UFC announces return to Shanghai for Fight Night card in August
22/05/2025 17:00
The UFC will return to mainland China for the first time since 2017, holding a Fight Night card at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium on Aug. 23. The promotion has yet to announce fights for the event, but UFC champion Zhang Weili was part of a media event Thursday to announce the news as well as Song Yadong and Zhang Mingyang.
The night before, on Aug. 22, semifinals of the Road to UFC tournament will also take place in the city.
The UFC's only trip to Shanghai took place in Nov. 25, 2017, when Kelvin Gastelum knocked out Michael Bisping in the main event to retire the former champion in front of just over 15,000 fans.
Gastelum was originally slated to face Anderson Silva in that main event bout, but the Brazilian was pulled from the card after failing a drug test for methyltestosterone metabolites and hydrochlorothiazide. USADA later determined it came from tainted supplements.
The UFC spent years away from China during the COVID-19 pandemic, returning only in November 2024 for a Fight Night show in Macau with former champions Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo clashing in the headlining attraction. Chinese stars Yan Xiaonan and Zhang Mingyang came out victorious on the main card.
