Hector Santiago brings kickboxing pedigree to UFC debut against Lawrence Lui in Shanghai

Hector Santiago makes his long-awaited UFC debut on August 29 at UFC Shanghai, squaring off against Road to UFC tournament winner Lawrence Lui in a bantamweight contest that marks the culmination of a decade-long transition from kickboxing world champion to mixed martial artist.

Santiago’s path to the octagon mirrors, in several ways, that of former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira. Both men built their foundations in kickboxing, and both won titles under the WGP and WAKO banners before turning to MMA. The connection runs deeper than parallel careers: Santiago was on the same card as Pereira in July 2015, when “Poatan” claimed the WGP belt in a trilogy fight against Cesar Almeida, while Santiago was competing in just his second professional bout.

“I have enormous admiration for Alex,” Santiago told MMA Fighting. “Alex has been a friend of mine for a long time, since before he was famous. I followed his story very closely, so it would be amazing to fight on the same card as him. In fact, my second fight in WGP was on the same card as him. He was fighting for the belt, and I was having my second fight, and I visualize that happening again one day.”

That reunion has not yet materialised, but the two fighters are once again competing under the UFC banner simultaneously, which Santiago views as a promising omen.

The 33-year-old is no stranger to fighting in Asia, having competed five times on the continent during his kickboxing career in the late 2010s — including appearances on Kunlun Fight cards alongside legends Buakaw and Yodsanklai. He admits the time difference has never been easy to manage, but says experience has taught him to work with his body rather than against it.

“I never really adapted to the time difference, but I fought well,” he said. “I wake up to fight, and then after the fight I go back to sleep. You know when you wake up in the middle of the night, get some water, and go back to sleep? That’s more or less how it was when I fought over there.”

Santiago’s MMA career only began in 2024, but he wasted little time building a compelling record. Six wins from seven bouts in under two years earned him his UFC contract, with the decisive moment coming via a violent first-round knockout at an inaugural MMA event promoted by Renato Moicano.

Now, facing Lui — a fighter who earned his UFC spot by winning the Road to UFC tournament — Santiago arrives with the confidence of a striker who has competed at the highest levels of combat sports across two disciplines and two continents.