Hongman Choi | |
---|---|
Born | Choi Hong-man (1980-10-30)October 30, 1980 (age 44) Jeju,South Korea |
Native name | 최홍만 |
Other names | The Techno Goliath Korean Colossus Che Man |
Height | 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) |
Weight | 159.5 kg (352 lb; 25 st 2 lb) |
Division | Super Heavyweight |
Reach | 235 cm (93 in)[1] |
Style | MMA Kickboxing,Ssireum |
Kickboxing record | |
Total | 22 |
Wins | 13 |
By knockout | 7 |
Losses | 9 |
By knockout | 3 |
Mixed martial arts record | |
Total | 9 |
Wins | 4 |
By knockout | 3 |
By submission | 1 |
Losses | 5 |
By knockout | 3 |
By submission | 2 |
Other information | |
Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog |
Hongman Choi | |
Hangul | 최홍만 |
---|---|
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Choe Hong-man |
McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Hongman |
Choi Hong-man (Korean: 최홍만;Hanja: 崔洪萬; born October 30, 1980),[2] often anglicised toHongman Choi, is a South Koreankickboxer,mixed martial artist, and formerssireum wrestler. In Asia, he is called "Che Man", "Techno Goliath", "Korean Monster" and "Korean Colossus". He won the 2005 K-1 Seoul Grand Prix beatingKaoklai Kaennorsing in the finals. He stands 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) and weighs 160 kg (350 lb; 25 st 3 lb).[3][4]
At the 2003 Ssireum Championships, he won the title against his long-time rival Kim Young-hyun (often anglicised to Younghyun Kim).[5] A year later, he reached the final again, where he was defeated by Kim. Across allCombat sport styles, there has never been anywhere a fight of such physical proportions between two athletes. Choi weighed 175.5 kg (387 lb; 27 st 9 lb) standing 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) tall, Kim weighed 167.8 kg (370 lb; 26 st 6 lb) standing 2.17 m (7 ft 1 in) tall.This even surpasses theWBA heavyweight championship betweenNikolay Valuev (2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) at 146.2 kg (322 lb; 23 st 0 lb)) andJameel McCline (1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) at 121.7 kg (268 lb; 19 st 2 lb)),[6] which is considered a record inboxing in terms of physique. Valuev and McCline brought together 267.9 kg (591 lb; 42 st 3 lb) and 4.11 m (13 ft 6 in), Choi and Kim 343.3 kg (757 lb; 54 st 1 lb) and 4.35 m (14 ft 3 in).[7][8]
He announced in December 2004 to leave Ssireum forK-1, and stated he has a two dan black belt inTaekwondo.[9] But this could never be verified. Prepared for his kickboxing career by K-1 fighterNicholas Pettas, he debuted in K-1 fighting at theWorld GP 2005 event inSeoul in March, 2005, which he won in the final vs.Kaoklai Kaennorsing. In the final elimination he defeatedBob Sapp with a 2–0 decision, eventually losing toRemy Bonjasky in the World Grand Prix Final.
He got his nickname "Techno Goliath" (테크노 골리앗) when he was assireum wrestler in South Korea, as after a victory he would dance to techno music. He is referred to on Japanese television and news articles as the 'Korean Monster' (コリアン・モンスター).[10]
He started the season 2006 at the K-1 World GP inLas Vegas with a unanimous decision win overSylvester Terkay aka "The Predator". His new coach was the former Japanese Korean K-1 fighter Kin Taiei (anglicised toTaiei Kin).
One of Choi's most notable fights was against current K-1 World ChampionSemmy Schilt at the World GP 2006 event in Seoul. The fight was unique due to the enormous size and weight of both fighters (Schilt 2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) 128 kg (282 lb; 20 st 2 lb), Choi 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) 161 kg (355 lb; 25 st 5 lb)). Choi won the fight by 2-0 decision, but it was a disputed win.
