UFC Fight Night set to return to China after 4 years with Shanghai event
- Promoter announces that its event is scheduled to take place in Shanghai in December
- China’s strict measures during the Covid-19 pandemic had prevented UFC events for four years
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Ultimate Fighting Championship is to hold its first event in China since the pandemic, the top MMA promoter said on Wednesday, as it became the latest sporting body to return to the country following the abolition of Covid-19 restrictions.
UFC Fight Night will take place at Shanghai Indoor Stadium on December 9, pending “event date approval by the local governing authority”, UFC said in a statement.
It did not state which fighters would be involved but it said that the event would include bouts forming part of the Road to UFC, in which rising stars compete to win UFC contracts.
The event is set to be UFC’s fourth in China, with the most recent Fight Night taking place in 2019 in Shenzhen, headlined by a women’s strawweight championship bout in which holder Jessica Andrade of Brazil lost to China’s Zhang Weili in a TKO 42 seconds in.
UFC president Dana White discussed the promoter’s long-awaited Chinese comeback in a video that fans shared across the country’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo.
“The wait is finally over, UFC is returning to Shanghai,” he said. “I cannot wait to have all you Chinese fans back at a live event again, and as always, the UFC will bring an incredible card for you.”
UFC has a training and performance centre in Shanghai.
“To be able to host this event back where it all started, in this incredible city … is a fitting way to write the next chapter of the growth of MMA in China,” UFC senior vice-president Kevin Chang said.
China imposed tight travel and quarantine restrictions in early 2020 to staunch the spread of the pandemic.
The policy led to the cancellation of most international sports events in the country until the Chinese government abruptly lifted its curbs late last year.
Chinese fans responded positively to the news, with one person posting on Weibo, “I really want to watch it,” as another commented, “I will definitely go”. Other fans speculated about the matchups or wondered about ticket availability.
