The UFC head honcho, Dana White, is taking the fight promotion to Shanghai, China, on 23rd August 2025. UFC’s return to China is also associated with Road To UFC Season 4 Semifinals: SHI vs Brasil. The event is set to go live on August 22, where 16 fighters from Asia Pacific will fight for the chance to get a multi-fight contract in the UFC. And the next day, we’ll get to witness an electric UFC Fight Night at Shanghai Indoor Arena. 

In the main event, the #12 light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker will take on the #14 LHW star Mingyang Zhang. The co-main event will feature the former bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, competing against Brian Ortega. Dana White and Company had already announced six more fights scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang. Now, the team has added three more fights to the list. 

Freelance journalist, Marcel Dorff, recently took to X and shared that Xiao Long is going to battle SuYoung You at UFC Shanghai. In a separate X post, he pointed to the addition of Rongzhu vs. Austin Hubbard to the card. Furthermore, KevinK declared that Hayisaer Maheshate will fight Gauge Young at the Fight Night event in China. 

UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang will mark the fourth time the promotion has hosted an event in Mainland China. It also represents the first event in Mainland China since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. Dana White has already toured Mexico City, London, Sydney, and Riyadh from the beginning of 2025 until now. And with several more international venues on the horizon, let’s take a look at what White has said about taking the UFC global. 

Dana White plans to take the UFC across international borders for events

Not too long ago, Dana White appeared on Jazzy’s World TV, wherein he told the host, Jazlyn Guerra, all about his plans of hosting UFC events at international venues. He said, “I would say the goal that I still have is to continue to take the UFC to places where it’s never been, bring the live events there. You know, we still haven’t been to Spain. It’s crazy that we haven’t been to Spain yet. Gotta get to Spain and many other places. I will have achieved my goal when the UFC has literally had a live event in every country all over the world.”

The UFC head honcho continued, “It’s happening. We’re getting there. It will happen. “We’re still continuing to build a sport. I was just in another room over here with the sports minister of Georgia. And not Atlanta, Georgia. I’m talking about Georgia the country, and we’ve never been there before. I’m going on a big tour of China in August. The government is gonna take me around. We’re making moves over there.”

According to reports, UFC will also land in Paris on 6th September, then move to Vancouver and Abu Dhabi the next month, finally ending the international tour with a debut in Qatar. But for now, let’s keep our attention on UFC Shanghai, as the card keeps on building excitement. And don’t forget to let us know what you think of White’s dream of taking us all for an international tour.