Chan Sung “The Korean Zombie” Jung is not the only Korean featherweight hoping to have his hand raised in victory on Saturday.
At UFC Vegas 29, Seung Woo Choi (9-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) and American Julian Erosa (25-9 MMA, 3-4 UFC) will do battle in a main-card featherweight clash.
Seung Woo Choi has his eyes set on three straight Ws at UFC Vegas 29
Choi sustained back-to-back losses against stellar opposition in Russia’s Movsar Evloev (15-0), and Canada’s Gavin Tucker (13-2), for a brutal start to his UFC career. He has since put together an impressive two-fight win streak and opened some eyes in the process.
“Sting” outpointed Australia’s Suman Mokhtarian (8-2) in his native South Korea to earn his first UFC win in 2019, but was kept out of action until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a series of scratched matchups.
Speaking to AsianMMA.com, Choi recalled the significance of earning that first UFC victory and the emotion of doing so at home.
“Looking back at this win, it was nice to get the victory in front of my family and supporters in my home-country UFC event and I was so happy because I was desperate for my first win in the UFC,” Choi said. “I believe this is just a start and all I have left to do now is to show a better version of myself.”
Choi, a former champion in standout Asian promotion Top FC, followed his first promotional win with a victory over fellow highly touted prospect Youssef Zalal (10-5) of Morocco–by way of Colorado–in February.
He was originally booked against Steven Peterson (19-9), and then Collin Anglin (8-1) for the February 2021 show, but both withdrew before Choi was eventually rebooked for the Zalal match.
Choi now has a chance to push his current run to three straight victories, but Erosa, 31, is on one of the finest stretches of his career.
A veteran of The Ultimate Fighter and UFC president Dana White’s Contender Series, Erosa is in his third stint with the promotion.
He has scored back-to-back, highlight-reel knockouts over tough opponents in Sean Woodson (8-1) and Nate Landwehr (14-4) over the past year. Priming him for a matchup with Choi.
Choi, who earned a bronze medal at the 2010 Muay Thai World Championships, has lofty goals for the future, but first, he’ll have to get through Erosa.
“My goal is, of course, to become the featherweight division champion,” Choi said in his interview with AsianMMA. “For now, I want to put my best effort to win any given opportunities and become stronger so that I can become the champion by competing with top-10 fighters in the future.”
–Field Level Media
Join the discussion on this topic…