Dong Hyun Kim managed to last just 47 seconds before clutching his ribs and verbally tapping out of his UFC 148 bout against Demian Maia. Upon first glance, the prevailing thought was that Kim suffered a rib injury on the receiving end of a Maia takedown, which ensuing video replays appeared to support.
However Brian Rhee, Kim’s translator and the manager of fellow countryman Chan Sung Jung, visited “Stun Gun” in the hospital following the event, and according to him, it was actually a “severe muscle spasm” that occurred 30 seconds into the bout which ultimately proved to be Kim’s undoing.
“As they were tied up, somehow (Kim) got a muscle spasm in his side,” Rhee wrote on popular mixed martial arts message board The Underground. “He told his corner that something was wrong. Kim defended Maia’s takedown attempts for a while, but by the time they got to the other side of the Octagon, he was in too much pain.
“The position in which the injury happened is the kind that happens in training all the time, but for some reason it caused a severe muscle spasm this particular time. It truly was a freak accident.”
Rhee went on to say Kim was extremely disheartened by the loss, which was only his second in 10 UFC appearances. Prior to the setback, the 30-year-old Kim had racked up four wins in five fights, including decision victories over Nate Diaz and Amir Sadollah.