News Road to UFC Tournaments June 9-10

[TorontoTO]

Creating this thread to seperate it from the Contender Series

Flyweight
• Rama Supandhi (Indonesia) vs. Choi SeungGuk (Korea)
• Horiuchi Yuma (Japan) vs. Top Kiwram (Thailand)
• Park HyunSung (Korea) vs. Jeremia Siregar (Indonesia) June 10
• Qiu Lun (China) vs. Wallen Del Rosario (Philippines)

BW
• Kim MinWoo (Korea)
• Maimaitituoheti Keremuaili
• Kazama Toshiomi (Japan)
• Nakamura Rinya (Japan)
• Xiao Long (China)
• Gugun Gusman (Indonesia)
• Nose Shohei (Japan) vs. Wulijiburen (China)

FW
• Yi Zha (China) vs. Sasu Keisuke (Japan) June 10
• Hong JunYoung (Korea) vs. Matsushima Koyomi (Japan)
• Lee Jeong Yeong (Korea) vs. Xie Bin (China) June 10th
• Lu Kai (China) vs. Angga Hans (Indonesia) June 10

LW
• Balajin (China) vs. Ki WonBin (Korea) June 9
• Ailiya Muratbek (China) vs. Pawan Maan Singh (India) June 9
• Usami Sho Patrick (Japan) vs. Anshul Jubli (India) June 10
• Kim KyungPyo (Korea) vs. Asikeerbai Jinensibieke (China) June 10

Random Fights:
W. SW: Seo Ye Dam vs. Josefine Lindgren Knutsson June 10
LHW: Zhang Mingyang (China) 15-6 vs. George Tokkos (7-2) June 9

 

[EndlessCritic]

Can't say there's a single name on that list that really excites me.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

MORE INFORMATION IN THE CHINESE FIGHTERS

“Snow Leopard” Balajin (17-2) – Lightweight
Balajin is an ethnic Mongolian that exemplifies the wrestling and peak conditioning typical of his comrades. He’s on a wicked tear right now and has beaten plenty of quality opponents in JCK, WLF, and Chin Woo Men. He was poised to make a run for the JCK championship last year before he pulled out from injury. Like his fellow Mongolians Alateng Heiliand Aoriqileng, Balajin is training at Fight Ready MMA in Arizona currently.

Xie “The Stalker” Bin (8-3) – Featherweight
Xie is a veteran of ONE Championship and performed exceptionally well there. Before trying his hand at the Contender Series last November, he’d rattled off seven straight victories for ONE. He won three straight by D’Arce Choke, and his most recent win is over respected Filipino Edward Kelly. He didn’t show out to his full potential in his Contender Series loss last fall, and gets a second shot to impress in June.

Yi Zha (19-3) – Featherweight
Out of the same gym that’s produced great Tibetan prospects like Sumudaerji, Rong Zhu, and Banma Duoji, Yi Zha fights out of Enbo Gedou in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. He’s a former champion in WLF and has ten wins by submission. His last fight was against 2021 JCK breakout star Li Jingtao last September for WBK/M-1.


Lu Kai (7-3) – Featherweight
While he hasn’t fought in the Chinese MMA scene as long as the other names on this list, Lu Kai has quickly shown his skill and power in recent years. He comes from a Judo background and scored a highlight-reel KO in Slovakia last March where he dropped a hammer on Adam Fidkowski, leaving him stiff as the first round closed.

Xiao Long (22-7) – Bantamweight
Fighting of out Xindu Martial Arts in China’s Shanxi province, Xiao Long has long been a poster boy and belt holder for WLF. Since his flat performance on the Contender Series last year, he’s won two straight for WLF, including a championship fight in March. He’s back on track and hoping for a more spirited performance when he enters the Road to UFC tournament his summer.

Keremuaili “The Kirghiz Eagle” Maimaitituoheti (26-10) – Bantamweight
A mysterious but powerful entrant to the tournament is ethnic Kirghiz Keremuaili Maimaitituoheti. He was supposed to fight on the Contender Series last year, but the opportunity never fulled materialized. His record is ridiculous, as he holds wins over Yi Zha, Wulijiburen, Buhuoyouga, and Xiao Long, to name just a few.

