Asia’s top prospects will gather at the end of the summer for the semifinal round of Road to UFC, but there’s one catch- it won’t be in Asia.
After the opening round of Road to UFC- a three-round tournament for fighters from Asian countries compete for UFC contracts- unfolded at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai last month, the promotion announced that the semifinals would take place at the end of the summer. Multiple sources have confirmed to MMA Ecosystem that the next round will take place on Friday, August 23rd, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The semifinal round of Road to UFC originally was supposed to go down on Asian soil, as the UFC planned their big return to China the same weekend in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. However, that UFC Fight Night event has been cancelled, and a new Fight Night event in the United States was just added as a replacement.
It’s unclear what the reason for setting the Road to UFC semifinals in Las Vegas rather than returning to the PI in Shanghai is, as the fighters will have to acquire visas to the United States to compete. It’s also unclear the time slot that the fights will occupy, whether it will be catered to East Asian prime time (taking place in the early morning in Las Vegas) or at a standard evening slot in Las Vegas.
As it stands, the semifinal matchups remain are as the UFC announced at the conclusion of the opening round:
Strawweight: Dong Huaxiang vs. Shi Ming
Strawweight: Feng Xiaocan vs. Miki Motono II
Men’s Flyweight- Ruel Panales vs. Kiru Singh Sahota
Men’s Flyweight- Choi Dong Hoon vs. Angad Bisht
Bantamweight- Tokitaka Nakanishi vs. Baergeng Jieleyisi
Bantamweight- Yoo Soo Young vs. Daermisi Zhawupasi
Featherweight- Masuto Kawana vs. Xie Bin
Featherweight- Shin Haraguchi vs. Zhu Kangjie
Road to UFC season three airs on UFC Fight Pass, and the winner of each weight class will receive a UFC contract.
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