Yao Zhikui (born February 7, 1991) was a Chinese

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competed as a

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

Background

Originally

Henan Province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...

Central China Central China () is a List of regions of China, region in China. It mainly includes the provinces of China, provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially par ...

, Yao competed in

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and trained in Sanda before moving to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in order to pursue a career in professional

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

. Yao began training under the tutelage of former

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

Zhang Tiequan Zhang Tiequan, or Zhang Tie Quan (, born July 25, 1978), often anglicized to Tiequan Zhang, is a Chinese mixed martial artist, who last competed as a Lightweight in the UFC. A professional competitor since 2005, Tiequan spent most of the beginni ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Yao made his professional debut in 2012, and compiled a record of 1 - 1, before getting the opportunity to appear on

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

The Ultimate Fighter: China

In the fall of 2013, it was announced that Yao had been selected as one of the bantamweight participants for Team Sky Dragons on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter: China. In his first fight, Yao faced Allen Chong. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. In the semifinal fight, Yao faced off against Yang Jianping. He lost the fight via unanimous decision and was subsequently eliminated from the competition.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Yao made his promotional debut on August 23, 2014, in a flyweight bout against Royston Wee at

UFC Fight Night 48 ''UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 48'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on August 23, 2014, at the CotaiArena in Macau. Background The event was headlined by a ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Yao faced Nolan Ticman on May 16, 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 66 ''UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 66'') was a mixed martial arts event held on May 16, 2015, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines. Background The event was the first that the organization has hosted ...

. He won the fight via split decision. Yao next faced

Fredy Serrano Freddy Alejandro Serrano Sichaca (born September 22, 1979) is a male former Olympic freestyle wrestler from Colombia and a current mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2013, he has formerly competed for the UFC and was als ...

on November 28, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 79. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round after Yao severely injured his arm while trying to defend a takedown. Yao was expected to face promotional newcomer Jenel Lausa on October 15, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 97. However, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely. In turn, the pairing was quickly rescheduled and is expected to take place on November 27, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 101 ''UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 101'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 27, 2016, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Background Thi ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 3–5 , Augustin Delarmino Jr. , TKO (punches) , CKF Macau , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 3–4 , Swapnil , TKO (punches) , CKF 115 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:44 ,

Xiangxi Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture; Tujia: ; Miao: is an autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China. It is located in northwestern Hunan province.) being an abbreviation for Hunan and ( zh, labels=no, p=xī) meaning 'we ...

, China , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–4 , Jenel Lausa , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–3 ,

, TKO (arm injury) , UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Masvidal , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 2–2 , Nolan Ticman , Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

, Philippines , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2 , Royston Wee , Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, SAR, China , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Doayuan Wang , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , RUFF 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:37 ,

Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...

, China , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Takayuki Iijima , N/A , Real Fight MMA Championship 1 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

, China , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Zhikui 1991 births Living people Martial artists from Henan Flyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Shuai Jiao Chinese male mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Chinese sanshou practitioners Chinese male sport wrestlers