The octagon returns to the martial arts obsessed nation of Japan for the first time in almost two years with a Friday night fight card headlined by Ovince Saint Preux taking on Yushin Okami.
The card was reduced to ten bouts earlier today following the medical withdrawal of Mizuto Hirota who’s dangerous weigh in went viral following his zombie-like walk to the scale.
Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua was supposed to face Saint Preux in the main event before an injury forced Japanese MMA legend Yushin Okami to step in and face the former light-heavyweight challenger.
The American is ranked in sixth position in the thin 205lbs division and will hope to put himself back in the top five against the former middleweight title challenger in Okami, who last competed at welterweight and has won his last four fights.
The co-main event pits two Brazilian strawweights head-to-head across the other side of the world with Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade aiming to meet the winner of Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas after UFC 217.
Gadelha has consecutively defeated Cortney Casey and Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her bid to get a rematch with the Polish strawweight champion and has never been defeated by anyone else.
Andrade lost her last bout in a title challenge but will look to regain the form that earned her the shot with four consecutive victories, including a fight against Angela Hill that may just be the best female matchup of all time.
Japanese legend and former Pride sensation Takanori Gomi will aim to send the Japanese crowd into raptures with a victory over South Korean, Dong Hyun Kim. Gomi will be looking to avoid sliding to a five losing streak, whilst Kim is 1-2 in the octagon.
Dutch-Turkish kickboxing god, Gokhan Saki will look to make a successful transition into MMA after last competing in it thirteen years ago. He has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion and Brazil’s Luis Henrique da Silva will aim to derail the hype train.
Featherweights collide with Teruto Ishihara taking on Rolando Dy with the former looking to end a two-fight losing streak. Keita Nakamura will compete for the forty-third time in his career taking on former Legacy welterweight champion Alex Morono.
Highly ranked flyweight Jussier Formiga will look to bounce back after his loss to title contender Ray Borg with a victory over Yuta Sasaki. Sasaki upset the odds in Singapore earlier this year, defeating Justin Scoggins.
Female Strawweights will see Japan face South Korea as Syuri Kondo makes her UFC debut against twenty-year-old Chan Mi Jeon. Shinsho Anzai competes for the first time since 2015 against New Zealand’s Luke Jumeau.
Daichi Abe opens up the card against Hyun Gu Lim with both men looking to impress in the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The fight card kicks off at 00:30 on Saturday morning with the six-fight main card getting underway at 03:00 on BT Sport 2.