On September 30, 2006, Choi foughtJérôme Le Banner in the final eliminations, and lost after three rounds and one extra round on points.[11] After the fight, Le Banner said:"He is dangerous, his knees are already almost at the level of my head, he's not human! But he's a good guy and I like him, he's very tough, maybe the strongest guy in K-1, and he has hard bones -- when I kicked him, it hurt my leg! I'm sure with more experience, in two years no one will be able to knock him out!"[12]
On March 4, 2007, in the World Grand Prix in Yokohama, he was knocked out for the first time in his career.Mighty Mo landed his trademark overhand right to the chin and Choi was not able to stand up again. In this fight he weighed 165.4 kg (365 lb; 26 st 1 lb), was very slow and many say it was his worst performance.[4] Choi himself stated in an interview about six months later:At that time, I was not in shape so that I did not train at all.[13]
On August 5. at the Asia World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, he beatGary Goodridge by KO at 1:34 in the first round.[4] He weighed 163.5 kg (360 lb; 25 st 10 lb). Notable on this fight was his stance. Since his K-1 debut in 2005, he has fought using anorthodox stance. However, in this fight, he adopted for the first time aSouthpaw stance. This was a strategy by his coach Kin Taiei (often anglicised to Taiei Kin) for an eventual re-match with Mighty Mo (to block his devastating overhand right better as in orthodox stance).
On September 29 at the K-1 final eliminations in Seoul, fighting southpaw stance again, he redeemed his previous loss and defeated Mighty Mo by decision. The win was disputed because Mo was able to land many hard hands on Choi's head, while the Korean missed most of his shots. However, due to a kick Choi delivered to Mighty Mo's groin in the second round that was inexplicably ruled aknockdown. Mighty Mo was quoted in the post-fight interview:"He (Choi) seemed a little bit stronger because I hit him with some good shots and he didn't fall down so I was surprised, actually harder than the ones I hit him with before. He must have been practicing taking punches."[4]
In the World Grand Prix Final 2007 tournament on December 8, he again lost by decision to Jérôme Le Banner.[4] Choi was announced byJimmy Lennon Jr. as weighing in at 166.6 kg (367 lb; 26 st 3 lb),[14] the heaviest weight of his K-1 career (2005-2008). In the post-fight Choi said:"He (Jérôme) has been my toughest opponent, who was able to resist my powerful punches and counter with speed, I admire his physical strength and I'm sure with more experience will be able to defeat him."
On September 27 at the K-1 final Elimination in Seoul, he came back to K-1 and fought against the current Heavyweight championBadr Hari. After 3 rounds of fighting, Choi's corner threw in the towel due to a rib injury. Although Hari was unable to faze Choi with two heavy punches thrown in the first and second rounds, in the third round he began targeting Choi's ribcage with punches and kicks.Notable: In the years 2008 and 2009, Hari fought 14 bouts and only lost 3 of them, one by disqualification againstRemy Bonjasky, two by KO againstAlistair Overeem and Semmy Schilt. From his 11 wins, he won 8 times by KO in the first round, againstRay Sefo,Glaube Feitosa, Domagoj Ostojic,Frédéric Sinistra, Semmy Schilt,Zabit Samedov,Ruslan Karaev and Alistair Overeem. OnlyPeter Aerts andErrol Zimmerman survived the first round, Aerts lost by KO in the second round, Zimmerman in the third round.Choi stated before his bout against Hari:"He is a great fighter, but I will be different from those who fell in the opening round".[15] Choi was the only from Hari's 11 defeated opponents in 2008 and 2009, who was able to take his best punches and kicks to the head, body and legs without going down once. Hari said after the fight,"I tried to knock him out in the first round, but he has a really strong chin."[16]
Since his last fight, Choi has lost much weight. He was announced with a weight of 149 kg (328 lb; 23 st 6 lb).
