The Ultimate Fighting Championship touches down for the first time in South Korea with Saturday’s offering on its Fight Pass platform. The promotion has long drawn excellent fighters from the region, including Dong Hyun Kim and former title challenger …
The Ultimate Fighting Championship touches down for the first time in South Korea with Saturday’s offering on its Fight Pass platform. The promotion has long drawn excellent fighters from the region, including Dong Hyun Kim and former title challenger Chan Sung Jung, and this looks to be the first card of many that capitalizes on the excellent talent in the country.
In the main event, Korean-American Benson Henderson takes on Jorge Masvidal, who steps up on late notice to replace the injured ThiagoAlves. From an action perspective, this is an even better fight than the original.
It represents a huge opportunity for both men.
This is the last fight on Henderson’s contract, and there is every indication that he will explore free agency after this bout. A win here would set him up for a big payday assuming he draws competing offers from the UFC and Bellator. For Masvidal, a win over Henderson would easily be the biggest of his career, and it would give him an in to the big-money fights that have always eluded him.
The rest of the card, however, lacks much in the way of compelling fights. Dong Hyun Kim, the most consistently excellent Korean fighter on the world stage, fights late-notice replacement Dominic Waters in the co-main event. YoshihiroAkiyama, who is Japanese of Korean descent, takes on Alberto Mina in a decent but hardly must-see matchup.
The highlight of the card, outside of the headliner, is a barnburner of a featherweight fight between “The Korean Superboy” Doo Ho Choi and banger Sam Sicilia. The main card starts at 8 a.m. ET.
Even the most dedicated fans can safely skip the prelims, which start at 5 a.m. ET. Aside from a sneaky-good strawweight matchup between Cortney Casey and Seohee Ham, there is little of interest.
At long, long last, the UFC is set to touch down in South Korea.
It’s been a long time coming, of course. Ever since Chan-Sung Jung, the Korean Zombie, posted one of the most thrilling fights in MMA history back at WEC 48, the small-but-populous …
At long, long last, the UFC is set to touch down in South Korea.
It’s been a long time coming, of course. Ever since Chan-Sung Jung, the Korean Zombie, posted one of the most thrilling fights in MMA history back at WEC 48, the small-but-populous nation has been a hotbed for MMA talent. Whether it’s freak-show star Hong-Man Choi or actual top-10 names like Dong-Hyun Kim and Yoshihiro Akiyama, Korea has had the talent to sustain a lengthy UFC presence.
With most of the Korean talent on the roster present and accounted for, the UFC has come up with a deceptively strong lineup of fights. Now it just needs the fighters to do their part on November 28.
Naturally, though, the fighters aren’t really looking out for the UFC when they step into the cage. They’re looking out for themselves.
Nearly every fighter on this card has a lot on the line, but three men in particular have a fire lit underneath their chair. So, who is on the hot seat in Seoul this weekend? Read on to find out!
Alberto Mina
Who is Alberto Mina? That’s a question most fans are asking right now, and it’s a question that the Brazilian has an opportunity to answer at Fight Night 79.
Mina has lucked his way into a golden-ticket fight. In spite of having just one UFC win to his name, he is set to face a name-brand opponent in Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama has taken the idea of a part-time schedule to the extreme, fighting just once since February 2012. Despite that, MMA’s undisputed king of swag remains a standout name.
Years of inactivity, however, will take the edge off any fighter, and Sexyama wasn’t an elite talent to begin with. Mina has the chance to really make a splash here against a vulnerable opponent, or get upstaged by a 40-year old part-timer.
Dong-Hyun Kim
Dong-Hyun Kim’s (Stun Gun, the welterweight, not the other Dong-Hyun Kim they just signed) place in American MMA has never been clear. He has scored wins over big names and has posted highlight-reel knockouts, but he has never, ever factored into the UFC’s plans for the welterweight division.
That’s only in American MMA, though. In Korean MMA, he is the biggest star in the sport by a country mile and is about to step into the cage on Korean shores for the first time since 2004.
Regardless of the opponent, that’s a huge amount of pressure, but Kim is set to face the unknown Dominic Waters. While that’s an acorn squash of a match on paper, those fights come with a fair bit of risk in their own right. If Kim doesn’t crush Waters, it’s a bad look in its own right. If he loses? It could be a turning point in his career.
Benson Henderson
This is the big one, folks. Ben Henderson is on the last UFC match of an eight-fight contract signed back in 2013. His final opponent? Jorge Masvidal.
All indications are that Henderson is looking to fight out his contract and then test the open market. As it stands, he is guaranteed to receive emails from the UFC, Bellator, WSOF and One Championship, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising for him to get some love notes from Rizin, Road FC and KSW. That’s a big deal, but of course, his strength at the bargaining table will be improved greatly be entering the free market riding back-to-back wins.
