The story of an unconceived army private, becoming a UFC fighter
While I was rolling at the training center, my girlfriend left. But she wasn’t that sad. The pain of parting was washed away in one day.
The only thought in my head was exercise. Before enlisting, the mixed martial arts skills he learned in ‘MMA Story’ flickered in front of his eyes. He decided to build up his stamina until he was discharged, thinking, “The way I will go is to become a professional fighter.” After he was assigned to his base and became a private, he started weight training while playing soccer with others.
In response to the joking question, “Private soldier? Isn’t that pointless?”, he laughed, saying, “It was a nuisance. But I worked while I was working and exercised on my own time. The soldiers understood, but the officers seemed to hate me.”
Over time, this ‘non-concept private soldier’ became a UFC flyweight fighter. The beginning of Park Hyeon-seong (27) was so bold.
Park Hyeon-seong made his professional debut in 2018 at Double G FC, a domestic team, and won four consecutive victories. In December 2021, he defeated Kim Joo-hwan to become the flyweight champion. It was a quick run without any roughness.
In June of last year, he participated in the ‘Road to UFC’, a quarterfinal tournament with a UFC contract at stake. He defeated Jeremiah Sirega (Indonesia) in the quarterfinals and Top Noi Kiuram (Thailand) in the semifinals. The long-awaited final was held at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, USA on the 5th. He won Choi Seung-guk (Korea) with a rear-naked choke at 3:11 in the third round and decided to sign a UFC contract.
After 5 years of professional debut, he proudly entered the Octagon where the world’s strongest fighters gather. What surprised me the most was the rain of KakaoTalk messages from comrades. “There were a lot of surprising reactions such as ‘It worked out after working out like that’ and ‘It’s amazing’,” he said with a smile.
It is 8 consecutive wins and undefeated since his debut. The last 7 wins were all finish victories. He is receiving a hot spotlight as a rising rookie. However, Park Hyun-seong knows very well that there is a long way to go in reality. So, he set his short-term goals as ‘survival’ and ‘renewal’.
“I’m a realistic person바카라 I don’t think far. Right now, my goal is not to get kicked out. I want to become a fighter who can continue to fight in the UFC,” he said. He’s taking a different approach than UFC featherweight Jung-Young Lee, who is drawing a blueprint on how to step up to the championship.
“It’s not a matter of right or wrong. The representative player like Lee Jung-young who sees far is Conor McGregor. I got there through self-suggestion. I’m realistic. I think I can reach it someday if I solve the challenges in front of me one by one. Of course, it may not be possible…”
The UFC flyweight division is a weight class in which Asian fighters can compete. On the day Park Hyun-sung signed with the UFC, Taira Tatsuro (23, Japan) beat Jesus Aguilar with a triangle armbar and won three consecutive UFC victories. His total record is 13 consecutive wins and undefeated.
I asked Park Hyeon-seong if he could catch his future rival Tyra. Park Hyeon-seong said, “Taira is not an Asian body type. His limbs are long, and I felt that he is not an easy opponent.”
Park Hyeon-seong is still a fighter who focuses on the goal in front of his eyes. He said, “It is ideal to make up for my lack of skills and make my UFC debut in June,” and promised, “I will set a new goal after winning one and then I will tell you.
Park Hyeon-seong returned to training two days after returning from a game in Las Vegas, just like the time when he forgot his girlfriend who was wearing rubber shoes backwards and only thought about exercise.
Park Hyeon-seong said, “She’s not hurt and has nothing to do.”