It didn’t take long for Zuffa to puts its official stamp on mixed martial arts in Asia.
Following UFC 118, UFC president Dana White announced the company had set up an office in Beijing, China, and hired Mark Fischer, formerly of the NBA’s China branch, to run its operations in Asia as executive vice president and managing director.
On Thursday, the WEC, the UFC’s sibling promotion, officially announced the signing of lightweight Tiequan Zhang, of Beijing. Zhang will be the first fighter from mainland China in the WEC’s history. His first task comes later this month against Alex Karalexis at WEC 51 in Broomfield, Colo.