“I’ll make up for the Korean fighter who was eliminated”
Chang Ho Lee 29, staged an upset to become the only South Korean contestant to reach the finals of The Road to UFC Season 2.
“Black Hole”
Lee Chang-ho, 29, 스포츠토토 is the only South Korean contestant to reach the finals of “The Road to UFC Season 2” in an upset.
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 semifinals of The Road to UFC Season 2 on Nov. 27 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
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. Despite the disadvantage, it was a reward for a relentless grappling battle 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, 토토 Lee unleashed a merciless ground-and-pound assault that eventually led to the TKO.
In his post-fight interview, Lee said, “The hell I trained with Coach Choi at Extreme Combat really paid off,” adding, “My grappling game, stamina, and strength are the most confident I have in the UFC.”
“I think Darmis is a lot bigger than Xiaolong,” he taunted the other finalist, Xiaolong (25? China), as they stepped into the Octagon for their face-off.
The Road to UFC
Is a quarterfinal tournament featuring the top MMA prospects in Asia, with the winner earning a UFC contract. In Season 2, a total of 32 fighters competed in four weight classes – flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight – and eight advanced to the finals.
Five fighters from South Korea made it to the semifinals, 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 to Genius Yue (23? China), featherweight Kim Sang-won (29) also lost a split decision to Yi Yi (26? China), and lightweight Kim Sang-wook (29) lost a split decision to Long Zhu (23? China). Lightweight Park Jae-hyun was outwrestled by Shin Haraguchi (24? Japan) and lost by decision.
In the post-fight press conference, Lee Chang-ho said, “My name hasn’t been mentioned much since the opening round, so I promised myself that I would make a mark this time. I was the only one who survived, 스포츠토토링크 and I’m determined to make up for those who were unfortunately eliminated.”