SINGAPORE – The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will make its sixth visit to Singapore in August, and will be bringing with them a familiar face.
American fighter Max Holloway, who fought as a fresh-faced 22-year-old in the UFC’s Singapore debut in 2014, will return to headline the Fight Night event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Aug 26.
He will take on the “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-sung in the main bout, the American mixed martial arts (MMA) juggernaut announced on Friday.
Since beating compatriot Will Chope in that fight in Singapore almost a decade ago, Holloway has gone on to carve a name for himself as one of the UFC’s top stars, winning the organisation’s featherweight world title.
Jung is also a favourite among MMA fans for his fighting style of moving forward relentlessly despite taking hard shots, which earned him his nickname. He has challenged for the featherweight title unsuccessfully twice.
Holloway is currently the UFC’s second ranked featherweight fighter, while Chan is seventh.
UFC president Dana White described the fight as between “two of the best in the world who are trying to get themselves back into title contention”.
Kevin Chang, its senior vice-president and head of Asia, said: “With two future UFC Hall Of Famers facing each other for the first time, this card promises to be one for the ages.”
This year’s UFC Fight Night Singapore will be followed by the semi-finals of the Road To UFC Season 2 event, which will take place at the Indoor Stadium from 4pm the next day.
The Road To UFC is a tournament where aspiring MMA fighters from Asia vie for a coveted UFC contract.
Sim Kai Xiong was the first Singaporean to feature in the series in 2023, but lost to Peter Danesoe of Thailand on May 28 at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai.
The UFC’s return to Singapore is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
STB’s executive director for sports and wellness Ong Ling Lee said in a statement: “UFC’s continued presence in Singapore strengthens our position as the leading destination for world-class sports and leisure events in the region.”
This year’s event sees the UFC return to its Fight Night format, after UFC 275 in June 2022, which was its first pay-per-view (PPV) event in South-east Asia.
PPV events feature the UFC’s top stars and title fights, and are mostly held in the United States.
UFC 275 attracted a crowd of almost 11,000, and set a sporting event gate record of over $2 million at the Indoor Stadium. The event’s headline clash crowned a new light heavyweight world champion when Jiri Prochazka beat Glover Teixeira in a bout that was later named the UFC’s Fight of the Year.
Fight Night events, meanwhile, are typically headlined by fighters who are in the top 10 of the UFC’s weight class ranking. The UFC staged four Fight Night events in Singapore from 2014 to 2019 and drew just under 22,000 spectators in total.
Fights on this year’s Fight Night Singapore card will be announced over the coming weeks, said the UFC. Pre-sale of tickets begins on June 26, noon, and fans can visit www.ufc.com/singapore for more information.
