Bruna Brasil will headline Friday’s Street to UFC card in Shanghai reverse Chinese language prospect Shi Ming, however that was not the unique plan.
The UFC has a Struggle Evening occasion booked for Saturday in Shanghai, headlined by Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang on the Shanghai Indoor Stadium, whereas Street to UFC, the match constructed to recruit Chinese language fighters to the promotion, has a present on the identical venue a day earlier than.
“I didn’t count on to go to China [laughs]. The opponent by no means crossed my head both, she simply received within the UFC,” Brasil instructed MMA Combating. “[The fight] was going to be within the common UFC however then they steered to switch the struggle to be a particular foremost occasion to advertise the Street card. I believed it was cool as a result of it would get extra consideration. We might most likely be combating within the prelims, and now we get to face out extra.”
Brasil mentioned it’s extra “fascinating and thrilling” to be the primary occasion of a smaller present than filling up an everyday UFC Struggle Evening.
“Tickets went on sale and it was bought out in like, 10 minutes,” Brasil mentioned. “I used to be very enthusiastic about that. I feel it’s going to be very cool to enter the octagon in a packed enviornment with everyone screaming and cheering. It’s going to be implausible. It’s an uncommon alternative, I didn’t count on to be the primary occasion of a UFC occasion, so it’s going to be an unimaginable expertise for me. It’s going to be fantastic to indicate individuals my expertise and what I’ve to supply.”
The Combating Nerds strawweight dropped to 2-3 within the UFC after a short-notice flyweight loss to Wand Cong in February, seven months after beating Molly McCann in Manchester. Brasil now goals to as soon as once more be victorious in enemy territory.
“She’s beloved in China, we’ve seen that already,” Brasil mentioned of Ming. “Folks like her character, the very fact she’s tremendous good. And he or she’s additionally very respectful within the struggle, and Asians like that.”
Ming joined the UFC after a pair of resolution victories on the Street to UFC match, and is again to the octagon for the primary time since an extremely violent head kick knockout over Xiaocan Feng at UFC’s final journey to Macau in November 2024.
Brasil mentioned that Ming could be very technical and strikes properly on the ft, and versatile to flee submissions on the bottom, however may nonetheless be untested within the sport.
“I imagine she has competed with good athletes, based mostly on what I’ve seen, however I don’t imagine she has confronted anybody of my stage but,” Brasil mentioned. “Folks say I’m misguiding, that I look skinny however my strikes are highly effective, particularly the kicks. I imagine she is going to really feel once I land the primary kick or teep. I imagine she is going to really feel that tough, and that’s when she is going to start to appreciate she has to possibly change methods a little bit bit, attempt to circle extra. I’m prepared for these modifications. I imagine she is going to attempt takedowns, too.”
