Fight By Fight Preview | Road to UFC Season 4 Semifinals

Yoon landed on the favorable side of a split decision verdict last time out against Jin Aoi, pushing his unbeaten streak to four. Szalayswept the scorecards against Season 3 finalist Baergeng Jieleyisi in May, giving the former Eternal MMA champ eight straight wins heading into this one.

Nghiem Van Y vs Lawrence Lui

Vietnam’s Nghiệm Van Y and Australia’s Lawrence Lui face off in the first of Friday’s bantamweight semifinal bouts.

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Nghiem scored a second-round knockout win over Rui Imura to advance in the competition, giving him three straight wins and three straight finishes since suffering the lone loss of his young career. City Kickboxing’s Lui battled through a tough assignment against Zhang Qinghe in May, advancing to 6-1 overall with his third consecutive victory.

Yin Shuai vs Aaron Tau

Yin Shuai and Aaron Tau clash to see who will advance to the flyweight finale.

The 26-year-old Yin dropped a debated split decision to eventual finalist Kiru Sahota in the opening round last season, but advanced to this year’s semifinals with a first-round knockout win over Kai Yoshida in May. Another City Kickboxing representative, Tau, who lost to surging UFC rookie Elijah Smith last season on Dana White’s Contender Series, ripped through Rio Tirto in the opening round to move to 10-1 overall, with each of his last seven wins coming inside the distance.

Kitt Campbell vs Yunseong Jang

After a rapid finish in a non-tournament bout in May, Australian Kitt Campbell returns to face South Korean prospect Yunseong Jang in the welterweight opener.

The 31-year-old Campbell needed just 56 seconds to dispatch Shogo Sato earlier in the year, giving the two-time HEX Fight Series titleholder five wins in his last six starts. Fighting of out “Korean Zombie MMA,” the 22-year-old Jang was won six straight, with his last two victories coming against UFC veterans Takashi Sato and Daichi Abe.

Road to UFC Episode Six

Main Event: Shi Ming vs Bruna Brasil

Location: Shanghai Indoor Stadium — Shanghai, China

Where to Watch: UFC Fight Pass

Other Matches:

• Nyamjargal Tumendemberel vs Terrance Saeteurn
• Kaiwen vs Keiichiro Nakamura
• Ren Yawei vs SangWook Kim
• Sulangrangbo vs Sim Kai Xiong
• Dom Mar Fan vs JaeHyun Park

Saeteurn steps in for Tsuraya aiming to add to his five-fight winning streak. The California-based debutant claimed gold in Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat last September and successfully defended the belt in his first appearance of the year, moving to 7-1 in the promotion and 8-1 overall.

Kaiwen vs Keiichiro Nakamura

After stoppage wins in the opening round of the tournament, Kaiwen and Keiichiro Nakamura clash in what should be an explosive featherweight semifinal matchup.

A finalist on Season 2, Kaiwen returned to the competition earlier this year with a second-round finish of DongHyun Seo, extending his winning streak to three and his record to 15-6 overall with the victory. “The Underdog” is a fan favorite and has a penchant for putting on exciting fights, and anyone tuning in later this week should expect nothing less from him in this one.

The 26-year-old Nakamura scored arguably the most impressive finish in the opening round of the four tournaments back in May, blasting EohJin Park with a knee as he came forward and changed levels. The Japanese prospect, who has earned six straight wins, all by finish, has a bit of a dismissive confidence to his style, fighting with his hands low and trusting he’ll be able to deal with anything coming his way.

With all due respect to the two competitors on the other side of the bracket, this feels like one of those instances where we’re getting a finals-level fight in the semifinal round. Kaiwen wants to get himself back to the finals, while Nakamura looks to continue his impressive run of success, and it should result in fireworks when they clash in this one.

Ren Yawei vs SangWook Kim

Ren Yawei and SangWook Kim each earned finishes in their opening round bouts, and meet here with a place in the lightweight finale up for grabs.

Ren needed a tick over two minutes to put Deni Daffa to sleep with a guillotine choke back in May, making the most of his advantage in the grappling department to collect quick passage through to the semifinals. The 27-year-old Chinese athlete is 9-3 overall with eight finishes and five straight victories heading into Friday’s contest.

Kim appeared on Season 2 of Road to UFC, losing to eventual tournament winner and UFC alum Rongzhu in the opening round. After earning a pair of wins on the regional circuit, he returned for Season 4 in May, collecting a second-round stoppage win over Daichi Kamiya with elbows from the crucifix position.

Can Ren give the partisan crowd in Shanghai something to cheer about or will “Frog Man” punch his way in to the final pairing at the Chinese fighter’s expense?

Sulangrangbo vs Sim Kai Xiong

After strong quarterfinal efforts, Sulangrangbo and Sim Kai Xiong meet here to determine who will advance to the bantamweight finale later this year.

A member of the Enbo Fight Club, Sulangrangbo collected a first-round stoppage win over Peter Danesoe in May, felling his Thai opponent with an uppercut before swarming for the finish. Since starting his career with just one win in four outings, the Chinese prospect has eight consecutive victories, with six of those wins coming inside the distance.

Singapore’s Xiong earned a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Kuya Ito in the opening round of the tournament, redeeming himself following his loss to Danesoe in Season 2. A solid grappler with five finishes in seven professional victories, “Kobra” will surely be looking to close the distance and drag this one to the canvas on Friday.

This profiles as a clash of divergent styles, with Sulangrangbo likely favoring a fight at range — or at least on the feet — while Xiong would likely have more success in the clinch or on the canvas, so it will be fascinating to see who is able to dictate the terms of engagement in this one.