Official Korea MMA news and discussion thread

[leto1776]

ok,I figured since the ladies and aussies have their own thread,instead of Korea having a buncha smaller threads,I'd try to get the ball rolling with an official thread.feel free to add something at anytime,since I know I won't be able to make a single post all inclusive,and news will always change.

Events/Promotions: Right now,Korea has 1 mma promotion,Spirit MC

1.Spirit MC: Spirit closely follows Pride rules and is the largest mma show in Korea. Denis Kang has fought for them on occasion. http://www.spiritmc.org

Gyms:

1.Korean Top Team: located near se-jong university station

2.Team Tackle: http://www.letswrestling.net also located in Seoul,and also in Ulsan.

3.Daegu MMA located in Daegu http://www.daegumma.com

4.Dong In MMa,loacated in Seoul

5.Toohon Jung Shim Kwan: trains alot of profighters in Korea. My recommendation,ask sherdogger bruceleroy for questions on this gym,as he trains there.

6.Team M.A.D. gym: located in Busan

Notable Korean Fighters:

1.Yoon Dong Sik: A Judoka with a decivig 1-4 record,Yoon has showed increasing skill everytime he enters the ring.His most recent fight was his 1st victory,against striker Melvin Manhoef at K1 Dynamite! USA

2.Yoshihiro Akiyama: Aother Judoka,Akiyama fights out of Japna,where he fights for the K1 heroes banner.He currently holds a record of 9-1,with 1 no contest.He was the winner of last years K1 Heores light heavyweight gran prix

3.Song Un Sik: this lightweight is one of Korea's promising young stars, having already amassed a 7-0 record at only 21 yrs of age.He fights out of Daegu mman,and has foguht all but one of his matches in the MARS organization in Japan.

4.Kim Dong Hyun: Another of Korea's promising young stars,Kim has amassed a 7-0 record,tearing up the Deep welterweight division.He fights out of Jung Shim Kwan in Seoul,Korea.

5.Ham Su Hi: The most notable female fighter to come out of Korea,Ham's 2-1 record belies her potential.In her first fight she defeated Deep Champion Hisae Watanabe,and gave MIKU a tough fight before succumbing to a submission in the second round. She fights out of Jung Shim Kwan in Seoul.

6. "Krazy" Kwang-hee Lee: Young and ferocious. He is the current Spirit MC weleterweight champ and has a record of 4-0 in the promotion. Has been a contestant and coach on the Korean version of TUF, Go! Super Korean! He too, fights out of Jung Shim Kwan in Seoul, Korea.

anything else I should put?

[derUbermensch]

True or False: Kim Dong Hyun is the pwn.

[Safari_Punch]

How popular is/was PRIDE in Korea? What's the scoop?

[leto1776]

from what i've seen its pretty popular.it's on regular cable tv. I've talked to various Koreans,and alot of them knew different K1 and Pride fighters. I was in a bar the other night in the provincial capital,and I was talking about Pride with some complete strangers there.
Fedor has a huge following in Korea.I was reading in a magazine how when he came to help prmote Sambo and the M1 Korea event,they hired bodyguards for him,because he was mobbed everywhere he went.

[leto1776]

oh,for some Spirt MC news,I just checked their website,and they're having the opening round of their heavyweight grand prix on Aug 19. Other than that,I can't tell you much.I can't read hangeul.Maybe we can get someone who does who'll be willing to check it out and tell us more.

[bruceleroy]

Aug. 19th GP is gonna be a mix of Koreans and foreigners including the winner of the last interleague ( he has no chance ). I had no luck getting hard answers out of the CEO cuz they aren't to into letting rumors fly. just not Korean style. also not good for building buzz but hey, it's not my money. last i heard, Herb Dean was in. That could be out since he may be fighting in a CR event. NeoFight is pretty much finished. They had some real problems with their business model. They wanted to open a night club that had fights more than a promotion that put on good shows. I fought for them at Gimme 5 (lost by TKO ). That promotion sucked big time for the fighters bc they just didn't care. One guy ended up dying from a heart condition and that finished them off. They won't be back. The good amateur show is KPW. I have never seen dudes fight so hard. I always tell the story about when a guy fought so hard that after the bell rung they had to carry him out of the ring bc he couldn't stand up. He won the decision. Those are some of the best fights I've ever seen in person.

[MMA Fighta]

That's pretty cool. I heard BJ Penn visited Seoul to get a feel for Spirit MC, and had several seminars there.

[Tokyudo]

Originally Posted by derUbermensch

True or False: Kim Dong Hyun is the pwn.

True. KDH will wreck people real soon.

[Tokyudo]

Introducing Two of Korea's Best (Courtesy of Bruceleroy)




Korean fighters have a reputation as hard-nosed scrappers that just don’t quit. I had a unique opportunity to chat with two of Korea’s best MMA exports. One is 5’1”, 110 lbs., wears a dress, and made a name for herself by defeating a DEEP champion in her first match. Her name is Seo-hee Ham. The other is 6’1”, 183 lbs., and is barely known outside of Korea and Japan. His name is Dong-hyun Kim. They both do their training in Seoul, South Korea at a basement gym named Jung Shim Kwan. It’s about the size of an American living room, but is well-known for making champions in Korea.

Being the southern gentleman that I am, I will start with the little ball of left straights, Seo-hee Ham. In February of this year, at only nineteen years old, she stepped into the ring with the much more experienced DEEP champion Hisae Watanabe for her very first MMA match. Seo-hee said, “I wasn’t nervous. I don’t usually get nervous. It was my first fight in seven months so I was hungry for a fight.” It goes without saying a lot of fight fans were shocked when she won the unanimous decision by out-punching the Japanese striker. Not Seo-hee. She didn’t think she would lose because she “didn’t want to lose.” Simple. “I was a little shocked after the fight when I realized what I did.” Understated.

I met Seo-hee when she was a junior in high school. She was a kickboxer even before I met her. She never once trained ground technique until she took the fight with Watanabe. Her “family” at Jung Shim Kwan helped her out a lot with takedowns, jiu-jitsu, and sparring. No other girls in that gym, she had to roll with the boys. Korea is not developing women fighters. She feels “that is what makes it hard to be a female fighter here.”

With such a win, I was curious if she had to deal with the newfound fame that goes with the territory. Seo-hee says, “I have been fighting in Korea for a few years, so I get recognized here all the time. The Japanese girls like me more than the Japanese men do.”


Read more HERE

[bruceleroy]

Originally Posted by MMA Fighta

That's pretty cool. I heard BJ Penn visited Seoul to get a feel for Spirit MC, and had several seminars there.

BJ Penn's MMA Acadamy actually has a working relationship with Spirit MC. He has sent several fighters there and SMC has sent some to FightFest. I'm not totally sure how he or his brother are connected to FF.