Road to UFC fighters announced, two Indians among top 32 Asian MMA contestants

The Road to UFC tournament which returns after a seven-year hiatus, will begin ahead of UFC 275 in its Southeast Asia debut in Singapore in June.

The opening round of the Road to UFC tournament will be played on June 9 and June 10 in the lead-up to the UFC 275 main event which is scheduled for June 12. (FILE PHOTO)

UFC on Friday announced its list of 32 fighters for the Road to UFC contest - the top stage for Asia's elite Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters to bag their contracts into the premier organisation.

The contest which returns after a seven-year hiatus, will begin ahead of UFC 275 in its Southeast Asia debut in Singapore in June.

The Road to UFC tournament presents a “win and advance” opportunity to the fighters who are split between four weight-classes (flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight)  with eight competitors in each frame. Indian Lightweight fighters Anshul Jubli and Pawan Maan Singh also feature among the top-32 fighters.

The organisation is yet to reveal the match-ups for the event the winner in each weight-class will earn a UFC contract.

 

The opening round of the tournament will be played on June 9 and June 10 in the lead-up to the UFC 275 main event which is scheduled for June 12.

UFC 275 will feature a championship double-header in which world light heavyweight Glover Teixeira takes on no. 2 Jiri Prochazka, while the undisputed women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko takes on no. 5 Taila Santos.

Fighters for Road to UFC tournament

Flyweight (>56.7kg) Rama Supandhi (Indonesia) Jeremia Siregar (Indonesia) Wallen Del Rosario (Philippines) Horiuchi Yuma (Japan) Choi SeungGuk (Korea) Park HyunSung (Korea) Top Kiwram (Thailand Qiu Lun (China) Bantamweight (>61.2kg) Kim MinWoo (Korea) Maimaitituoheti Keremuaili (China) Kazama Toshiomi (Japan) Nakamura Rinya (Japan) Xiao Long (China) Gugun Gusman (Indonesia) Nose Shohei (Japan) Wulijiburen (China) Featherweight (>65.8kg) Yi Zha (China) Sasu Keisuke (Japan) Hong JunYoung (Korea) Lee JeongYeong (Korea) Matsushima Koyomi (Japan) Xie Bin (China) Lu Kai (China) Angga Hans (Indonesia) Lightweight (>70.3kg) Balajin (China) Ki WonBin (Korea) Ailiya Muratbek (China) Pawan Maan Singh (India) Anshul Jubli (India) Usami Sho Patrick (Japan) Asikeerbai Jinensibieke (China) Kim KyungPyo (Korea)