What You Need To Know Before The Road To UFC Finale
Official Results And Everything You Need To Know Before The Road To UFC Finale At UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac
The UFC APEX is set to host the inaugural Road To UFC tournament finale on Saturday, February 4. Eight fighters will step into the Octagon for the preliminaries of UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac and only four will reign victorious, earning the chance of a lifetime.
Road To UFC was developed to introduce Asia’s next top MMA stars to the world of UFC; an opportunity for the prospects to showcase their skills on the world’s biggest stage. Thirty-two athletes began their journey in the “win-and-advance” style tournament, with eight athletes in each of four men’s categories: flyweight,bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight. Competing athletes in the tournament originate from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, The Philippines, and Thailand.
Both the quarterfinal and semifinal matches featured athletes fighting for their future each time they stepped into the Octagon.
Take a look below as we recap the Road To UFC fights that have happened so far, and which athletes will be competing in the finale.
Quarterfinals | Singapore Indoor Stadium, June 2022
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - JUNE 10: A general view of the Octagon during the Road to UFC event at Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 10, 2022 in Singapore. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
The opening round of Road To UFC was held in June at the Singapore Indoor Stadium ahead of UFC 275: Teixeira vs Prochazka, UFC’s first-ever Pay-Per-View event in Southeast Asia. Sixteen athletes won and advanced to the semifinals to compete in Abu Dhabi.
Featherweight: Yi Zha defeats Keisuke Sasu by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:14 of Round 1
Lightweight: WonBin Ki defeats Jinnosuke Kashimura by TKO (strikes) at 4:45 of Round 1
Light Heavyweight: Zhang Mingyang defeats Tuco Tokkos by KO (punches) at 3:57 of Round 1
SeungGuk Choi successfully shut down his opponent Rama “Hellboy” Supandhi in the last 90 seconds of the quarterfinals to secure his spot in the semifinals. Choi was not completely satisfied with his performance when asked about it, though.
He spoke with UFC.com about what he hopes to showcase in the next part of the competition.
“I’m not satisfied with the movement I did, but I am obviously happy I won.”
Determined to better prepare for his next bout, he said, “I’m going to practice and improve my strength, strikes and skills. I’m happy to get closer to the UFC and I am going to work hard to get there.”
Featherweight: Koyomi Matsushima defeats JunYoung Hong by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Flyweight: Qui Lun defeats Wallen Del Rosario by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Flyweight: Takeru Uchida defeats Shaun Etchell by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:26 of Round 1
Lightweight: Jeka Saragih defeats Pawan Maan by KO (spinning backfist) at 2:24 of Round 3
A textbook spinning backfist landed Jeka Saragih in the semifinals. Saragih wants the world to know how determined he is to take this thing all the way.
“I’m not satisfied with this one victory,” Saragih said. “After this, I’m going to train even harder because I want the UFC contract.”
Featherweight: JeongYeong Lee defeats Xie Bin by submission (armbar) at 0:36 of Round 1
Flyweight: Top Noi Kiwram defeats Yuma Horiuchi by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura defeats Gugun Gusman by submission (Americana) at 2:34 of Round 1
Strawweight: Josephine Knutsson defeats YeDam Seo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Lee proves why he is the favorite in the featherweight competition by delivering a quick finish of opponent Xie Bin. The South Korean tells us how.
“My specialty is the armbar, so I planned to get this victory doing just that,” he said. “I’m going to come back with new techniques and I am going to surprise you.”
Flyweight: HyunSung Park defeats Jeremia Siregar by TKO (punches) at 3:56 of Round 1
Bantamweight: Shohei Nose defeats Wulijiburen by TKO (injury stoppage) at 1:13 of Round 1
Featherweight: Lu Kai defeats Angga by TKO (strikes) at 4:33 of Round 2
Lightweight: KyeongPyo Kim defeats Asikeerbai Jinensibieke at 0:30 of Round
Welterweight: HanSeul Kim defeats John Adajar by submission (triangle armbar) at 4:37 of Round 1
HyungSung Park kept his record clean with a patient performance that led to a TKO in the first round against Jeremia Siregar. The flyweight questioned his lack of nerves entering the arena but mentioned how he used it to his advantage to ultimately defeat his opponent.
“Surprisingly, I wasn’t that nervous, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Is this right’?” he said. But being able to execute his game plan accordingly helped Park stay steady. “He, out of nowhere, started wrestling me so, from there, I went for the double underhooks and I took him down.”
HyunSung Park Post-Fight Interview | Road To UFC
HyunSung Park Post-Fight Interview | Road To UFC
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Semifinals | Abu Dhabi, October 2022
The semifinals of Road To UFC were held October 23rd, in Abu Dhabi, the day after UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev took place. Eight athletes won and advanced to the finals to compete in Las Vegas on February 4.
A competitive three rounds played out between two featherweight favorites. Yi Zha ultimately clinched his spot in the semi-finals with the judge’s decision, moving his record to 21-3. Yi tells UFC.com how he felt after such a hard-fought victory.
“I thought we fought a very even match; after the judges raised my hand, I was very excited,” Yi also added that he hopes fight fans appreciated all his work. “I know the fans saw 15 minutes in the Octagon, but its beyond [that]. We are fighters for 15 but we sacrifice a lot in our daily lives.”
Yi Zha Post-Fight Interview | Road To UFC
Yi Zha Post-Fight Interview | Road To UFC
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Episode 6
Featherweight: JeongYeong Lee defeats Lu Kai by KO (right hand) at 0:42 of Round 1
Bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura defeats Shohei Nose by KO at 2:21 of Round 1
Flyweight: HyunSung Park defeats Top Noi Kiwram by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:05 of Round 1
Lightweight: Anshul Jubli defeats KyeongPyo Kim by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Welterweight: Samandar Murodov defeats Gian Siqueira by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:59
Rinya Nakamura secured a spot in the Road To UFC finals after his incredible first-round knockout victory over Shohei Nose. After the win, Nakamura wanted the world to know just how determined he is to earn a spot in the in UFC.
“I did not come here [just to be] a UFC fighter,” Nakamura told UFC.com. “I came to be a UFC champion.”
Look below to see the final matchups and how and when you can watch the finale of the Road To UFC.
Finals | UFC APEX, February 4th
Flyweight: SeungGuk Choi vs HyunSung Park
Bantamweight: Toshiomo Kazama vs Rinya Nakamura
Featherweight: Yi Zha vs JeongYeong Lee
Lightweight: Jeka Saragih vs Anshul Jubli
The prelims ofUFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac, which features each of the Road To UFC finale bouts, will start at 10pm ET/7pm PT and the Main Card starts at 1am ET/10pm PT.
UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac will air live in Asia on Sunday, February 5th, from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prelims start at 11am (Hong Kong time), followed by the finals at 12pm.