Choi was picked as a first reserve fighter againstRay Sefo at the 2008 K-1 Championship finals which he lost by unanimous decision.The English version of the fight fromHDNet Fights was commentated byMichael Schiavello and Mike Kogan, Co-Commentator wasKimbo Slice. Slice stated he saw Choi the day before atbreakfast, and pointed out how big and huge he is. Slice:"Hongman is a really big guy, he is really tall. Fighting him would be a real challenge to any fighter." In the last 23 seconds of the bout, Sefo landed a very hard overhand right to Choi's jaw, but the Korean took it without any damage. Sefo knocked out many opponents with the same right hand, including Jérôme Le Banner, Gary Goodridge and Ruslan Karaev. Schiavello pointed out how the same punch broke the jaw of Le Banner in four places, and Kogan stated:"To Choi's credit, i don't think the people realize the power in Sefo's punches. That landed flush on his jaw, and Choi just shook it off and kept moving forwards, that's ridiculous."
On December 31, Choi fought his firstmixed martial arts fight onK-1 Dynamite, facing former TV starBobby Ologun, whom Choi outweighed by a large margin.[4] Ologun charged and missed aflying kick, after which Choi dragged him to the center of the ring and punched him. As Ologun seemed to refuse to defend, the referee stopped the match in just 16 seconds with a win for the Korean.[17]
Choi was scheduled to face formerWWE,IWGP, andNCAA national champion amateurwrestlerBrock Lesnar at the combinedpromotion eventK-1 Dynamite!! USA, a pay-per-view event at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on June 2, 2007.[18] However, reportedly due to a benign tumor on hispituitary gland,[19] Choi was denied hisCalifornia fighter's license on May 23, 2007, putting Dynamite!! USA's main event in jeopardy only 10 days before its scheduled occurrence. Choi was replaced in the fight by fellow Korean fighterKim Min-soo.
He was confirmed to fight formerPride heavyweight championFedor Emelianenko atYarennoka onNew Year's Eve.[20] Choi opened the fight landing on top of Fedor during atakedown attempt, after which the Russian attempted anarmbar from the bottom to no avail. The sequence repeated itself, only the second time Fedor showed the difference in experience and locked the armbar, forcing Choi to tap at 1:54.[21]
Choi fought again in Dynamite!! 2008, being scheduled to fightMirko Cro Cop. The fight was longer, as Cro Cop, a fellow K-1 specialist, found difficult to strike against the larger Choi. He did land multiplelow kicks through the round, which eventually caused enough damage for the fight to be stopped in a KO for Cro Cop.
Choi's next MMA match would be for theDream promotion. He faced retired baseball playerJose Canseco in an MMA match on May 26, 2009, as part of its Super Hulk Tournament. Choi beat Canseco in 1 minute 17 seconds.[22]
The Korean advanced to the semi-finals atDream 11 and was pitted againstIkuhisa Minowa, a Japanese fighter familiar with large differences in size. Minowa resorted to creative takedown andguard pulls to bring the match to the mat, but Choi used his size and strength to shut down his gameplan. Eventually Minowa pinned Choi inside control and landedknee strikes, which the Korean answered to by landing some ground and pound later through Minowa's guard. At the next round, however, Minowa took Choi down and immediately locked aheel hook, making Choi submit.[23]
Choi was expected to participate inDream 14, which was supposed to have taken place inSeoul, South Korea.[24] But many factors, including the issue that many top Korean stars such asDenis Kang and him (Choi) were not available in April, contributed to the event being canceled.
