Seo Hee Ham was recently crowned as the Rizin super atomweight champion. The South Korean scored a split decision win over Ayaka Hamasaki on New Year’s Eve.
But in the aftermath of her win over Hamasaki at Rizin 20 she took to Instagram to discuss some financial irregularities. The South Korean alleges that in 2019 her management embezzled some of her purse money:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6xswOan5-R/?igshid=1pyblzyg025wc
Ham has been fighting in Japan since 2007. She has spent a lot of time training in the country and addressed the audience in fluent Japanese after her win at Rizin 20.
She fought three times in Japan last year. In the post Ham states that she recently discovered her management had withheld 3 million yen (28,500 USD) from her Rizin 17 and Rizin 19 purses without informing her.
The 32 year old stated that she was particularly disappointed as she had known the couple in question for over a decade and regarded them as being like ‘her mum and dad’ in Japan.
At Road FC 52 last December Ham successfully defended her atomweight title for the second time. The South Korean promotion subsequently gave its blessing for her to go and compete in Japan.
In 2019 she won three fights out of three for Rizin, culminating in the title win earlier this week. There is no shortage of contenders in the super atomweight division, but a rematch with Hamasaki could well be next on the agenda for the Korean.
Ham should be on top of the MMA world and it is a shame that one of the best weeks of her career has been blighted by this unpleasant discovery. It remains to be seen what action she will take to recover the money.
