The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) marks its return to Macau with tomorrow’s “UFC Fight Night Macau”, with fighters to go head-to-head at the 16,000-seat Galaxy Arena in Cotai.
Marking the fourth UFC event in Macau, with the last being in 2014, and seventh in Greater China, tomorrow’s fight event is headlined by a bout between No.3 UFC bantamweight and former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan (17-5) from Russia and Brazil’s Deiveson Figueiredo (24-3-1), who is the No. 5 UFC bantamweight and former UFC flyweight champion. The co-main event, meanwhile, will see a clash between No.2 UFC women’s strawweight Yan Xiaonan (17-4) from the mainland, and No. 10 in UFC women’s strawweight Tabatha Ricci (11-2) from Brazil.
The fight night is presented by Galaxy Macau in partnership with UFC. During yesterday’s press conference at the Galaxy International Convention Centre (GICC) in Cotai, Senior Vice President and Head of Asia at the UFC Kevin Chang said in his speech: “We’ve had an overwhelming response from our fans, with tickets for this event selling incredibly quickly, showing how high the demand is for live UFC events. The state-of the-art Galaxy Arena will set the scene for an incredible night of mixed martial arts action”.
Saturday will also see a lineup including fighters from the mainland, India, Mongolia, South Korea and Vietnam go toe to toe with each other.
Moreover, Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) Chief Operating Officer Kevin Kelley highlighted in his speech that the integrated resort (IR) operator was proud to bring the fight event back to Macau. “In recent months, we’ve hosted many world-class events, entertainment and sports. But our partnership with the UFC, the world’s premier martial arts MMA organisation raises the bar even further”
Kelley added: “Under the tourism sports development strategy set up by Macau’s SAR government, Macau has successfully built a reputation as a city of sports. And this time, the return of UFC Fight Night is a showcase for our ability and commitment to promoting the integrated development of sports and tourism in Macau, as well as attracting enthusiasts and visitors from all over the world”.
Professional mixed martial fighters Yan Xiaonan (left), Petr Yan (second from left), Deiveson Figueiredo (second from right) and Tabatha Ricci answer (right) questions during yesterday’s press conference while the emcee (centre) looks on at the Galaxy International Convention Centre (GICC). – Photo: Rui Pastorin