In April 2008, Choi joined theKorean army for his 21 months military service.[25] After failing two medical tests, he was relieved from his military duty.[26] The main reason was a problem with the sight in his left eye, which was the result of abrain tumor. On June 9, the tumor was finally removed through surgery.[27]
Choi did not compete in any competitions between October 2009 and July 2015. He frequently appeared in TV shows, game shows, and a few movies during those years. Many critics believe he never reached his best shape after this long break. Even though he was technically very limited and mostly lost to the best K-1 and MMA fighters, his greatest strengths were his very goodchin, overall punch and kick resistance, and a very strongMuay Thai knee strike. Fighters like Carlos Toyota or David Mihajlov don't have a similarKnockout-ratio or punching power asBadr Hari,Jérôme Le Banner orMighty Mo. Only Mo was able to knock him out during Choi's time in K-1 (2005-2008), although the Korean stated he had not trained and was not in shape at that time, and backed up this claim in the rematch by not just appearing in top shape against Mo, but also by taking his best punches. During his best days, Choi was also able to take all punches and kicks fromBob Sapp,Semmy Schilt andRemy Bonjasky without being knocked down or out once. Le Banner had four fights withMark Hunt, and he took him down a total of three times, once with hard kicks to the legs, once with a kick to the head, and once with a counter punch to the head, and Hunt received an eight count each time. Hunt is considered one of the most durable fighters in K-1 and MMA, with very goodchin and general punch and kick resistance. But still he was floored by Le Banner three times, and was alsoknocked out by aliver kick from Schilt. Schilt knocked out many of his opponents with punches and kicks, and Le Banner had with over 80% the highestknockout ratio in the entireK-1 Circus. Choi took every attack to the head, body, and legs from Le Banner and Schilt, never went to the floor, and was never counted out or received an eight count in his bout with the Dutchman and his two bouts with the Frenchman.
In July 2015, after 5 years and 9 months of inactivity in combat sport, he gave his comeback against Brazilian fighter Carlos Toyota, weighing 140 kg (310 lb), the lowest to this day. He lost via knockout in the first round (multiple punches to face and jaw). Toyota was the second fighter besides Mighty Mo who knocked out Choi with head punches.[28]
On December 26, 2015, he competed in the Openweight Tournament "ROAD FC 027" in China. His opponent in the quarterfinals was Chinese Luo Quanchao. Choi was able to win the fight by T.K.O in the first round and advance to the semifinals.[29]
In April 2016, he fought the "Chinese" Aorigele, whom he defeated by knockout in round one. He was weighing 157 kg (346 lb).[30]
On September 24, 2016, Choi, at a new fighting weight of 161.5 kg (356 lb), competed in the finals of the Openweight Tournament. Despite intense preparation against the strong puncher Mighty Mo, who knocked him out with a heavy head punch back in 2007, Choi was not able to avoid anotherKnockout defeat by a head punch from Mo.[31]
On November 6, 2016, Choi returned to a kickboxing ring for the first time since December 2008. At the Silk Road Hero Kickboxing event in China, he lost a unanimous points decision to China's Zhou Zhipeng. Choi weighed 160 kg, while Zhou weighed only 72 kg (159 lb) with a height of 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[32]
On November 27, 2017. At the AFC event in South Korea, he defeated Japan's Noboru Uchida by a unanimous points victory.[33]
On November 15, 2018, he fought at the Chinese event MAS FIGHT againstWushu (sport) FighterYi Long, who weights 80 kg (180 lb) standing 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in). The fight was scored under strange circumstances as aTechnical knockout win for the Chinese. Yi kicked Choi with a spinning kick below the waist at 1.30 minutes into the first round, after which Choi sat down on the floor with a painfull face, and stayed there for several minutes. The referee was Tony Weeks, known fromBoxing, who, among other famous fights, refereed the World Heavyweight Championship fight betweenWladimir Klitschko andTyson Fury inDüsseldorf in November 2015, when Fury dethroned the long reigning Champion Klitschko. Choi complained to Weeks, that Yi had kicked him to the groin, but Weeks disagreed and judged Choi's behavior as refusing to fight. Various slow-motion footage and photos show that while Yi's kick was not clearly to the groin, but it was below the beltline.[34]
On June 11, 2019, he lost to David Mihajlov ofHungary, who sent him to the ground with several head shots 49 seconds into the first round, and the referee stopped the fight after a brief count. Choi weighed 150 kg (330 lb), Mihajlov 110 kg (240 lb). Apart from Mighty Mo in 2007 and 2016 and Carlos Toyota in 2015, Mihajlov was the third man to knock Choi out with head shots.[35]
On July 21, 2019 Choi gave a shot at professional wrestling when he worked forDragon Gate's Kobe Pro Wrestling event. His only match was a victory overRyo Saito andStalker Ichikawa in a handicap match.[36]
In 2008 Choi began a singing career withsupermodel Kang Su-hee inKorea under the name of Beauty & The Beast.[37][38] He also made a rap single featuring vocals by Kang.[39] In 2009, he made his movie debut in the Japanese filmGoemon.
