Top 20 Asian MMA fighters for 2020, part 4: UFC’s Zhang Weili, Korean Zombie rule in top five

Asian mixed martial arts has simply gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months, what with China seeing its first UFC champ crowned in strawweight Zhang “Magnum” Weili, and the Singapore-based One Championship shaking things up for the first time in Japan with three monster cards. The region’s potential – in terms of both fighters and audiences – has been on show each and every week across promotions everywhere. But we here at SCMP Martial Arts are now looking forward, and to the fighters we feel can carry the sport onwards into 2020 and, in most cases, far beyond. So we’ve been counting down our top 20 Asian fighters over the past week, across all divisions and promotions. And, today, we give you the big reveal of the top five. You can see Nos 20-16 here, Nos 15-11 here, and Nos 10-6 here. 5. Ham Seo-hee (Rizin) Age: 32. Country: South Korea. Record: 22-8. Weight class: Atomweight There were question marks hanging over Ham’s head when her run in the UFC ended at 1-3. All those losses came via decision and the last – a split to Danielle “Dynamite” Taylor (10-5) at UFC Fight Night 101 – was no doubt hardest of all for Ham to take as it was debatable. The look on the Korean’s face when the cards were read out in Melbourne said it all. Ham knew her contract wouldn’t be renewed – and her legions of fans were left to wonder what she might do next. Turns out no one need have worried for Ham’s future. Since she returned to Asia full-time, the now 32-year-old has torn a huge hole through the two promotions she has fronted, from Road FC to Rizin. The UFC experience seems to have shifted Ham up a gear and there’s even a slight sense that each bout now is a little bit, well, personal. Next up comes a super atomweight clash against another legend in these parts in the veteran Japanese Ayaka Yamasaki (19-2) to end the year – a rematch some eight years after the pair last met and the lifetime scoreline reading 0-2 against the Korean. Something tells us Ham just might have a point to prove as we turn into 2020. Next fight: vs Ayaka Yamasaki (19-2), Rizin 20, Tokyo, December 31. 4. Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen (One Championship) Age: 30. Country: Vietnam-Australia. Record: 13-3. Weight class: Featherweight We’ve had relatively limited exposure to The Situ-Asian over 2019. The Vietnamese-Aussie powerhouse was 2-0 for the year, granted, so it’s not like we were denied the chance to see the man in full flight. And Nguyen did deliver in those two wins, landing a highlight-reel knee in the second to turn the lights out on Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa (14-6), and then simply overpowering Koyomi Matsushima (11-4), again in the second, and turning instead this time to the fists that have served him so well over the years. But Nguyen was left to cool his boots from August 2 to the end of the year, so bring on 2020. Let’s not forget that One’s featherweight king was a little over a year ago just one poorly planned bout away from being the organisation’s first “champ champ sorta-champ.” But Nguyen and his team got things wrong against Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon (20-7) for the interim bantamweight belt, as much as the Philippine star got things right. He then walked away from the lightweight title he’d won with a KO of Eduard “Landslide” Folayang (22-8). We’re still to fully see just how much of a difference extended stints at Sanford MMA (formerly Hard Knocks 365) make to Nguyen’s already lethal arsenal. A third bought against lightweight champ Christian “The Warrior” Lee is a must, and rising featherweight and lightweight talent Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon (5-0) has gone on record saying he’s been promised a title shot in 2020. Either/or or more, please. Next fight: N/A View this post on Instagram いつもお世話になっている、 HALEOさんに撮影しに行ってきました！ また、18時にHALEOさんのyoutube取材がUPされますのでよろしくお願いします！ #haleo A post shared by 堀口恭司 Kyoji Horiguchi (@kyoji1012) on Sep 4, 2019 at 7:45pm PDT 3. Kyoji Horiguchi (Bellator/Rizin) Age: 29. Country: Japan. Record: 28-3. Weight class: Bantamweight Let’s start with the caveat. No one seems 100 per cent sure whether the great Horiguchi can – or will – return to his best following a knee injury that scuppered any plans he had for the later stages of 2019. The fact that he relinquished his Bellator bantamweight title means things are serious, if not career threatening, and the fact that he was knocked out by rising star Kai Asakura (14-1) in just 68 seconds in his only appearance for the year has us concerned as well. But then we look at the form guide and walk away, as ever, shaking our heads about how good this guy is. Before he hit the canvas against Asakura, the last man to turnover Horiguchi was Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (30-3-1) – now plying his trade with the One Championship and still our vote for the Greatest Of All Time. Included in his 13-0 run from September 2015 to this past August were title wins with both Rizin and Bellator and the widely accepted nod that here was the best non-UFC fighter on the planet. So we’re hoping (can we say praying?) that Horiguchi is tucked away, planning a triumphant return and pretty soon all will be right in his world – and ours. Next fight: N/A Title shot? #UFCBusan pic.twitter.com/W7Msbw2u9C — UFC (@ufc) December 21, 2019 2. Jung “Korean Zombie” Chan-sung (UFC) Age: 32. Country: South Korea. Record: 16-5. Weight class: Featherweight If ever there was any doubt left about Jung deserving a shot at the UFC’s featherweight belt – and soon – it was blown away at UFC Fight Night 165 in Busan last Saturday. The Korean Zombie made short work of veteran American Frankie Edgar (23-8-1), landing his combinations from the first bell and giving referee Marc Goddard no choice but to step in at 3:18 of the first round. The one-time UFC lightweight champ had looked dazed and confused, as well he might. Jung has made a habit of simply overpowering his opponents and if not for that freakish reverse elbow in the last second from Yair “El Pantera” Rodriguez (13-2, 1 NC), he might have already had another crack at the title. Last time he did – against Jose “Junior” Aldo (28-8) at UFC 163 in 2013 – he went down swinging but the past few years have seen Jung in frightening shape, and form. Eye surgery awaits after the Edgar fight, and then? “I want [Alex] Volkanovski,” said Jung, turning his attention immediately to the freshly minted UFC featherweight champion. Who’s to deny the man? Next fight: N/A 1. Zhang “Magnum” Weili (UFC) Age: 30. Country: China. Record: 20-1. Weight class: Strawweight The sheer brilliance of Zhang’s title win in August meant that even in this age of the eternally underwhelmed there were few – if any – trying to pick the Chinese star’s performance apart. Instead the world sat back in awe of the sheer audacity of the moment. China’s first UFC champion took just 42 seconds to smash Jessica “Bate Estaca”Andrade (20-7), marching through the Brazilian’s vaunted strikes while throwing knees and then elbows and then punches. Zhang was for a long time urged by her family to do anything else but fight. But early school days beating on bully boys was the spark, the moment she saw Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey (12-2) enter the cage was the sealer. Zhang carried a 3-0 record in the UFC into the title fight, and walked away still having not lost inside a cage since making her debut in the sport back on November 9, 2013. Forget for a moment the impact Zhang’s win has and will have on MMA in China and just give the lady her dues. A lifetime of dedication rewarded in those 42 seconds. No one can ever take that away. Now, of course, comes the fact that there’s a target on the 30-year-old’s back and the first fighter lining up to take her shot is former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3). Phew. For her part Zhang says she’s ready for 2020 – and she’s ready for anything. “I’m training twice a day, every day. In the mornings and in the afternoons,” she told us. “This is just the beginning.” Next fight: vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-3), UFC 248, TBA, March 7.