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he UFC has signed a multi-year deal with the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) to become their official high-performance advisor.

The deal will see Chinese athletes have access to the UFC’s training institute in Shanghai, which opened in June 2019, in the lead up to the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

In addition, the UFC will provide high-performance physical and rehabilitation services to Chines Olympic athletes across all sports, helping boost their strength and conditioning, sports science, physical therapy, and nutrition.

The Shanghai UFC training institute vice president for performance, Duncan French, said this deal shows the UFC’s efforts to assist all athletes worldwide, not just Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes.

“The larger ambition of the UFC Performance Institute is to be a global leader in high-performance across all sports, not just MMA,” French said.

“While our core mission continues to be to support UFC athletes, we have the resources and expertise to be a difference maker to elite athletes who want to optimise their approach to competition preparation and recovery.

“We plan to use our staff experts in both our Las Vegas and Shanghai facilities to apply their knowledge and experience to help Chinese Olympians reach their full potential,” he said.

UFC Asia-Pacific senior vice president, Kevin Chang, said the UFC’s growth and commitment to the Asian market will boost the partnership.

“UFC built this facility to demonstrate its strong commitment to China and to serve elite-level athletes who want to develop their skills and achieve excellence in their respective sports,” Chang said.

“This partnership is a model for how we want to serve the athletic community in Asia going forward,” he said.

The Shanghai facility was opened for MMA talent in June 2019, and cost more than US$13 million to develop.