UFC prepares for Dana White’s Contender Series Asia as new details emerge

The crowning achievement for Chinese MMA in 2019 was undoubtedly Zhang Weili’s breathtaking demolition of Jessica Andrade to take the UFC’s strawweight title in August. In becoming her country’s first UFC champion, the 30-year-old Zhang (20-1) shook up the world of combat sports while showing a rising generation of Chinese fighters exactly what is possible, given time and dedication and an abundance of natural talent. “This is only the beginning,” was how Zhang responded when the Post asked her recently what – exactly – that win might mean both for her and for the sport in China. The UFC is preaching the same message. As we turn in 2020, the groundwork has been laid by Zhang and the likes of the veteran welterweight Li “The Leech” Jingliang (17-5), who are both down to fight again at UFC 248 in Las Vegas on March 7 and whose exploits inside the cage have helped push MMA and the UFC into the mainstream in China. The new year promises plenty in terms of where the UFC is now, and where it is heading, including the much-anticipated launch of the first-ever Asia edition of Dana White’s Contender Series. UFC: ‘The Leech’ guns for title shot after cracking rankings While final details on the series have yet to be announced there has been a trickle of information leaking out of the UFC, including the fact the series will target the “growth areas” of North Asia, Southeast Asia and India. “It’s a regional competition that will of course involve our [UFC] Academy athletes but we will be on the recruiting trail to find the best talent in Asia,” explains Kevin Chang, senior vice-president of UFC Asia-Pacific. “Dana will be doing the evaluation so it’s definitely a direct pipeline to get into the UFC. “Look to China as an example and it took a lot of time and work to get to where we now have 12 fighters and a champion, and China is a sporting superpower. So it will take more time with some of these smaller countries. But it’s a chance to have an opportunity to fight in front of our key brass. That’s what’s exciting.” The UFC sees the series as a chance to test the waters in markets that have so far produced few if any fighters. Instead of throwing them inside the cage and seeing if they have what it takes, the series can now test their potential – very publicly. “The Philippines is going to be huge, Thailand and Indonesia – they all have some great fighters but coming from where they are used to competing, if we just drop them into the UFC it hasn’t worked out that well over the years,” Chang says. Chang has been based out of the UFC’s US$13 million Performance Institute (PI) in Shanghai since the complex opened in June. The basic concept was that the PI could fine-tune fighters already on the UFC’s books while getting potential signings “UFC-ready”, and to that end the facility welcomed the first batch of 25 athletes into its academy programme for emerging talent back in June. The results since have been impressive, to say the least. Linking up with the likes of the Chinese domestic Wu Lin Feng (WLF) promotion has given these fighters a chance to put what they are learning into practice – immediately – and they’ve so far gone 23-3 in bouts. “What’s speaking is the record,” Chang says. “Primarily they’re going to fight in the likes of WLF at the moment and the relationship between us has been good. We know that the level of talent there is fairly high and we can send them there and test them. “The skills have definitely improved thanks to the systematic approach the guys here take. But apart from that they all feel newly fit. They’ve never had the sort of cardio training they get. They are also learning new things about the weight cut and how to do that the right way.” The academy welcomed its second influx of fighters to a two-day combine before Christmas, with 20 new hopefuls joining 20 from the initial programme as they were put through tests on 72 individual metrics covering 12 categories. The mix was between workouts that revealed technical skills (such as wrestling, grappling and striking) and those that revealed physical ability (such as explosive lower and upper body power). Hong Kong’s UFC academy star back for her ‘biggest’ fight But training is only part of the equation, and fans around the world will get a cage-side seat over the next 12 months as the future of the UFC in China, and Asia, plays out. “The truth is you can go up in a number of key areas but it all means nothing if you can’t fight,” Chang says. “If you can’t fight it’s all for nothing.”