Throughout life, there are reasons where people are going to have to pull an all-nighter. Although not really recommended for a pupil’s study habits, the all-nighter comes about during exam week at college in the middle or at the end of a semester.
There are, of course, other times where the all-nighter can have a fun end result, including the occassional late night/ early morning MMA event. Another one happens Saturday morning.
Before recessing for Thanksgiving inside the United States next weekend, the UFC heads to Macau, China for the last card of the month of November from the promotion. If, however, you’re reading this from anywhere in North America, sleep will not be an option, at least not until after the UFC Macau main event. Live coverage of UFC Macau begins at 3 am ET/ midnight PT Saturday morning on ESPN+.
Undercard Headlined by Road To UFC Finals
Saturday morning’s undercard features seven fights. Highlighting the prelims before dawn in North America are three out of the four tournament finals in this year’s season of Road to UFC. Initially, all four tournament championships were to have been contested from Galaxy Arena in Macau in the promotion’s first trip to the city since the summer of 2014.
Ahead of this week’s card, however, the Road to UFC Featherweight Final was postponed to an as-yet-unconfirmed date due to the withdrawal (injury) of Zhu Kangjie (20-4, 1 NC MMA). Zhu was supposed to have fought Xie Bin (13-4 MMA) in the final on Saturday. Xie entered this season of Road to UFC having previously attempted to secure a UFC contract in 2021 on Contender Series.
Wheels up to Macau 🛫
IT'S #UFCMacau FIGHT WEEK 👊
[ B2YB @BlockAssetCo | SATURDAY | 6amET/3amPT ] pic.twitter.com/jfWstpQT9M
— UFC (@ufc) November 18, 2024
Strawweight Tournament Concludes with Feng/ Shi Tilt
To begin the tournament finals, action goes to the 115-lb. division for a contest between Feng Xiaocan (10-2 MMA) and Shi Ming (16-5 MMA) for a guaranteed UFC promotional deal. Feng Xiaocan’s MMA resume is one that already looks impressive even before she steps into the cage for the final.
Feng enters UFC Macau having gone 5-0 in her last five fights as part of an ongoing eight-fight winning streak, extended back in August (unanimous decision) over Miki Motono (8-5 MMA). Prior to entering the Road to UFC Strawweight Tournament, she won two title fights in her home country during that span, including the Happy Elephant Strawweight Championship during Happy Elephant MMA Champions League in October of last year.
Shi Ming has gone 4-1 in her last five fights and has won four fights in a row, most recently by way of split decision over Dong Huaxiang (12-3 MMA). While she does not have any prior championships on the local scene to her record at this point, beating a tough opponent in the form of Feng Xiaocan will be a great addition to her resume.
Flyweights Sahota and Choi Lock Horns in Co-Featured Prelim
The second tournament final of the day on Saturday morning sees the Road to UFC Flyweight Tournament wrap up when Kiru Singh Sahota (12-2 MMA) of the United Kingdom makes his 15th career walk to the cage when he takes on Choi Dong Hun (8-0 MMA) of South Korea.
Sahota will enter the tournament final having posted a record of 4-1 over his last five appearances dating back to December of 2022, including a unanimous decision win versus Ruel Panales (5-2 MMA). An alumnus of Cage Warriors in his native England, he’s scored three victories in succession. The first win of Sahota’s current streak was a championship victory over Daniel Missin (10-15 MMA) during BMF MMA 6 on July 15 of last year.
As far as Choi Dong Hun is concerned, he has yet to lose thus far in his MMA career, including a split decision victory over Angad Bisht (10-4 MMA). Much like Kiru Sahota, Choi also has championship victories on his ledger just eight bouts into his life in the sport. Prior to entering the flyweight tournament, he secured the Double G FC Flyweight Championship in May of 2022 before defending it later on that summer.
Both fighters in this contest have decent resumes to begin with, so which one of them can add to his on Saturday?
Yoo/ Jenisuly Contest Serves As Featured Prelim
At the top of the undercard on Saturday morning is the final tournament championship of the day. The Road to UFC Bantamweight Final will be settled between Yoo Soo Young (13-3, 2 NC MMA) and Balgyn Jenisuly (19-5 MMA). Yoo enters the tournament final having gone 3-1 with one no-contest in his last five fights and is currently on a two-fight winning streak, winning last time out over Daermisi Zhawupasi (9-2 MMA.)
He’s got a number of important victories to his credit, having won five title fights in his career.
Balgyn Jenisuly will be going into the cage for the 25th time this Saturday, having posted a 4-1 record in his last five contests and has won four consecutive contests. Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision victory against Tokitaka Nakanishi (12-4 MMA) earlier this year. Two seasoned vets will be going at it for a UFC contract.
Final Thoughts
Normally, one would have to think long and hard about three good undercard fights for a UFC show, but not this week. The fighters appearing in the three Road to UFC finals this Saturday have clearly earned their shots.
