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The Asian tournament, which kicks off before UFC 275, will feature fighters from China, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, Thailand and the Philippines. Tournament brackets are displayed on Sunday.
On Monday, Promotion announced the preliminary rounds of an eight-member tournament in four weight classes for a pair of shows before the UFC 275 on June 11 and June 10 in Singapore. Fighters from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand will fight for the right to sign the UFC agreement.
Each card also includes a non-tournament battle from a different weight class, giving those players a chance to impress and earn a place on the Las Vegas-based promotion roster. The "Road to UFC" includes UFC Academy fighters in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India and China. The announcement did not specify the dates of each tournament.
The "Road to UFC" will take place two days before UFC 275, which will also take place at Singapore's indoor stadium, and is in the headlines with a light heavyweight title tussle between Glover Taxira and Jiri Prochazka.
Also noteworthy is Rinya Nakamura, a former Under-23 Freestyle Wrestling World Champion. Unbeaten since his transfer to the MMA, he will also compete in the 135 pound tournament.
One championship fans should recognize Xie Bin, who appeared briefly in Dana White's Contender Series last year, but will get another crack at the UFC as part of the Featherweight ‘Road to UFC’ Tournament.
Non-tournament bouts for Road to UFC Cards have also been announced, with the participation of British Bellator MMA veteran George Tokkos.
Flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight divisions will be prominent. See the full lineup and matchup below:
Road to UFC Tournament Brackets
Flyweight:
Choi SeungGuk (South Korea) vs. Rama Supandhi (Indonesia)
Qiu Lun (China) vs. Wallen Del Rosario (Philippines)
Horiyuchi Yuma (Japan) vs. Top Noi (Thailand)
Park HyunSung (South Korea) vs. Jeremia Siregar (Indonesia)
Bantamweight:
Maimaitituoheti Keremuaili (China) vs. Kazama Toshiomi (Japan)
Nakamura Rinya (Japan) vs. Gugun Gusman (Indonesia)
Kim MinWoo (South Korea) vs. Xiao Long (China)
Nose Shohei (Japan) vs. Wulijiburen (China)
Featherweight:
Yi Zha (China) vs. Sasu Keisuke (Japan)
Hong JunYoung (South Korea) vs. Matsushima Koyomi (Japan)
Lee JeongYeong (South Korea) vs. Xie Bin (China)
Lu Kai (China) vs. Angga Hans (Indonesia)
Lightweight:
Balajin (China) vs. Ki WonBin (South Korea)
Ailiya Muratbek (China) vs. Pawan Maan Singh (India)
Anshul Jubli (India) vs. Sho Patrick Usami (Japan)
Asikerbai Jinensibieke (China) vs. Kim Kyung Pyo (South Korea)
Non-tourney bouts:
Zhang Mingyang (China) vs. George Tokkos (Ireland)
Shaun Etchell (Tasmania) vs. Takeru Uchida (Japan)
Seo YeDam (South Korea) vs. Josefine Knuttson (Sweden)
John Adajar (Philippines) vs. Kim HanSeul (South Korea)
The opening round of the “Road to UFC” tournament will air on June 9 & 10 on UFC Fight Pass. The two remaining combatants from each bracket are expected to collide later this year. Aside from the winners, standout performances in both tourney and non-tourney competition are expected to lead to developmental contracts in both victory and defeat.