Road to UFC: Japan

Road to UFC: Japan
Genre	Sports
Created by	Dana White
Starring	Dana White
Country of origin	Singapore
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Release	August 10 (2015-08-10) – September 27, 2015 (2015-09-27)
Related
Road to UFC

Road to UFC: Japan is an American reality television series and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. The series 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.

Background

Road to UFC: Japan 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

[3]

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

[4][5][6]

• • 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

Main article: UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson

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]

See also

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
• Road to UFC

References

1. "UFC launching 'Road to UFC' tourney in Singapore". Yardbarker. April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
2. Bharath, Ranga. "Josh Barnett vs Roy Nelson set for UFC Japan, war of words has already begun". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
3. "Eight MMA Fighters Prepare to Walk the "Road to UFC: Japan" | UFC". Tokyo Weekender. July 3, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
4. Sherdog.com. "UFC - Road to UFC: Japan Quarterfinals". Sherdog. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
5. Sherdog.com. "UFC - Road to UFC: Japan Semifinals". Sherdog. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
6. "UFC Fight Night | Barnett vs Nelson | UFC". www.ufc.com. September 14, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
7. "Botched Road to UFC Final Ends in a Draw, but Both Fighters Awarded Contracts". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
8. Damon Martin (May 14, 2015). "Josh Barnett vs. Roy Nelson headlines UFC's return to Japan". foxsports.com. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
9. "Josh Barnett and Roy Nelson Top UFC Fight Night Japan After Coaching New Reality Show | MMAWeekly.com". May 14, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
10. Stets, Michael (September 27, 2015). "'Warmaster' Dominates 'Big Country' In Japan". MMAmania.com. Retrieved April 25, 2022.