By:  | November 1, 2023 10:00 am

The UFC Fight Night 234 card is coming together. The event on December 9th finally has a venue confirmed and will be taking place at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.

There doesn’t currently appear to be a main event but the card has been bolstered by the addition of Tatsuro Taira (14-0). The undefeated Japanese flyweight will be taking on Carlos Hernandez (9-2).

This will be Taira’s first time fighting in Asia since signing for the UFC. He remains unranked despite having won four fights so far inside the octagon.

Lightweights rebooked

Nasrat Haqparast and Jamie Mullarkey were originally booked to face off in a lightweight fight at UFC 284. The Afghan pulled out but the bout has been rescheduled for December.

Haqparast (14-5) is a veteran of ten UFC fights and has been on the roster since 2017. Mullarkey (15-5) is Australian and comes into this contest on good form having won three of his last four fights.

Also added to the card is Road to UFC flyweight tournament winner Hyun Sung Park (8-0). The Undefeated Korean has been matched with Shannon Ross (13-8).

There are currently as many Koreans on the card as there are local fighters. Jun Yong Park (17-5) will be looking for his fifth straight UFC win when he takes on André Muniz (23-6).

Light heavyweights

As previously announced Zhang Mingyang faces Brendson Ribeiro in a light heavyweight bout on December 9th. He had been booked to face Tyson Pedro at UFC 284 in February but pulled out of that contest due to an undisclosed injury.

Mingyang will finally be making his promotional debut nine month’s later. He is on a ten fight winning streak that culminated in a KO victory over George Tokkos at a Road to UFC event last year while Ribeiro is making his UFC debut.

Meanwhile Sumudaerji is facing Allan Nascimento in a flyweight fight. The Chinese fighter returns to the octagon after a year long absence.

Sumudaerji has three wins and three losses from his previous six UFC fights. Nascimento is coming off back to back wins and this won’t be the Brazilian’s first time fighting in Asia, he dropped a split decision to Yuki Motoya at the Rizin World Grand Prix in 2016.

All Chinese

Fans hoping that the eagerly anticipated all Chinese strawweight title fight between Weili Zhang and Yan Xiaonan would find its way onto this card are destined for disappointment. Earlier this month Dana White made it clear that he wasn’t looking to make this particular match in China.

UFC Fight Night 234 doesn’t currently appear to have a headliner though. Either Zhang or Xiaonan could find themselves competing in the main event although with the show less than six weeks away it is looking increasingly less likely that they will.

UFC Fight Night 234, Shanghai, December 9th
André Muniz vs. Park Jun-Yong (Middleweight)
Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Hernandez (Flyweight)
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jamie Mullarkey (Lightweight)
Hyun-Sung Park vs. Shannon Ross (Flyweight)
Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro (Light heavyweight)
Sumudaerji vs. Allan Nascimento (Flyweight)