Road to UFC returns for S3 with Asia's top MMA talent: Date, venue, and contestants revealed

In a recent press release, UFC announced on April 23, 2024, the third season of Road to UFC, the most significant opportunity for Asia's top MMA prospects to make it to the world stage. Following the successful format of Season 2, the opening round will take place across two days, May 18 and 19, at the UFC Performance Institute (UFC PI) in Shanghai, China.

The facility, at 93,000 square feet - nearly thrice larger than the one in Las Vegas - is the world's largest state-of-the-art MMA training establishment. Serving the greater Asia-Pacific region, it is also the "Official High Performance Advisor" to the Chinese Olympic Committee. It was purpose-built for live remote production (REMI) via connection to its sister facility, UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The ground-breaking "win and advance" tournament will take top MMA prospects from Asia and give them a pathway to a UFC contract. The format features 32 mixed martial arts athletes competing in each of four weight classes. Additionally, four non-tournament bouts will be included to provide more opportunities.

Road to UFC season 3 will feature men’s flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight divisions, and for the first time, the women's strawweight division. To provide additional opportunities for top MMA prospects in Asia, there will also be four non-tournament bouts. There are four athletes representing India. The participants and bouts include:

Flyweight (>56.7kg)

• Jiniushiyue (China) vs Dong Hoon Choi (South Korea)
• John Almanza (Philippines) vs Angad Bisht (India)
• Toki Matsui (Japan) vs Ruel Panales (Philippines)
• Kiru Singh Sahota (India) vs Yin Shuai (China)

Bantamweight (>61.2kg)

• Soo Young Yoo (South Korea) vs Shohei Nose (Japan)
• Daermisi Zhawupasi (China) vs Ren Ozaki (Japan)
• Kyu Sung Kim (South Korea) vs Tokitaka Nakanishi (Japan)
• Jieleiyisi Baergeng (China) vs TBD

Featherweight (>65.8kg)

• Shin Haraguchi (Japan) vs Jun Young Hong (South Korea)
• Zhu Kangjie (China) vs Tatsuya Ando (Japan)
• Masuto Kawana (Japan) vs Young Jae Song (South Korea)
• Xie Bin (China) vs Hamid Amiri (Afghanistan)

Women's Strawweight (>52.2kg)

• Huang Feier (China) vs Miki Motono (Japan)
• Feng Xiaocan (China) vs Kiran Singh (India)
• Priya Sharma (India) vs Dong Huaxiang (China)
• Shi Ming (China) vs Ye Dam Seo (South Korea)

Non-tournament bouts:

• Women's flyweight: Wang Cong (China) vs Paula Luna (Peru)
• Women's flyweight: Yan Qihui (China) vs Lisa Kyriacou (Australia)
• Lightweight: Won Bin Ki (South Korea) vs Tatsuya Saika (Japan)
• Welterweight: Bahatebole Batebolati (China) vs Han Seul Kim (South Korea)

Each round will take place in front of a live audience, with location and venue details announced in advance of each event. The finals will be featured bouts on a UFC Fight Night, at which time UFC contracts will be awarded to each of the four divisions' winners.

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"Primed to deliver" - Top official on Road to UFC S3

Kevin Chang, UFC Senior Vice President and Head of Asia weighed in on the third season of Road to UFC in the press release:

"Road to UFC has had a tremendous impact on building our local talent and fanbase in Asia. Seasons 1 and 2 surpassed our expectations in all aspects, and several of our RTU contract winners are already making waves in the UFC, showing how the depth of talent in Asia is growing. Season 3 is primed to deliver even more incredible action, and we are excited to see who will be the next stars to emerge from RTU."

To date, eleven ROAD TO UFC participants have been awarded UFC contracts: seven final winners from Seasons 1 and 2; two finalists from Season 1; and two non-tournament bout winners.

China: Rongzhu, Yizha, Zhang Mingyang

India: Anshul Jubli

Indonesia: Jeka Saragih

Japan: Rinya Nakamura, Toshiomi Kazama, Rei Tsuruya

South Korea: Jeong Yeong Lee, Hyun Sung Park

Mongolia: Nyamjargal Tumendemberel

Each episode of Road to UFC will air in Asia primetime GMT +8, so audiences across Asia can get to know the athletes via in-event features and competitions. In India and the subcontinent, Road to UFC will be telecast by UFC's official broadcast partner Sony Sports Network on Sony Sports Network channels and available to stream on SonyLIV.