As Typhoon Lingling hit the shores of the peninsula, Korea Mixed Martial Arts Professional Challenge (KMPC) commenced with its first show at Songdo Convensia.
In the main event, longtime Korean MMA veteran So Jae Hyun returned after almost two years on the shelf to earn a decision win over Yamaguchi Sho.
It was no secret that So wanted to take the fight to the ground from the opening bell. He immediately came out and completed a takedown to start where his strengths lay. Sho, however, got the surprising sweep while being mounted and returned upright not too long afterwards.
After another easily executed takedown, So got caught in a kneebar during a scramble and was able to weasel himself out without any damage being inflicted.
Light punches
The middle round was spend mostly on the ground with So hanging on the back. Peppering with light punches and controlling the action, the 30-year-old jiu jitsu specialist clearly won the round.
The South Korean connected with an overhand left and clinched to drag Sho to the mat once again to begin the last frame. They scrambled from there and Sho was able to lock up a guillotine. His adversary fought off the submission patiently, and with the help of the referee he was relieved of that position.
The referee stood up the fighters during a crucial moment in the fight while attempt to end the fight. The Japanese corner uncharacteristically did not protest the ref’s decision.
Restarting the fight on the feet, Sho came alive and hit So with some hard shots but it was too late.
So gets back on track after being knocked out in his last outing and elevates to 11-14. Sho, meanwhile, loses his fourth in a row and lands at 5-8-1.
Lacklustre performance
The co-headlining bout of the evening had former Road FC title-challenger Jeon Uh-Jin facing and defeating the much smaller Eddy Chadeyron in a lacklustre performance. The Frenchman implemented a game plan of staying on the back foot and countering with kicks yet Jeon was able to block most of the strikes and place his foe on the canvas to grind out a narrow split decision with ground control.
While Jeon gets back in the win column post Road FC and moves his record to 4-4, Chadeyron loses for the first time in his MMA career and drops to 1-1.
Earlier in the night, two fighters to watch on the regional scene picked up convincing submission victories. Kim Dong-Gyu (8-3) was able to get the third round rear-naked choke over Cho Seung-Hyun (5-3) while undefeated Kim Tae-Gyun (5-0) locked up a slick triangle in less than a minute to end Shark (2-1).
KMPC 1, Songdo, September 7th
So Jae Hyun def. Yamaguchi Sho via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Jeon Uh Jin def. Eddy Chadeyron via Decision (Split) at 5:00 of Round 3
Kim Dong Gyu def. Cho Seung Hyun via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:20 of Round 3
Kwon Hye Rin def. Choi Jae via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Kim Tae Kyun def. Shark via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 0:58 of Round 1
Lee Min Ju def. Kim Gun Hong via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 3:51 of Round 1
Kim Kyung Jong def. Moon Guk Hwan via Decision (Majority) at 5:00 of Round
