Road to UFC Season 4: Opening Round Dates, MMA Athletes List as Two Indian Fighters Enter RTU 2025 Tournament

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Friday (March 28) announced the fourth season of ROAD TO UFC, the most significant opportunity for Asia's top MMA prospects to make it to the world stage.

The opening round will take place across two days, later this year in May, at the UFC Performance Institute (UFC PI) in Shanghai, China. Along with athletes from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, Season 4 will also include prospects from Australia and New Zealand.

What is Road to UFC?

ROAD TO UFC is a "win and advance" tournament that will take top MMA prospects from Asia Pacific and give them a pathway to a UFC contract. It has been successfully held for three seasons now, awarding contracts to several MMA athletes across Asia.

Like the past three seasons, the RTU 2025 format features 32 mixed martial arts athletes competing in each of four weight classes. Additionally, non-tournament bouts will be included to provide more opportunities for promising talent.

How many fighters have earned UFC contracts via Road to UFC?

Till date, 17 ROAD TO UFC participants have been awarded UFC contracts: eleven tournament winners; three finalists; and three non-tournament bout winners. Here is a look at the full list:

• China: Rongzhu, Shi Ming, Xiao Long, Yi Zha, Wang Cong, Zhang Mingyang
• India: Anshul Jubli
• Indonesia: Jeka Saragih
• Japan: Rei Tsuruya, Rinya Nakamura, Toshiomi Kazama
• South Korea: ChangHo Lee, DongHoon Choi, Hyun Sung Park, Jeong Yeong Lee, SuYoung You
• Mongolia: Nyamjargal Tumendemberel

Currently, UFC signees from ROAD TO UFC constitute almost one-third of all Asian athletes on the UFC roster, attesting to the tournament's success at finding the top regional talent. Contract winners have competed in 23 bouts since 2022; they've delivered seven finishes, and seven Performance of the Night awards.

When and where will RTU 2025 opening round take place?

The ROAD TO UFC Season 4 opening round will take place at the UFC PI Shanghai in front of a live audience across two days, Thursday and Friday, May 22 and 23 with bout order set to be announced at a later date.

How to watch Road to UFC season 4?

The ROAD TO UFC Season 4 opening round will be broadcast live in Asia-Pacific prime time from the UFC PI Shanghai, which was purpose-built for live remote production (REMI) via connection to its sister facility, UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. In India, the event will air on Sony Sports Network.

Who will participate in RTU 2025?

ROAD TO UFC Season 4 will feature men's flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight divisions, featuring two participants from India. To provide additional opportunities for top MMA prospects in Asia Pacific, there will also be four non-tournament bouts. The participants and bouts include:

Flyweight (>56.7kg)

• Aaron Tau (New Zealand)
• Agulali (China)
• Kai Yoshida (Japan)
• Mridul Saikia (India)
• Namsrai Batbayar (Mongolia)
• Rio Tirto (Indonesia)
• Wataru Yamauchi (Japan)
• Yin Shuai (China)

Bantamweight (>61.2kg)

• Chungreng Koren (India)
• Kuya Ito (Japan)
• Peter Danesoe (Thailand)
• Rui Imura (Japan)
• Sim Kai Xiong (Singapore)
• Sulang Rangbo (China)
• Ti Haitao (China)
• Van Y Nghiem (Vietnam)

Featherweight (>65.8kg)

• Ahejiang Ailinuer (China)
• ChangMin Yoon (Korea)
• DongHyun Seo (Korea)
• EohJin Park (Korea)
• Jin Aoi (Japan)
• Li Kaiwen (China)
• Keiichiro Nakamura (Japan)
• Sebastian Szalay (Australia)

Lightweight (>70.3kg)

• Daichi Kamiya (Japan)
• Deni Daffa (Indonesia)
• Dom Mar Fan (Australia)
• Jack Becker (Australia)
• JaeHyun Park (Korea)
• Ren Yawei (China)
• SangWook Kim (Korea)
• Yuji Yannick Ephoeviga (Japan)

Participants in non-tournament bouts will be announced at a later date. Each round of ROAD TO UFC Season 4 will take place in front of a live audience, with location and venue details announced in advance of each event. The finals will be featured bouts on a UFC Fight Night, at which time UFC contracts will be awarded to the winners from each division.

Kevin Chang, UFC Senior Vice President and Head of Asia, said: "Entering our fourth season, with nearly a third of Asia's UFC rostered fighters coming from Road to UFC, we can definitively say that the tournament has been a resounding success.

"Each year, the level of talent in Asia continues to improve, and RTU gives these prospects the opportunity to rise to the top and prove they are ready for the big stage of UFC. We're excited to welcome participants from Australia and New Zealand who will raise the bar even further."