“I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen a few of these and I’m pretty sure he has a broken orbital. If it comes back he’s got a broken orbital he’s 1,000 times tougher than I already thought he was. That kid’s definitely special.”

But it would be unfair to overly criticise the efforts of coach Dean Amasinger’s Chinese contingent, as Qiu was extremely unlucky not to come away with a win, while Shang suffered a split-decision loss.

But the fact remains the US$13 million, state-of-the-art Shanghai Performance Institute has yet to become the production line of UFC-ready Chinese talent it was clearly set up to be.

When he eventually steps into the Octagon, Maheshate will become just the fifth “graduate” of the China Academy, which has suffered a largely chastening time in 2021.

“The Mongolian Knight” Alateng Heili (14-8-2) was the trailblazer, and has gone 2-1-1 in four fights after getting the call-up in 2019. But Rong Zhu (18-4), “The Mongolian Murderer” Aori Qileng (18-8) and “Dragon Girl” Na Liang (15-5) all lost on debut at UFC 259 in April, before Xie Bin (8-3), Xiao Long (16-7), and Yan Qihui (20-4) all fluffed their chance on episode nine of the Contender Series.

The 21-year-old lightweight Rong was perhaps unlucky to be matched up with the Mexican prospect Kazula Vargas (12-4), who took a unanimous decision in Florida, but only after the Chinese fighter played his part in an all-out war that had the Jacksonville crowd on its feet.

Amasinger has referred to Rong as a “phenom” and he bounced back with an impressive third-round finish of late-replacement opponent Brandon Jenkins at UFC Vegas 37 in September.

What is evident though is that it’s no use having these talented-but-raw fighters smashing inferior competition and racking up huge win streaks in domestic Chinese leagues.

Xiao is the bantamweight champ in WLF, and Yan the women’s flyweight champ, but the UFC must find a way of testing them against higher-calibre opponents in Asia before bringing them to the US.

That was the plan, of course, before Dana White’s Contender Series Asia was put on hold indefinitely because of the pandemic, with Covid-19 restrictions also ending their ability to put on cards in China.

The theme of the show was to be China Academy stars against fighters from other Asian countries such as South Korea, and also from Australia, who would’ve provided sterner tests.

Chinese veteran Li Jingliang was manhandled by superstar-in-waiting Khamzat Chimaev last weekend, while there will be a lot of pressure riding on Zhang Weili’s shoulders when she looks to regain the strawweight title from Rose Namajunas at UFC 268 on Saturday night.

White didn’t seem to mind too much when he was asked about the three losses by Chinese fighters on week nine of Contender Series, insisting the facility was still a worthy investment.

“One hundred per cent. If you look at the fights and how competitive the fights were, yeah, it’s a good thing, man,” said White, who revealed the company will be breaking ground on a third Performance Institute in Mexico City, to go along with Shanghai and Las Vegas.

White revealed on Tuesday that the UFC is also hoping to set up a PI in Africa, and it’s hard to see the company not taking the concept around the world as it looks to set up a global monopoly on the best emerging talent.

But ultimately, the Shanghai PI’s success will be judged on producing its first Chinese champion, and that simply doesn’t look a close prospect right now.

Perhaps Maheshate can change all that.

“This is a dream come true – but only 50 per cent,” he said after earning a contract. “I have another 50 per cent to conquer. I want to be a champion.”