Ki-bin Ki (32), the champion of two mixed martial arts events, is trying again to advance to the UFC, the world’s No. 1 team.

The UFC launched Road to UFC in 2022, an Asian mixed martial arts prospect contest that gives the winner of a tournament in each weight category a chance to enter.

The 2023 Road to UFC kicks off on May 27 at the China Performance Institute Shanghai. Ki Ki-bin will play a lightweight (-70 kg) quarterfinal match against Baha Turbo Ray Bar Turbo Rati (26) from Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in China.

Last season Ki Ki-bin was defeated by Jeka Saragi (28, Indonesia) in the semifinals by KO in the first round. After defeating Ki Ki-bin, Saragi climbed to the top of the Road to UFC Lightweight Tournament.

Ki-bin Ki became the Japanese GLADIATOR in 2019 and the Korean group ‘Double G’ lightweight champion in 2021. As the mixed martial arts KO win rate of 64.7% (11/17) suggests, there is one shot.

After debuting in 2018, Baha Turbo Ray was active on the Chinese stage until 2021, and in 2022, he recorded 1 win and 1 loss at the Legacy Fighting Alliance in the United States, becoming a target of UFC interest.

His career in defeating BFC (Belarus)스포츠토토 lightweight champion Maxim Pugachev (30) is also noteworthy. It is also noteworthy that as a mixed martial artist, only one fight was at lightweight and the rest were at welterweight (-77kg) or higher.

Baha Turbo Ray Vater Borati even competed three times as a middleweight (-84 kg). With a 57.1% (4/7) KO win rate while playing mostly in her upper weight class, her destructive power is enough to threaten Ki Won-bin.

It is fortunate that Ki-Bin Ki is the same height as Baja Turbo Lay-Bab Turbo Lati at 180 cm, and her wingspan (shoulders + arms) is slightly ahead at 185-182 cm. It is not impossible to minimize her shortcoming in close combat strength with her mid-to-long range attack.