Yoon Chang Min has won five ONE Championship fights out of six. He faces Tang Kai at ONE: ‘NextGen’ Part II which is being broadcast on Friday and doesn’t appear to like his Chinese opponent.
Yoon says he wants to teach the Chinese fighter a lesson,
“I do want to correct my opponent, who seems to be rather arrogant at the moment. I will definitely teach him a lesson,” he said.
It is not clear at all what Kai has said or done to upset the Korean. But he appears to have got under Yoon’s skin,
“I can’t really understand where he is getting this kind of confidence from. I think he probably isn’t a good judge of his own level. If he is unsatisfied with his matchup and thinks it’s below him, then perhaps he isn’t really as good as he makes himself out to be.”
Global star
Yoon recently saw compatriot Ok Ra Yoon become the ONE Championship featherweight title holder just months after signing for the promotion. He thinks that winning the belt is the inly way to genuinely become a global star,
“Honestly, besides the champion, who can you say is an acknowledged athlete worldwide? They all know the ONE Championship world champion. And I’m not going to stop trying, humbly, until I become that champion.”
He is coming off a submission win over another Chinese fighter, Ma Jia Wen, at ONE: ‘Full Blast’ Part II. For Yoon this was a career defining victory,
“I felt that was more gratifying than any of the wins I’ve had previously, even though other matches are also meaningful to me but having lost the bout before, it made me realize the importance of a win and the gratification of hard work.”
More humble
At ONE: ‘Inside the Matrix’ Part IV he was stopped in the second round by Ryogo Takahashi. It was the first defeat of his career and the Korean believes that defeat made him more humble,
“Thinking about it now, had I won that match, I think it would be worrisome if I think about how my future would have been. I might have become arrogant.”
He doesn’t say ‘unlike Kai Tang’ but the inference is clear. He certainly won’t want to be humbled again at ONE: ‘NextGen’ Part II but is very confident of victory,
“Based on all the matches I’ve seen of my opponent, if he approaches this match as he has done his other matches so far, then he will lose to me in every aspect.”
Yoon doesn’t sound particularly humble when predicting the outcome of the fight, which is being broadcast for the first time on Friday. He is absolutely certain of victory,
“I can’t even think of any area where I might have a chance of losing. I’m certain that I can beat him in every aspect.”