He has sometattoos. Hissurname "Choi" on his left shoulder.,[40] on his left forearm the phrase "Secret of success is constancy to purpose",[41] on his chest "No Pain No Gain".
In April 2010, Choi appeared as part of the main cast in Japanese TVdrama seriesKaibutsu-kun, adapted fromFujiko Fujio'sKaibutsu-kun of the same name. Choi played the character Franken, which was one of the three understudies of prince Kaibutsu-kun.[42]
In April 2012 he appeared as a guest in the 19th episode of the Korean variety showInvincible Youth 2.[43]
He has also done several endorsement works with actress / former modelKarina. He has been a face forLotte'sice cream productMona Oh ('Monaka-King') alongside Karina. He threw out theceremonial first pitch along with Karina at theChiba Lotte Marines-Yomiuri Giants game inChiba Marine Stadium on June 11, 2006.[44] He has also done endorsement works for videogameLittleBigPlanet withMari Yaguchi, a former member of the music groupMorning Musume.[45]
In March 2012, he made a special guest appearance in episode 2 and another in July 2012 in episode 17 ofJTBC variety programmeShinhwa Broadcast hosted byboybandShinhwa.
On September 8 and 15, 2013, he appeared in episodes 310 and 311 of the variety show2 Days & 1 Night (KBS2) as a guest of regular cast-memberKim Jong-min.
On November 16, 2014, he appeared in episode 28 of reality showRoommate (SBS) as a guest along with female singer Hong Jin-young.
On June 23, 2015, he appeared in episode 254 of variety showRunning Man (SBS) as a guest as well as a hunter for Running Man nametags.
9 matches | 4 wins | 5 losses |
By knockout | 4 | 3 |
By submission | 0 | 2 |
Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 4–5 | Mighty Mo | KO (punch) | Road FC 033 | September 24, 2016 | 1 | 4:06 | Seoul,South Korea | Road FC Openweight Tournament Finals. |
Win | 4–4 | Aorigele | KO (punch) | Road FC 030: In China | April 16, 2016 | 1 | 1:36 | Beijing,China | Road FC Openweight Tournament Semifinals. |
Win | 3–4 | Quanchao Luo | TKO (corner stoppage) | ROAD FC 027: In China | December 26, 2015 | 1 | 3:14 | Shanghai,China | Road FC Openweight Tournament Quarterfinals. |
Loss | 2–4 | Carlos Toyota | KO (punch) | ROAD FC 024: In Japan | July 25, 2015 | 1 | 1:29 | Tokyo, Japan | |
Loss | 2–3 | Ikuhisa Minowa | Submission (heel hook) | Dream 11 | October 6, 2009 | 2 | 1:27 | Yokohama, Japan | Dream Super Hulk Grand Prix Semifinal. |
Win | 2–2 | Jose Canseco | TKO (submission to punches) | Dream 9 | May 26, 2009 | 1 | 1:17 | Yokohama, Japan | Dream Super Hulk Grand Prix Quarterfinal. |
Loss | 1–2 | Mirko Cro Cop | TKO (leg kick) | Fields Dynamite!! 2008 | December 31, 2008 | 1 | 6:32 | Saitama, Japan | |
Loss | 1–1 | Fedor Emelianenko | Submission (armbar) | Yarennoka! | December 31, 2007 | 1 | 1:58 | Saitama, Japan | |
Win | 1–0 | Bobby Ologun | TKO (punches) | K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!! | December 31, 2006 | 1 | 0:16 | Osaka, Japan |
22 matches | 13 wins | 9 losses |
By knockout | 7 | 3 |
By decision | 6 | 6 |
Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 13–9 | ![]() David Mihajlov | KO | AFC | June 11, 2019 | 1 | 0:49 | ![]() | |
Loss | 13–8 | ![]() | TKO | MAS FIGHT | November 15, 2018 | 1 | 1:30 | ![]() | |
Win | 13–7 | ![]() Uchida Noboru | Decision (unanimous) | AFC | November 27, 2017 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | |
