UFC 174 turned out to be a solid night for South East Asian fighters, and Japan's Michinori Tanaka got the ball rolling, defeating Canada's own Roland Delorme in the second Fight Pass bout of the night. It was Tanaka's debut, and he remains undefeated in his career. A couple of options come to mind for Tanaka, but the key is to get him on the UFC Japan card in September. This is something every Japanese fighter in the company is going to want to be a part of, as well as several former Pride names (Shogun Rua and Alistair Overeem have both asked to be on the card, which is headlined by Mark Hunt vs. Roy Nelson). As for those options - the winner of Johnny Bedford vs. Cody Gibson from UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens works. Royston Wee, fighting out of Singapore, picked up his first UFC win in January, and depending on when he's ready to go, that fight could work as well, on just about any card in Asia (or elsewhere, but that would make the most sense as the UFC is looking to expand in the region).
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
