“I’ve been expecting to be on this card for a while, but it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago, very recently, where I actually had a confirmed opponent that was able to be announced,” Lui told the Herald.

Lui (8-1) will meet fellow UFC debutant Hector Santiago (6-1) on Saturday night’s card, which caps off a weekend which also includes the semifinals of the new season of Road to UFC.

Kiwi bantamweight Kasib Murdoch is competing in that competition, and will take on Nepal’s Rabindra Dhant on Friday night (NZT).

For Lui, the bout against Santiago is one that arrived at late notice, after a few false starts leading into the fight night.

“I was doing a full camp and throughout the camp I had a grand total of four different names,” Lui said.

“I had two weeks with one, and then a week with the second, then two weeks without anything, then a week with one, then a week without anything, and then the rest of the camp was Hector Santiago.”

While he didn’t get too far in proceedings with the first potential opponent, Lui said he signed contracts to fight the next two that were offered, only to find out a few days later the fights would not be going ahead both times.

“It was a little bit annoying, but it is what it is. You’ve just got to take it as it is.”

With different opponents came different looks and different styles to prepare himself for. He settled with Santiago, a Brazilian striker who fights primarily the orthodox stance and has five of his six career wins by knockout.

“This guy’s a little bit different from the rest of the three, but what can you do about it? I’m prepared for him no matter what,” Lui said.

Lui brings a well-rounded approach to his work inside the octagon. As he showed during his run in the Road to UFC competition, he mixes grappling and striking well and has the cardio to push his opponents.

It’s that all-around approach that Lui believes will be a challenge for his opponent in Shanghai.

“He’s going to be walking into a lot of my shots.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.