Loss | 12–7 | ![]() | Decision (unanimous) | Silk Road Hero Kickboxing | November 6, 2016 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | |
Loss | 12–6 | ![]() | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 World GP Final 2008 | December 8, 2008 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | |
Loss | 12–5 | ![]() | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | K-1 Seoul GP 2008 | September 29, 2008 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 WGP 2008 final eliminations. |
Loss | 12–4 | ![]() | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 World GP Final 2007 | December 8, 2007 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 WGP 2007 1/4. |
Win | 12–3 | ![]() | Decision (Majority) | K-1 Seoul GP 2007 | September 29, 2007 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 WGP 2007 final elimination. |
Win | 11–3 | ![]() | KO (knee strike) | K-1 Hong Kong GP 2007 | August 5, 2007 | 1 | 1:34 | ![]() | |
Win | 10–3 | ![]() | KO | K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hawaii | April 28, 2007 | 2 | 2:02 | ![]() | |
Loss | 9–3 | ![]() | KO (Right Overhand) | K-1 Yokohama GP 2007 | March 4, 2007 | 2 | 0:50 | ![]() | |
Loss | 9–2 | ![]() | Ext.R Decision (unanimous) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Osaka opening round | September 30, 2006 | 4 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 WGP 2006 final elimination. |
Win | 9–1 | ![]() | KO (Left Hook) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Sapporo | July 30, 2006 | 2 | 0:57 | ![]() | |
Win | 8–1 | ![]() | Decision (Split) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul | June 3, 2006 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | |
Win | 7–1 | ![]() | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las Vegas | April 29, 2006 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | |
Loss | 6–1 | ![]() | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 | November 19, 2005 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 WGP 2005 1/4. |
Win | 6–0 | ![]() | Decision (Majority) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Tokyo – final elimination | September 23, 2005 | 3 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 WGP 2005 final elimination. |
Win | 5–0 | ![]() | TKO (Referee Stoppage) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii | July 29, 2005 | 1 | 2:52 | ![]() | |
Win | 4–0 | ![]() | KO (knee strike) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hiroshima | June 14, 2005 | 1 | 2:11 | ![]() | |
Win | 3–0 | ![]() | Ext.R Decision (unanimous) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul | March 19, 2005 | 4 | 3:00 | ![]() | K-1 Seoul GP 2005 Champion. |
Win | 2–0 | ![]() | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul | March 19, 2005 | 1 | 0:24 | ![]() | K-1 Seoul GP 2005 1/2. |
Win | 1–0 | ![]() | KO (Left Hook) | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul | March 19, 2005 | 1 | 1:40 | ![]() | K-1 Seoul GP 2005 1/4. |
Year | Network | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | KBS2 | 2 Days & 1 Night | Special guest, Ep. 310-311 |
2013 | KBS WORLD TV | The Return of Superman | Guest, Episode 6 |
2015 | SBS | Running Man | Special guest, Ep. 254 |
2016 | tvN | Hey Ghost, Let's Fight | (cameo) |