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  - TOP KOREAN FIGHTER, KIM SIGNS WITH UFC
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - by John Evans (Translation by Mi Gyoung Yoo)
(Photos by John Evans, MMAWeekly.com)
PUNDANG, South Korea – Undefeated welterweight Dong Hyun Kim held a press conference at the offices of the Super Action cable network on Tuesday to officially announce his newly signed contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Kim, who stands at over six feet, is a lankly welterweight who walks around at better than 185 pounds. As originally reported on the Korean website MFight on Friday, the UFC contract will be for four fights at 170 pounds.
Few other details of the contract were discussed during the conference, save for the speculation that since Kim had received a “better” offer than some Japanese fighters from the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships, his management team was hopeful that his first UFC fight would escape the anonymity of a non-televised undercard. His UFC debut is set for April or May.
In response to questions from the local media, Kim commented that he was not particularly worried about the transition from ring to cage, nor did he anticipate any problems with adding elbows strikes to his game while deleting soccer kicks and stomps. His plan is to relocate to the United States approximately one month prior to his first fight for cage training, but he has not yet decided upon a gym.
Though he got his start in Spirit MC, Kim is best known in Asia as the fighter who scored a third round TKO over current DEEP welterweight champion Hidehiko Hasegawa in a non-title contest, only to be handed a controversial draw in the rematch that followed.
He was cautious with his words today and the press conference rhetoric was pretty standard, but among fight fans on this side of the world, Dong Hyun Kim’s promises ring with truth.
“I’ll do my best. I will train hard and progress step-by-step. I will never let down my fans. So keep watching me.”
UFC fans will have no choice but to watch Dong Hyun Kim, as he will enter the ranks of the ten best welterweights in the world within the next eighteen months.
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- - TOP KOREAN PROSPECT STILL UNSIGNED (Monday, November 26, 2007)
Dong Hyun Kim has a professional record of 8-0-1, but has yet to sign on with one of the world's largest promotions ...
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