MMA Ecosystem

Less than a week after his win at UFC 326, “The Tibetan Eagle” Sumudaerji has his next assignment.

He’ll fight American Alex Perez at UFC Macau on May 30th, per a UFC press release. Perez is ranked 10th in the UFC flyweight division, opening the door for Sumudaerji to re-enter the rankings.

UFC Macau is headlined by a bantamweight fight between Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo.

The main event of UFC Fight Night in Macau is set! 🇨🇳Song Yadong is fighting 🇧🇷Deiveson Figueiredo on May 30th at Macau’s Galaxy Arena, per Dana White.

The UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai held their seventh athlete combine this week to determine which fighters would get an invite to train at the facility over the next year.

Dozens of fighters went through the grinder of physical tests throughout the week, having their raw strength, cardiovascular capacity, and technical ability tested by the PI staff.

After days of evaluations, the staff convened to select 30 fighters into the seventh Academy.

There’s a lot of familiar faces- Road to UFC veterans Xie Bin, Agulali, D**g Huaxiang, Jiniushiyue, Ren Yawei, Sulangrangbo, Ti Haitao, and Zhang Qinghe were in the lineup.

There’s also a batch of fighters that may be unknown to casual fans but have a lot of potential like Gexipengchu, Emunanjia, Regezhen, Zeqiuduoji, Wan Fayang, and Hailai Wushamo.

One surprising returning fighter was UFC veteran Mahashate Hayishaer, who went 2-4 in the promotion, but is still just 26 years old.

Swipe to see the full list of Academy athletes.