Wulijiburen “The Beastmaster” (20-8) – Bantamweight
The only fighter on this list to already compete in the UFC, Wulijiburen went 0-3 in his UFC run. Since being released, he’s fought mostly for WLF and gone 4-1 over very experienced competition. After a 29-second flying knee KO win over Ayijiake Zhejiang, “The Beastmaster” is ready to make his second attempt at a UFC contract.


Qiu Lun (15-8) – Flyweight
Entertaining scrapper Qiu Lun lost a contentious decision to Erisson Ferreira on the Contender Series last year, and it was clear that he deserved a second shot. Qiu Lun trains primarily at Enbo Gedou, like Yi Zha, and has spend considerable time at the UFC Shanghai PI like many on this list.

Zhang Mingyang (15-6) – Light Heavyweight
Zhang may not have the name recognition as others on this list, but he’s a fun entrant to the line-up. He’ll compete in a non-tournament bout alongside the tournament quarterfinals and try to earn his sixth straight first-round knockout. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs against a step up in competition and what kind of opponent he’ll draw.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

Can't say there's a single name on that list that really excites me.

Are there any Chinese fighters that would excite you? Are there Asian fighters that would excite you?

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Are there any Chinese fighters that would excite you? Are their an Asia fighters that would excite you?

There are that would excite me but they're mostly under contract with ONE and RIZIN.

Kai Tang would be great for Chinese fighters.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Are there any Chinese fighters that would excite you? Are their an Asia fighters that would excite you?

Chinese? Kai Tang, Xie Wei, Li Kai Wen, Hu Yong...

In Asia more broadly? Way too hard to count. Tae Kyun Kim is probably #1 guy I'd want to see though.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Few more guys added to the UFC site that I think are for this.

Rinya Nakamura 4-0 BW former U23 World Champ in Freestyle who was set to be in the last Olympics before covid)

Shohei Nose 7-2-2 Shooto BW

Jun Young Hong 11-6 Korean FW

Roshan Mainam 6-3 Indian FW who fought in ONE a few times

Koyomi Matsushima 12-5 Japanese FW and former ONE title challenger

Keisuke Sasu 9-1-1 Japanese FW from Shooto

Ahmad Hassanzada 8-1 Afghan LW who looked fantastic in LFA recently

Anshul Jubli 5-0 Indian LW

Pawan Maan Singh 7-2 Indian LW

Aiili Muratbek 9-2 Chinese LW

Jeka Saragih 9-2 Indonesian LW

Patrick Usami 4-1 Japanese LW

 

[TorontoTO]

Few more guys added to the UFC site that I think are for this.

Rinya Nakamura 4-0 BW former U23 World Champ in Freestyle who was set to be in the last Olympics before covid)

Shohei Nose 7-2-2 Shooto BW

Jun Young Hong 11-6 Korean FW

Roshan Mainam 6-3 Indian FW who fought in ONE a few times

Koyomi Matsushima 12-5 Japanese FW and former ONE title challenger

Keisuke Sasu 9-1-1 Japanese FW from Shooto

Ahmad Hassanzada 8-1 Afghan LW who looked fantastic in LFA recently

Anshul Jubli 5-0 Indian LW

Pawan Maan Singh 7-2 Indian LW

Aiili Muratbek 9-2 Chinese LW

Jeka Saragih 9-2 Indonesian LW

Patrick Usami 4-1 Japanese LW

I'm saying Rinya wins. He is just so good.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Was watching PFL and was really impressed with Ryoji Kudo who I thought had a good case for beating Loughnane, noticed from his Tap that his only recent loss in Japan was to Keisuke Sasu who's on here, so he could be interesting.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

 

[Vulcan]

non tournament fight?

 

[TorontoTO]

non tournament fight?

Seems like it

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Thunder Knutts is going to body that poor Korean chick.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

 

[EndlessCritic]

Min Woo Kim got this.

Also holy shit is Kinoshita a good pickup. 100% finish rate including the most brutal DQ of all time.

 

[Vulcan]

Ho Taek Ho has been added to the ufc site, road to the ufc or contender series?

 

[TorontoTO]

Ho Taek Ho has been added to the ufc site, road to the ufc or contender series?

I'm assuming every Asian fighter added is on this Road to UFC thing

 

[JustHereToLurk]

I wonder who the favorite of each tournament would be.

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]

 

[You Will Vote For Dreyga]