“The Fireball Kid” will get the chance to compete in front of his home fans for the first time in three years.
Former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi will take on Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night in Saitama, Japan on September 23rd. MMAjunkie confirmed the matchup on Friday.
Gomi (35-13, 1 NC) has lost four straight, all by stoppage, and with virtually no signs of actually being competitive in any of them. His most recent bout was in June against Jon Tuck, who hurt him to the body and then submitted him with a rear-naked choke at UFC Singapore. He also has TKO defeats to Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, and Myles Jury. You’d have to go back to April 2014 for the 38-year-old’s last victory, a unanimous decision over Isaac Vallie-Flagg.
‘Maestro’ Dong Hyun Kim (14-8-3) defeated Brendan O’Reilly by unanimous decision at the TUF 24 Finale back in December. The South Korean was scheduled to face Thibault Gouti at UFC Auckland in June, but the fight was canceled after Gouti was ruled medically unfit to compete. Kim’s first two UFC bouts ended in stoppage losses to Dominique Steele and Polo Reyes, with the latter memorably earning Fight of the Night honors at UFC 199.
This is an actually winnable fight for Gomi, but he needs to immediately hang it up afterward. It's a bit fucked that the UFC didn't cut him already or ask him to retire and be a brand ambassador or something. I know they need name fighters for shows like this but then they went and cut Kyoji Horiguchi for daring to ask for a raise. An actually highly relevant fighter with an exciting style just hitting the peak of his career.
“The Fireball Kid” will get the chance to compete in front of his home fans for the first time in three years.
Former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi will take on Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night in Saitama, Japan on September 23rd. MMAjunkie confirmed the matchup on Friday.
Gomi (35-13, 1 NC) has lost four straight, all by stoppage, and with virtually no signs of actually being competitive in any of them. His most recent bout was in June against Jon Tuck, who hurt him to the body and then submitted him with a rear-naked choke at UFC Singapore. He also has TKO defeats to Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, and Myles Jury. You’d have to go back to April 2014 for the 38-year-old’s last victory, a unanimous decision over Isaac Vallie-Flagg.
‘Maestro’ Dong Hyun Kim (14-8-3) defeated Brendan O’Reilly by unanimous decision at the TUF 24 Finale back in December. The South Korean was scheduled to face Thibault Gouti at UFC Auckland in June, but the fight was canceled after Gouti was ruled medically unfit to compete. Kim’s first two UFC bouts ended in stoppage losses to Dominique Steele and Polo Reyes, with the latter memorably earning Fight of the Night honors at UFC 199.