Former Road FC lightweight champion A Sol Kwon will head to Brazil for missionary work.
Road FC owner and former president Jung Moon Hong broke the news on Instagram:
According to the the Instagram post Kwon plans to move to Brazil indefinitely, with Moon stating that the 33 year old “will soon go to Brazil for missionary work. He has no return date in mind.”
Kwon expressed the desire to step away from the sport last May after losing the lightweight title to Mansour Barnaoui in the finals of the $1 Million Tournament at Road FC 53.
Six months later he came out of retirement and faced Shamil Zavurov at Road FC 56 but the result didn’t go his way. The Dagestani grappler completely dominated the fight to earn a lopsided decision win.
That could well turn out to be Kwon’s final fight but for nearly a decade the bad boy of Korean MMA was the biggest star Road FC had on its roster. The Mokpo native made his professional debut in 2005 under the NeoFight banner and quickly made a name for himself for his wild style and finishing prowess.
Before serving his mandatory military service in 2011 Kwon competed for numerous organizations in Asia including Spirit MC, K-1 Heroes and Legend FC. He also headlined the inaugural ONE Championship card, stepping in to replace the injured Ole Laursen and losing a decision to Eduard Folayang.
In 2013, he signed an exclusive deal with Road FC and returned to action after fulfilling his military duties. He lost his first fight back against Koji Nakamura but finished his next two opponents resulting in a title shot.
He defeated Takasuke Kume at Road FC 17 in 2014 to capture the lightweight strap. Kwon successfully defended it twice beating long time rival Lee Kwang Hee and Japanese veteran Shinji Sasaki.
With his pro-wrestling style bravado and brash attitude he rarely held back on the mic when attacking his adversaries which went completely against cultural norms in Korea and made him a big attraction.
He was also able to cross boundaries by appearing on variety shows which helped increase the mainstream popularity of the sport. The Brazil bound Kwon looks set to finish his career with a 21-12 record.