Masvidal is no easy out, though. A darling of the Japanese scene who became a top lightweight in Strikeforce, he has since carved out a niche as one of the most resilient lightweights in the game. He’s a tough, tough opponent for anyone and could be a terrible stylistic matchup for Bendo.
In a lot of ways, this is the most important fight of Henderson’s career, and heck, this could be one of 2015’s most important fights from a business perspective. Smooth has the chance to be the first elite-level fighter to enter the free-agent marketplace while still posting wins. There is a lot riding on this fight for him…and quite possibly for every other fighter in the game.
Alejandro Perez def. Scott Jorgensen, TKO (Round 2, 4:26)
Andre Fili def. Gabriel Benitez, TKO (Round 1, 3:13)
Prelims on UFC Fight Pass
Alvaro Herrera def. Vernon Ramos, TKO (Round 1, 0:30)
Polo Reyes def. Cesar Arzamendia, knockout (Round 1, 3:42)
Michel Prazeres def. Valmir Lazaro, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Next up? Fight Night 79 on Saturday, Nov. 28, of course.
The UFC is set to take its first trip to South Korea and has put together a deceptively solid show to court the new market. With a lineup of compelling talent, including newcomers such as Seo-Hee Ham and Doo-Ho Choi, alongside established veterans such as Ben Henderson and Dong-Hyun Kim, there is actually quite a lot to look forward to on this card.
So which questions demand to be answered? Read on and find out.
Former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson is pulling the trigger on a full-time move to 170 pounds. According to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, Smooth is likely to face former welterweight contender Thiago Alves in the main event of th…
Former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson is pulling the trigger on a full-time move to 170 pounds. According to MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, Smooth is likely to face former welterweight contender ThiagoAlves in the main event of the UFC’s upcoming debut in South Korea.
Henderson has been teasing a weight-class jump for almost a year now. While many debated whether his style—which blends superior strength and athleticism with generally excellent technique in all facets of the game—translates well to fights in which he is at a size disadvantage, he scored a big win over hot welterweight prospect Brandon Thatch in February. That success, coupled with the glass ceiling hanging over his head at 155 pounds due to losses to Rafael dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis, has him ready to plant roots in a new weight class.
He faces a big test in Alves, however. The Brazilian has long history of injuries but, after a two-year layoff, made a successful return to the UFC with a decision win over Seth Baczynski. While his most recent bout was a loss to Carlos Condit, his crushing kicks and massive size makes him a tough out for any fighter.
The UFC is currently set to land in Seoul, South Korea, on November 28. No other fights have been announced for the card, but expect it to be packed with local talent like Dong Hyun Kim, YuiChul Nam and TaeHyun Bang.
Who do you think ends up taking this one, fight fans? Will Henderson still look good against the veteran striker? Or will Alves get back on track?
Jorge Masvidal took a major risk on Sunday when he moved up to welterweight to compete against Cezar Ferreira. The risk paid off when he defeated the Brazilian in the first round via knockout. Now, he’s in a peculiar position as to whether he sho…
Jorge Masvidal took a major risk on Sunday when he moved up to welterweight to compete against Cezar Ferreira. The risk paid off when he defeated the Brazilian in the first round via knockout. Now, he’s in a peculiar position as to whether he should stay at 170 pounds or move back down to welterweight. With that question in mind, here are suggestions for five fights to further Masvidal’s career.
Benson Henderson is ready to face the best the world has to offer, but he’ll be doing it in a different weight class for the foreseeable future.
After successfully rolling the dice in a higher weight class against dangerous striker Brandon Thatch back …
Benson Henderson is ready to face the best the world has to offer, but he’ll be doing it in a different weight class for the foreseeable future.
After successfully rolling the dice in a higher weight class against dangerous striker Brandon Thatch back in February, the former lightweight champion has decided to vacate his place as a major player in the 155-pound collective and join the ranks of the talent-stacked welterweight division. With his long-held perennial contender status in the lightweight fold going strong, Henderson’s decision to commit himself to a new division came as a surprise to some in the MMA community.
“Fighting at welterweight is the plan now and we are working on building my body for 170 pounds the right way,” Henderson told Bleacher Report. “I want to be as explosive as possible, but not gain too much size. We want to pretty much stay the size we are now, but want to be stronger and have the weight cut be more manageable and not be a soul-crushing experience.
