Road to UFC: Japan
Road to UFC: Japan is an American reality television series and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. It is the inaugural event "Road to UFC" event and the event featured eight Japanese featherweight fighters with former champion Josh Barnett and Roy Nelson as coaches. The show started on July 6, 2015 and the finale aired on September 27, 2015 at UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson.
| Road to UFC: Japan | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| Created by | Dana White |
| Starring | Dana White |
| Country of origin | Singapore |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original release | August 10 – September 27, 2015 |
| Related | |
| Road to UFC: Singapore | |
Background
It is the inaugural "Road to UFC" event and it started from July 6, 2015 and ended on September 27, 2015 at UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson.[1] The show was slightly different from The Ultimate Fighter in that participants did not share a house but trained in their home towns and in Las Vegas at the UFC Gym under the supervision of coaches of Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett.[2]
Cast
Coaches and Trainers
Team Nelson's
- Mizuto Hirota
- Akiyo Nishiura
- Tatsunao Nagakura
- Nobumitsu Osawa
Team Barnett's
- Daiki Hata
- Teruto Ishihara
- Tatsuya Ando
- Hiroyuki Oshiro
Tournament Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Hiroyuki Oshiro | 1 | |||||||||
| Akiyo Nishiura | TKO | |||||||||
| Teruto Ishihaba | UD | |||||||||
| Akiyo Nishiura | 3 | |||||||||
| Tatsunao Nagakura | 2 | |||||||||
| Daiki Hata | UD | |||||||||
| Teruto Ishihaba | Draw | |||||||||
| Mizuto Hirota | 3 | |||||||||
| Nobumitsu Osawa | 2 | |||||||||
| Mizuto Hirota | Majority Decision | |||||||||
| Mizuto Hirota | UD | |||||||||
| Daiki Hata | 3 | |||||||||
| Tatsuya Ando | 2 | |||||||||
| Teruto Ishihaba | Majority Decision | |||||||||
- The final of the bout was between Mizuto Hirota and Teruto Ishihara. The fight ended in split daw and both fighters were awarded the UFC contracts.[7]
Coaches' Fight
UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson was held on September 27, 2015, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.[8]
- Heavyweight bout: Josh Barnett vs. Roy Nelson[9]
- Barnett defeated Nelson via unanimous decision.[10]
References
- "UFC launching 'Road to UFC' tourney in Singapore". Yardbarker. 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- Bharath, Ranga. "Josh Barnett vs Roy Nelson set for UFC Japan, war of words has already begun". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "Eight MMA Fighters Prepare to Walk the "Road to UFC: Japan" | UFC". Tokyo Weekender. 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- Sherdog.com. "UFC - Road to UFC: Japan Quarterfinals". Sherdog. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- Sherdog.com. "UFC - Road to UFC: Japan Semifinals". Sherdog. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "UFC Fight Night | Barnett vs Nelson | UFC". www.ufc.com. 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "Botched Road to UFC Final Ends in a Draw, but Both Fighters Awarded Contracts". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- Damon Martin (2015-05-14). "Josh Barnett vs. Roy Nelson headlines UFC's return to Japan". foxsports.com. Retrieved 2015-05-14.
- "Josh Barnett and Roy Nelson Top UFC Fight Night Japan After Coaching New Reality Show | MMAWeekly.com". 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- Stets, Michael (2015-09-27). "'Warmaster' Dominates 'Big Country' In Japan". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
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