“Black Hole” Lee Chang-ho (29) produced an upset to become the only South Korean contestant to reach the finals of “Road to UFC Season 2.
Lee punched his ticket to the finals by defeating Daelmis Zaufas (23, China) by TKO at 3:35 of the third round in the bantamweight (61.2 kg) semifinals of “Road to UFC Season 2” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday (Nov. 27).
It was a thrilling upset. Lee struggled in the grappling area, which is his strong suit, in the first and second rounds. He was takedown first and fought back to take his opponent to the ground, only to have the position reversed.
In the third round, a grim one, Lee finally turned the tide. He pushed Dahlmis until he ran out of gas, and Dahlmis began to stumble backwards in exhaustion. Although he was at a disadvantage, it was a reward for the constant back-and-forth grappling in the first and second rounds.
Lee struck first with strikes, then took control of Dahlmis’ back position against the cage and took him to the ground. Dahlmis desperately tried to get back to his feet, only to be dragged back down to the ground in an ant-hole by Lee. From the back mount, Lee unleashed a merciless ground-and-pound assault that eventually led to the TKO.
In his post-fight interview, Lee said, “The hell of training with Coach Choi at Extreme Combat really paid off,” adding, “My grappling game, stamina, and strength are the most confident I’ve ever been in the UFC.” He then went to the octagon to face off.
“I think Daelmis is much stronger than Xiaolong,” he taunted the other finalist, Xiaolong (25, China), as they stepped into the Octagon for a face-off. 먹튀검증
Road to UFC is a quarterfinal tournament featuring Asia’s top MMA prospects, with the winner earning a UFC contract. In Season 2, a total of 32 fighters competed in four weight classes – flyweight (56.7kg), bantamweight (61.2kg), featherweight (65.8kg), and lightweight (70.3kg) – and eight advanced to the finals.
Five fighters from South Korea competed in this semifinal, but only Lee Chang-ho remained, while the other four were eliminated. Three fighters fell to Chinese fighters by unanimous decision. Flyweight Choi Seung-guk (26) lost a split decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-27) to Genius Yue (23/China), featherweight Kim Sang-won (29) lost a split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) to Yi Yi (26/China), and lightweight Kim Sang-wook (29) lost a split decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28) to Long Zhu (23/China). Lightweight Park Jae-hyun was outwrestled by Haraguchi Shin (24, Japan) and lost by decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
In the post-fight press conference, Lee said, “My name wasn’t mentioned much from the opening round, so I promised myself that this time I would make myself the most talked about. I was the only one who survived. I’m determined to make up for the players who were unfortunately eliminated.”