The Ultimate Fighting Championship touches down for the first time in South Korea with Saturday’s offering on its Fight Pass platform. The promotion has long drawn excellent fighters from the region, including Dong Hyun Kim and former title challenger Chan Sung Jung, and this looks to be the first card of many that capitalizes on the excellent talent in the country.
In the main event, Korean-American Benson Henderson takes on Jorge Masvidal, who steps up on late notice to replace the injured Thiago Alves. From an action perspective, this is an even better fight than the original.
It represents a huge opportunity for both men.
This is the last fight on Henderson’s contract, and there is every indication that he will explore free agency after this bout. A win here would set him up for a big payday assuming he draws competing offers from the UFC and Bellator. For Masvidal, a win over Henderson would easily be the biggest of his career, and it would give him an in to the big-money fights that have always eluded him.
The rest of the card, however, lacks much in the way of compelling fights. Dong Hyun Kim, the most consistently excellent Korean fighter on the world stage, fights late-notice replacement Dominic Waters in the co-main event. Yoshihiro Akiyama, who is Japanese of Korean descent, takes on Alberto Mina in a decent but hardly must-see matchup.
The highlight of the card, outside of the headliner, is a barnburner of a featherweight fight between “The Korean Superboy” Doo Ho Choi and banger Sam Sicilia. The main card starts at 8 a.m. ET.
Even the most dedicated fans can safely skip the prelims, which start at 5 a.m. ET. Aside from a sneaky-good strawweight matchup between Cortney Casey and Seohee Ham, there is little of interest.
Let’s take a look at each matchup.