UFC: South Korean fighter Choi Seung-woo’s journey from DMZ to featherweight fairy tale
- ‘Sting’ starts dreaming of featherweight title as Las Vegas triumph marks turning point in UFC career
- Choi forged fighting mission in the hills of Sokcho by North Korean border, with just his father and some training pads
South Korean MMA fighter Choi Seung-woo’s unlikely journey to the UFC started in the hills of Sokcho, in the country’s northeastern province of Gangwon-do, just kilometres from North Korea.
Several cross-border traditions still carry over in the city of around 80,000 to this day – it was considered part of the North until the 1953 Korean war armistice – but is now notable for producing a promising UFC featherweight.
“I still can’t believe it’s actually happened,” said the 28-year-old Choi (9-3) after stunning the bookies by beating Youssef Zalal (10-4) via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas last weekend. Nicknamed “Sting” for his venomous striking ability, Choi was a former national Muay Thai champion before switching to MMA.
“I lived in Sokcho until I was 18. To be honest, when I started Muay Thai there weren’t many fighters or coaches at all, but I had this idea to become the best martial artist and tried to do it myself. There’s a lot of nature in Sokcho, so I would climb up mountains with my dad every day – no complaining about the lack of resources or whatever – and worked towards that dream,” said Choi, speaking to the Post while undergoing mandatory quarantine back home.
“Originally, I wanted to be a K1 [kick-boxing] fighter. Then I went to the army [for mandatory military service] and started watching UFC with my family during the holidays. Soon my mission was to debut in the UFC. That’s when I started MMA.”