UFC boss Kevin Chang believes Macau will be the “launch model for the organization for Asia” in 2026, and he sees a hunger for the sport that is not yet being served by those who already dominate the region.
The promotion returns to Galaxy Stadium this weekend, with an event headlined by Chinese stars Song Yadong and Zhang Mingyang on a main card featuring five more of their counterparts.
There will be two days of action by then, with the fifth season of the Road to the UFC opening what Chang, the UFC’s senior vice president and head of Asia, called one of the “busiest weeks of our entire global calendar”.
Fighters and fans from across the region have descended on the betting hub for the fifth time since the inaugural event in 2012, and as in 2024, all 16,000 tickets for Saturday’s event have long been sold out.
The evidence that the partnership that will last until 2029 is “off the hook” is plain to see, although as with any battle for dominance in the triangle, there is a serious challenger waiting in the wings.
ONE Championship, which bills itself as the largest fighting sports promotion in the East, has a strong position among those that don’t just focus on mixed martial arts, and has begun to expand into the West.
