Indian MMA star Anshul Jubli is all set to take on Kyung Pyo Kim at the ‘Road to UFC’ semi-finals in Abu Dhabi on October 23 at the Etihad Arena. The Semi-Finals for the ‘Road to UFC’ will take place a day after UFC 281 which will take place on October 22. The fight card for UFC 281 is still TBA. The news was first reported by Chris Presnell of The AllStar Sports.
Anshul Jubli vs Kyung Pyo Kim: Road to UFC
Kyung Pyo Kim had defeated Asikeerbai Jinensibieke at 0:30 of Round 1 in Road To UFC Episode 4.
Anshul Jubli was scheduled to fight Japan’s Patrick Usami in Episode 4 of Road to UFC, but the fight had to be called off after the Japanese fighter was unable to make weight and was transported to the hospital. Anshul Jubli was given a first-round bye wherein he was automatically promoted to the semi-final.
The MMA India Show had the opportunity to chat with Siddharth Singh, who is the coach of Anshul Jubli in Singapore after the fight fell through.
“We actually didn’t know that Anshul’s opponent (Usami) did not make weight,” said Siddharth, “We did all of our weight cut, which is very difficult when you’re in a different country because we aren’t aware of where the Sauna is, where steam is available, what are the conditions.”
“Patrick is not injured,” Siddharth answered the rumors about Usami quitting due to an injury, “because last night we saw him cutting weight. But, he was much bigger than Anshul in size. So, I feel to some extent and as spoken to some insiders also who said that ‘he was cutting weight, but he got massively dehydrated and he was then taken to hospital and treated with IV’, but that is the reason. I don’t think it was an injury, I think it was dehydration from the weight cut.”
“The UFC is very strict with these things. If your fighter is getting IV, they’re not going to let you fight. They are very strict with recovery, with the health of the fighters. So its not a joke. So, that’s my belief, I believe he was dehydrated, he couldn’t cut weight and that’s why he went on IV. That’s my opinion and also what I’ve heard and I think that’s the reason why he has not made weight,” the coach added.
Road to UFC Semi-Finals Match-Up
- Flyweight- Topnoi Kiwram vs. Hyun Sung Park
- Flyweight- Qiulun vs. Seung Guk Choi
- Bantamweight- Min Woo Kim vs. Shohei Nose
- Bantamweight- Rinya Nakamura vs. Kazama Toshiomi
- Featherweight- Yi Zha vs. Koyomi Matsushima
- Featherweight- Kai Lu vs. Jeong Young Lee
- Lightweight- Kyung Pyo Kim vs. Anshul Jubli
- Lightweight- Jeka Saragih vs. Won Bin Ki
Watch UFC Fight Night – Dos Anjos vs Fiziev – LIVE on SONY TEN 2 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels on 10th July 2022 from 6:30 am IST
SHARE
