Author: Anton Tabuena

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MACAU, CHINA — Zhang Tiequan and Jon Tuck put on a stellar performance this past weekend at UFC Macao: Franklin vs. Le, with the two fighters going back and forth for majority of their 15 minute bout. Most people in the arena considered it as the unofficial Fight of the Night, and while both men gained a lot of respect from the local Chinese fans, it looks like it will take a while before they can see their hometown hero back in the cage.

On Sunday, MMAFighting.com has learned from Zhang himself that he had sustained an injury to his left hand during the bout against Tuck. The Chinese star showed his heavily wrapped and bandaged hand, stating through a translator that it was his left thumb that was broken.

Although there has been no official word yet on a timetable for his return, the 34-year-old fighter will likely be out of commission for months.

The decision loss to Tuck marks his 3rd in a row, and drops his overall record to 15-4. Prior to heading to the UFC, the China Top Team product joined the WEC in 2010 and has gone 2-4 under the Zuffa banner, with submission wins over Pablo Garza and Jason Reinhardt.

MACAU, CHINA — UFC Macau is in the books and Zuffa’s first trip to China ended up as a success. Apart from having that arena feel, commercials may have cut out several minutes of your viewing experience. To make up for that, here are several tidbits from being live at the Cotai Arena that you may have missed out on during the FUEL TV broadcast:

– Macau is a popular tourist spot which is just a few short hours away from several countries in Asia. This was one of the primary reasons the UFC chose this location to start with their Asian expansion, as they knew a lot of people would fly in to see the event while also catering to a very young Chinese market at the same time.

They were right on the money with this one, as a huge percentage of the crowd were indeed from several different nations. This led to the crowd being split during several bouts with huge contingents from countries like the U.S., China, Brazil, and South Korea cheering on their countrymen.

– Like a lot of events in the U.S., the judges in Macau all had monitors they can use cageside.

– During the prelims of Caceres vs. Tezuka, Motonubu’s cornerman was slapping him in the face multiple times. in between rounds to wake him up, I guess. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work as Caceres cruised to a split decision. Speaking of, judge Bass Singh scored that for Tezuka. Did he accidentally turn off his monitor?

– Following the fight, Motonobu Tezuka’s left eye was swollen shut from the bout against Caceres.

– In what I can only assume to be unique to this Chinese event, celebrities who attended the event were announced, and personalities such as action movie stars Donnie Yen and Daniel Wu were introduced to the crowd in different languages. Speaking of multiple languages, the promo videos where Jon Anik gives previews before every fight all had Chinese subtitles.

– TUF veteran, Andy Wang was in Mac Danzig’s corner for his fight against Takanori Gomi.

– Also, a tidbit that wasn’t shown on the FUEL broadcast, right before the decision was announced, Danzig & Gomi had a bro-hug while they were both being carried by the shoulders of their cornermen.

– Korean ring girl Kang Ye Bin was seated for most of the event, but when it came to Dong Hyun Kim’s bout, she was standing, intently watching and cheering for his countryman.

– With all the Asian fighters on the card, it’s funny that it was the scary Bulgarian in Stanislav Nedkov who decided to walk out to the popular Gangnam Style song.

– In the UFC’s history, they have hosted over 200 events and there has never been a card that had every single fight go to a decision. Saturday’s event seemed to be going that way with the first seven bouts left to the judges hands, but Thiago Silva and Cung Le put an end to that securing the card’s only submission and knockout. That automatically won them the fight night bonuses.

– Prior to getting the third round submission, all three judges scoring the Thiago Silva vs. Stanislav Nedkov fight had Silva winning the first two rounds, even if Nedkov scored a big knockdown and controlled most of the fight on the fence. Had the Bulgarian not gassed and got finished, it could’ve been a very controversial issue right now.

– Lastly, do you remember the Japanese lady doing translation at UFC Japan (UFC 144) with those cool, fluffy pens? She’s back in Macau, doing translations for Gomi and the other Japanese fighters.

MACAU, CHINA — Zuffa’s first voyage to China just ended with a successful show at UFC: Macao, but when it comes to plans for their Asian expansion, it looks like they’re not taking their foot of the pedal just yet. Following the event, Mark Fischer, the Managing Director of UFC Asia has already announced their next UFC show in the region.

The UFC will be returning to Japan in 2013, and the event will once again be at the Saitama Super Arena. The show will be on March 3rd, and like their last show in the country, it will be held on a Sunday morning to accommodate the time slots for the U.S. audience.

No word yet whether the Japanese event will be on PPV, or a free show on FX, or FUEL TV. In addition, no names were given out as possible participants on the card. The UFC most recently returned to Japan in February of 2012 for UFC 144, which was also held at the Saitama Super Arena. The main event was headlined by a lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. That marked the organization’s first show in Japan since 2012.

Fischer, however, did mention their plans for another country they will likely be visiting next: Indonesia. No immediate details about a date, venue or card participants were immediately available.

With the desire to go to the country, the UFC has partnered up with MNC Media, a large media conglomerate with holdings including broadcasting and print media, telecommunications, online retail and more. It’s the largest such network in Indonesia and has 40% of the share of the market.

