UFC senior VP of Asia Kevin Chang anticipates ‘Yao Ming effect’ with Road to UFC winners

UFC senior VP of Asia Kevin Chang anticipates ‘Yao Ming effect’ with Road to UFC winners

SINGAPORE – Former Chinese NBA superstar Yao Ming was mentioned as a shining example of how Asian fighters can potentially represent their region through Road to UFC.

Ming, a former center standing at 7-foot-6 from Shanghai, China, entered the NBA as a first-round pick in the 2002 draft. He quickly became the marquee representative for Asian basketball across the globe, and as a result, elevated interest in the sport across his home country and its neighboring regions.

UFC senior vice president of Asia Kevin Chang could see a similar situation play out through the Road to UFC series, a tournament filled with Asian MMA prospects that began at Singapore Indoor Stadium during UFC 275 fight week.

Fighters from China, Indonesia, South Korea, Philippines, Japan, and India make up the tournament brackets across four weight divisions. While the UFC has signed talent from these regions of the globe before, it’s an area the promotion wants to see grow.

“It’s not rocket science,” Chang told reporters including MMA Junkie at the post-fight news conference. “When you have a locally relevant fighter, that’s really going to increase engagement, interest, viewership, everything, every metric. It’s the Yao Ming effect, in a sense.

“That’s why we’ve made the investments in the region to develop the talent. That’s why we’ve developed this pathway so that these fighters have a real clear idea of how to get in and how to go. It’s of utmost importance for us.”

The quarterfinals of the tournament produced nine finishes and five decisions, setting up an exciting semifinal round which is expected to take place in October.

Chang believes the journey of the tournament will help the winners of the tournament enter the UFC with a lot of momentum, and they could potentially be that representative of their country that raises interest in MMA as Ming did for basketball in China.

“If you look at how the pathway is kind of laid out, the whole story can be told,” Chang said. “From being discovered, in some cases, the UFC Academy for instance being recruited in there, going through the combine, getting selected for the academy, going through that journey, entering the tournament, and then finally being awarded a contract with a three – at least a three-fight win streak. Actually, most of these guys are coming in with win streaks as well.

“Extending that win streak, having that confidence of outperforming all the other fighters in the region, it’s a really nice path to go. That’s why we’ve called it the Road to the UFC.”