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Climaco battles Japanese in Road to UFC semis this August

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Rick Olivares

The UFC announced that the semifinals of The Road to UFC Season 2 will be held on August 27 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the site of the inaugural series that began last year.Filipino-American Mark Climaco (9-1) is the country’s lone bet in this win-or-go home format where the winner of each weight division receives a UFC contract. Climaco advanced to the semifinals of the flyweight competition of The Road to the UFC at the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China when he took a unanimous decision victory over South Korean Jung Hyun-Lee last May 27.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/29/21/mma-half-pinoy-fighter-triumphs-ufc-fight-night">MMA: Half-Pinoy fighter triumphs at UFC Fight Night</a></li></ul>All three judges ruled the fight in favor of Climaco, 30-27.In the semifinals, the Fil-American will face decorated Japanese wrestler Rei Tsuruya (7-0). “With every stage of this competition, it gets tougher and tougher,” observed Climaco. “You expect that when everyone wants to compete in the UFC.” “The plan is to fly in early and get acclimated to the time zone so I am also relaxed. This will be a tough match-up against Tsuruya as he is a well-skilled fighter. But I am tough too. I have to learn from my baptism of fire in this tournament and really bring it to Singapore.” The other semifinals series pits 22-year old Chinese finisher Jiniushiyue &quot;Little King Kong&quot; (12-2) against well-rounded Korean wrestler Seung Guk Choi (7-2).<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/13/22/israel-adesanya-defeats-robert-whittaker-at-ufc-271">MMA: Israel Adesanya defeats Robert Whittaker at UFC 271</a></li></ul>In the other weight categories, the bantamweight division will see Xiao Long (25-7), a highly aggressive striker out of China, taking on the equally relentless Japanese grappler Shuya Kamikubo (13-1-1), while the other card pits Chinese submission specialist Daermisi Zhawupasi (7-0) against South Korea’s Chang Ho Lee (8-1). The featherweight pairings have seasoned Chinese tactician Yizha (23-4) facing the skilled South Korean Sang Won Kim (10-5-1), and entertaining all-rounder Japanese finisher Koya Kanda (12-4) battling another Chinese striker in Li Kaiwen (11-5). In the lightweight category, former UFC athlete and finisher Rongzhu (23-5), who is fighting out of Sichuan, China, will find out if his experience is enough to turn back the multi-skilled South Korean Sangwook Kim (9-2). Power Japanese wrestler Shin Haraguchi (6-0-1NC) faces pressure from Chinese striker Bahatebole Batebolati (8-1-1). In a non-tournament, flyweight match, flashy Thai finisher Peter &quot;The Asian Viking&quot; Danasoe (6-2) goes up against undefeated Mongolian stand out Nyamjargal &quot;Art of KO&quot; Tumendemberel (7-0). The Road to the UFC will be televised on the Premier Sports Channel on SkyCable and Cignal as well as the TapGo TV streaming application. RELATED VIDEO<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FRRdSybshtc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The UFC announced that the semifinals of The Road to UFC Season 2 will be held on August 27 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the site of the inaugural series that began last year.