UFC Fight Night returns to Saitama Super Arena

Tickets are now on sale for UFC’s highly-anticipated live fight night to be held at Saitama Super Arena on September 23. A roster of international MMA stars will be facing each other in the ring, with the headline fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua against knockout ace Ovince Saint Preux.

Saint Preux will be looking to defend his previous victory against Rua in Brazil two years ago, where he knocked out his opponent, right on his home turf, just 34 seconds into the first round —  silencing the hostile crowd and earning the biggest win of his career so far.

“With Shogun being a legend, I think the way that I ended up knocking him out, he’s never been defeated that way. I think that’s one of the reasons why he wants to redeem himself,” said Saint Preux at a recent press event at Tokyo Dome Hotel.

Naoki Inoue Image: Reina Ogawa

In the lead-up to the main showdown, six other fights will take place. Expect the arena to go wild when Japan’s youngest UFC contender Naoki Inoue goes up against Filipino rising star Jenel Lausa. At just 20 years-old, Inoue is proving himself to be a threat to UFC veterans, winning eleven fights in a row so far.

Other bouts on the fight card will see Dutch kickboxing megastar Gokhan Saki in his first ever UFC fight, going up against Brazil’s Luiz Henrique De Silva, as well as a newly announced battle between newcomer Daichi Abe and “The Ace” Hyun Gyu Lim from South Korea. Japan’s Syuri Kondo will meet South Korean Chan Mi-Jeon in the night’s first female match, while another Japanese fighter, Ulka Sasaki, hopes to continue his winning streak against Brazilian flyweight Jussier Formiga.

A billion-dollar enterprise, UFC is the world’s fastest growing sports organization in the world with millions of fans following the action on mainstream and social media (UFC has over 20 million fans on Facebook alone). The Shogun-Saint Preux rematch will be UFC’s fifth live event in Japan, and the third to be held in Asia-Pacific this year as they continue to expand in the region.

“We’ve yet to name a champion from Asia but we’re very excited at the prospect. Japan is ripe with talent and we expect that day to come very soon,” said Kevin Chan, Vice President of UFC’s Asia Pacific strategy, at the press event.

Tickets for UFC Fight Night Japan: Shogun vs Saint Preux are now on sale via Lawson Ticket, Kyoto Tokyo, E+, Ticket Pia and Ticket Board. Limited VIP packages are also available.

Tickets: VIP ¥50,000 / RS ¥30,000 / S ¥12,000 / A ¥8,000 / B ¥5,000. For ticket info, visit https://ticket.tickebo.jp/pc/en/ufc02/

UFC Fight Night returns to Saitama Super Arena

• Venue: Saitama Super Arena
• Address: 8 Shintoshin, Saitama, Chuo Ward, Saitama 330-9111
• Date: September 23, 2017
• Time: 08:00 am JST - 09:00 pm JST
• Map: Google map

• Link: http://jp.ufc.com/