The country hasn’t had much MMA in the the past 7 years, but this year Asian promotion ONE FC has hosted an event at the nation’s capital in Jakarta last February. The audience won’t be completely new with MMA, and with the country being the 4th most populous country in the world, it makes for an attractive target market for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

This is the UFC on FUEL 6 undercard live blog for the Franklin vs. Le event at the Cotai Arena in Macau, China.

There will be three fights on the undercard. Alex Caceres vs. Motonobu Tezuka, Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. John Lineker and Riki Fukuda vs. Tom DeBlass will be featured on the prelims.

Check out the live blog below.

Riki Fukuda vs. Tom DeBlass

Round 1: The arena is already full, and the crowd gives DeBlass and Fukuda a good ovation. Looks like Macau is really excited for their first UFC event. Nice kick by DeBlass, and answered by Fukuda. Riki shoots and immediately gets a takedown. The Japanese fighter lands a few short punches from the full guard. More GnP. Crowd starts chanting Riki, then DeBlass gets up. Riki with a nice right. DeBlass with a good counter as Riki comes in. Both guys land punches. Riki still pressing, but DeBlass lands some good counters. DeBlass complains about an eye poke, and was given time to recover. Back on now and Riki attempts a single leg. DeBlass defends and they separate. Crowd appreciates the sequence. Every time Riki attempts a jab, DeBlass effectively counters. Fukuda bleeding now, but lands 2 good kicks. High kick partially blocked for Deblass and Fukuda takes him down again. Close round, but I’m going with 10-9 DeBlass as he landed the more solid shots.

Round 2: Fukuda presses forward again. Clinches with DeBlass and lands a few good knees and dirty boxing by the fence. Riki with a high kick that’s partially blocked. DeBlass lands a few punches, then Fukuda answers with 2 body kicks. DeBlass with a big right hand that lands. Riki pushes him to the fence and lands good knees. Fukuda is doing much better this round, but DeBlass still able to land with a counter straight he’s been getting the whole fight. Fukuda clinches again and more dirty boxing. Both men exchange right hands. Front kicks by Riki and then they clinch and dirty box again. Front kick again from Riki. They’re brawling by the fence and Riki seems to get the better of it. They exchange rights as the round ends. 10-9 Fukuda.

Crowd goes wild for Jessica C.

Round 3: Missed front kick from DeBlass. Both guys land big on the clinch, but now it’s Riki pushing him to the fence and landing big uppercuts. Takedown from a body lock by Riki Full guard and Riki is landing a few short punches. Not much action, but Riki maintains top position and lands the occasional punch. Riki passes to half guard briefly and DeBlass puts him back to full guard. Half guard again. Riki landing better shots now. Ref stands him up. DeBlass lands a counter left. Riki lands well on the clinch. Riki landing on the fence again and he’s winning the round handilly. They brawl till the final bell. It’s 10-9 Fukuda again, and it should earn him the decision.

Official Scores: Riki Fukuda def. Tom DeBlass by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28 twice).

Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. John Lineker
Round 1: Good ovation for the flyweights. Lineker with a good kick early. Urushitani misses with 2 kicks. Leg kick followed by a high kick from Urushitani. They trade leg kicks. Lineker with a body punch. Another exchange of kicks. Both guys keep missing and they can’t seem to find the range early. Nice stiff jab from Lineker. Both men land right hands. Jab from Urushitani. Fakes a spin attack. and Linek lands 2 punches. Urushitani with 2 good knees that the crowd appreciates. Leg kick from Urushitani. The Japanese fighter is doing a good job of staying out of the range of lineker. Urushitani with a lead hook, then lineker counters and drops Urushitani. Lineker rushes, and Urushitani drops him with a right. Great finish to the round. It’s close, but 10-9 for Urushitani.

Round 2: Lineker landing good shots, and counters. Urushitani with a good jab and a headkick, but Lineker lands big shots to the body when they clinch. Crowd starts chanting “Brazil”. Lineker lands big punches to the body and now lands to the head. Urushitani just takes them, and doesn’t show signs of being hurt. Good lead hook from Lineker… and another. Leg kick from Lineker and a right hand to the body. Urushitani slips then gets poked in the eye. Crowd boos, but that looked like it hurt. Lineker with more power shots to the body. Nice straight left from Urushitani. Follows up with a leg kick and a right hand combination. Leg kick from Lineker, and then lands a good left. More kicks from Lineker. 10-9 Lineker, clearly.

Round 3: They exchange low kicks, then Lineker lands 2 big punches that drops Urushitani. Fake spin, then high kick by Urushitani that gets partially blocked. Leg kick from Urushitani. Big left hook from Lineker lands cleanly. Nice jab by Urushitani. Lineker andwers with a Jab and a right hand. Another big left hook from Lineker. Urushitani fakes a takedown. Lineker keeps landing that left hook over and over. Right hand lands after a failed flying knee attempt, and Urushitani is hurt. He wobbles around and survives, and now he seems to have recovered. Body kick from Urushitani, followed by a 1-2 from Lineker. They clinch, and Lineker presses him to the fence. They separate. Left hook lands again for the Brazilian. Another flying knee from Urushitani that gets him into trouble as Lineker keeps countering perfectly. Crowd goes wild as the bell ends. 10-9 for Lineker and it should earn him the decision.

Official Scores: John Lineker def. Yasuhiro Urushitani by Unanimous Decision (29-28 twice, 30-27)

Alex Caceres vs. Motonobu Tezuka
Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

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