If a fighter representing any of Japan, South Korea, China, North Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, or Hong Kong becomes a champion of any of the male weight divisions in the UFC before 1st January, 2025, this market will resolve to YES.
Interim champion will count for the purposes of this market.
If a champion is from some kind of disputed territory and the UFC does not make reference to the country they represent (as has happened with e.g. some Ukrainian fighters), but they would represent somewhere in East Asia if not for this, this will still count for the purposes of this market.
Who can this realistically be besides Song Yadong? And if he beats Petr Yan at UFC 299, would he realistically be next in line for a title shot against the winner of O'Malley-Vera? Maybe if it's Vera — Song beat him by decision back in 2020, but still seems like a pretty unlikely choice versus Merab, Sandhagen, or even Aljo. Only way Song gets the shot is if Dana White makes a HUGE push in the Chinese market, but that seems premature given the total lack of other ranked male fighters. Just my two cents.