(Yicai) May 23 -- Mixed martial arts promotion giant Ultimate Fighting Championship said it will hold a Fight Night card at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium in late August, marking its return to the Chinese mainland since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019.

The UFC Shanghai Fight Night will be held on Aug. 23, with the Road to UFC 4 semifinals taking place a day earlier, the organization announced yesterday.

UFC held its last event on the Chinese mainland in Shenzhen in August 2019. The organization made its debut on the mainland in Shanghai in November 2017.

The sports events-driven economy has gradually become a new engine for Shanghai to boost consumption. The local government recently announced it will vigorously develop the relevant economy, amplify the spillover effects of international top-tier events, and continue to introduce high-level international competitions.

Shanghai hosted a record 178 international and domestic sports events last year, with a direct economic impact of nearly CNY11.4 billion (USD1.6 billion), also a new high. The events brought CNY31 billion (USD4.3 billion) in ripple effects and CNY9.3 billion in consumption.

UFC, a unit of US media conglomerate TKO Group Holdings, is the world’s largest MMA organization. Since Chinese fighter Zhang Weili won the strawweight championship in Shenzhen in 2019, the sport has drawn more and more fans in the country, with the fanbase reaching 148 million, according to the organization.

Zhang Weili, Li Jingliang, Song Yadong, and 13 other Chinese fighters compete in the UFC.

Editor: Martin Kadiev