings spot, however, a split decision loss to Muniz saw him almost back to square on. With that being said, he’s scheduled against the well respected, Brad Tavares. The Hawaiian has never been submitted and that is certainly something that Park will put to the test when the two face off in October.
Every time that Park has lost, he’s rebounded in strong fashion, especially in the UFC so lets see if he can do the same in October.
