MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is also quickly becoming one of South Korea’s favorite sports. With most school kids in South Korea both boys and girls learning Taekwondo, whilst others also learn Kickboxing and Kendo its not a great surprise that MMA is growing in popularity with both young and old. There are now also a few top fighters within the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), who are receiving increased coverage both in Korean and worldwide. Here are the 3 current Korean UFC fighters plus one Korean-American.
Kim Dong-Hyun (김동현):
A true veteran of the UFC, Welterweight fighter Kim first fought at UFC84 which was 4 years ago. Originally from Suwon, he has go on to fight 8 times in the UFC and holds an impressive record of 6 Wins, 1 Lose and 1 Draw in the UFC. He will next fight at UFC148 (July 8th 2012). Twitter: @stungunkim
Yang Dongi (양동이):
A relitive newcomer to the UFC, Middleweight fighter Yang who is from Seoul has been fighting in Asia for many years and held an impressive undefeated record of 9-0. He finally got his UFC break at UFC141 (Oct 2010), which sadly saw his 1 ever defeat. His career in the UFC hasn’t really taken off and his record is now 1 Win 3 Defeats. Twitter: @dongioxyang
Benson Henderson:
Taekwondo Black belt Henderson who has an African-American father and a Korean mother, has been fighting in the UFC for the past year after moving from the WEC where he was the Lightweight Champion. Henderson has fought 4 times in the UFC winning every fight by unanimous decision. His last fight came at UFC144 where he defeated Frankie Edgar and won the UFC Lightweight Championship. His Korean Mother is his biggest fan and is always at ringside. Twitter: @smoothone155
Jung Chan-Sung (정찬성):
Otherwise known as the Korean Zombie, Jung who is from Pohang is one of the most exciting new fighters in the UFC and is building a strong following not just in Korean but around the world. After 2 years of fighting in Korea and Japan, the Korean Zombie built an impressive record of 10 Wins and only 1 Defeat. He then had a disappointing 2010 with 2 defeats to strong opponents in the WEC. He then gained international attention after a Submission of the Year win at UFC Fight Night 24 followed by a Knockout of the Night win in just 7 seconds at UFC140. He recently extended his UFC record to 3-0 with a win over Dustin Poirier. Twitter: @koreanzombiemma
June 2013 Update:
The Korean Zombie is now scheduled to face Jose Aldo at UFC163 on August 3rd for the World Championship.
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We hope you support Koreans top fighters and hopefully one day we will have a few more world champions.
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