“The size difference is definitely something I’m going to have to adjust to,” he continued. “I spar with different sized guys all the time, but it’s another thing to go out there in a live fight. It was good to go in there and experience that against Thatch, and to come out with that experience being a positive one. It definitely opened the doors up to this decision. We wanted to test the waters and it was a short notice fight at elevation. That’s probably the most undersold or least talked-about element of that fight is it was not only a short notice fight, but that it came at elevation in Denver.”
Yet, Smooth is a fighter who is always looking for new ways to challenge and motivate himself, and the MMA Lab representative is fired up about moving up and trying to reach the top of the mountain in the 170-pound ranks. It’s an ambitious undertaking for Henderson, but facing the toughest tests available has been a hallmark of his time competing at the highest level of the sport.
For Henderson, the fight game is not about finding some form of mythical traction, because the safest move would have been to remain in the lightweight division or drop down a class like so many other fighters before him have done.
“I’ve never been the type of individual to run with the crowd,” Henderson said. “If everyone is doing something I’m not going to be the guy who also does it just because. I like the idea of going up in weight because there are so many great tests for me there. The idea of going down in weight never appealed to me because the idea of fighting smaller guys does nothing for me. Why not truly test yourself and move up to face competition that are bigger and stronger than you are?
“Those are the fights that interest me because I love testing myself as a mixed martial artist and pushing my boundaries. A lot of guys in this sport say they’ll fight anyone, anywhere at any time, but when the UFC calls they have a reason why they can’t take the fight. I’ve been saying I’ll fight whoever for a long time and I back it up.”
Instead of traveling the path of least resistance, Henderson is looking for the spark that comes with facing uncertainty inside the Octagon. He believes competing in the deep waters of the welterweight division will bring out his best, as it will put his confidence and skills to the maximum test each and every time he enters the cage.
Furthermore, Henderson is looking to turn the best he has to offer into becoming a two-divisional champion under the UFC banner, and it’s a road he’s excited to travel down.
“I just want the quickest route to a title,” Henderson said. “I don’t care if that’s at 155 or 170; I just want to get to the title. But I look at everyone on the lightweight roster and I’m confident I can go five rounds with and beat anybody in the division. [Rafael] dos Anjos? We can do it tonight and I’ll get my hand raised. Anthony Pettis? I’ll go five rounds with him tonight and get my hand raised. I feel very confident that I can beat everybody and anybody at lightweight, but it isn’t quite the same thing at 170.
“It’s all about getting to the title in the quickest route possible. We looked at things and think it’s a quicker path for me at 170 because dos Anjos is currently holding the title. Even though he beat me due to an early stoppage in my opinion, the UFC made it clear I was going to have to take a lot of steps before I got another title shot at 155. We’re hoping to make a big splash at welterweight and get a big-name draw right out of the gates.”
Henderson’s high-profile status in the lightweight ranks is precisely the caliber of recognition that would appeal to a hungry contender on the rise, but that hasn’t exactly been the case as of late.
The Arizona-based fighter’s versatile, cardio-driven attack has proven to be a difficult matchup for anyone who tangles with him inside the cage, and the type of fight he brings apparently isn’t necessarily welcoming in an environment where winning dictates value, and in some cases continued employment with the UFC.
When those circumstances are added to a recent loss to the fighter who would go on to become the 155-pound champion, Rafael dos Anjos, it creates a scenario where Henderson would have to travel an extended path to reach another championship opportunity. And that’s not something he’s interested in.
The 31-year-old cardio machine is hungry to get back into a heated title race and sees the welterweight division as the best place for him to put his bid in. By doing so, Henderson knows he’s once again jumping into a high-stakes situation, but those are the exact conditions he’s looking for. Henderson wants each test to mean more than the last, and he’s confident he’ll be able to truly test his skills against the larger competition that’s waiting for him in the 170-pound division.
“There aren’t a lot of guys at lightweight who wanted to fight me, but we are hoping one of the bigger names at 170 will be up for it,” Henderson said. “I’m hoping they look at me and take the matchup because they’ll be bigger and stronger and think they can beat me up. And since I have a decent name and it would be an easy fight for them they would jump at the chance to fight me.
“On my side of things, getting my hand raised against a guy who is top-ranked in the welterweight division would put me right up near the top where I want to be, but things haven’t really worked out that way so far. There haven’t been any takers at 170 who want to dance, either.
“I’m a tough matchup for anyone,” he added. “If you are a hardcore takedown specialist who needs to get me to the ground to win the fight you’re going to have a really hard time doing that. If you are a stand-up guy I’m willing to fight you there as well. In my last fight with Donald Cerrone, even though he got his hand raised in an interesting decision, I went toe-to-toe with him for the entire fight. I’m stylistically a tough matchup for a lot of people, and I don’t see that changing at welterweight.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
At long, long last, the UFC is set to touch down in South Korea.