Nicknamed ‘The Korean Superboy’, Doo Ho Choi is a prime example of the adage “looks can be deceiving”. Although his appearance suggests he belongs in a Korean boy band rather than in the cage or ring, Choi has lived up to the hype in the MMA world and has taken the UFC by storm. He debuted in the UFC back in 2013 while on a 9 win-streak that later extended to 12 after Choi’s dominant performances in his first 3 fights with the UFC. Stay riveted as we countdown (in descending order) the Korean Superboy’s Top 5 MMA Finishes!
- Vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida — Deep / Smash: Japan MMA League 2011 Semifinals (December 17, 2011)
- . Juan Puig — UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson (November 22, 2014)
- Vs. Nobuhiro Obiya — Deep: Cage Impact 2011 in Tokyo 2nd Round (October 29, 2011)
- Vs. Thiago Tavares — The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia Finale (July 8, 2016)
- Vs. Sam Sicilia — UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Masvidal (November 28, 2015)
Having made his mark in Deep with his victory over former Deep lightweight champion and Pride veteran Nobuhiro Obiya, Choi took on former Shooto welterweight champion, Pride and DREAM veteran, as well as Strikeforce championship contender Mitsuhiro Ishida. Despite Ishida being the more seasoned fighter, Choi easily dominated Ishida with laser-sharp strikes, knocking him out with a knee blow to the face within a minute and 33 seconds of the first round. This turned out to be the last fight of Ishida’s MMA career as he announced his retirement the following year.
After his tenure with Deep, Choi went on to make a ‘beyond solid’ first impression in his UFC debut a year later against Juan Puig. At the start of the first round, Choi caught Puig’s attention with a quick one-two punch combination. Choi then responded to Puig’s half-parred jabs and low kick with another one-two punch and finally, a knockout overhead cross that ended the fight in just 18 seconds.
While still a relatively unknown prospect at the time, Choi was inserted late into the fight card, replacing the injured Won Sik Park and going up against Nobuhiro Obiya. Although Obiya possessed the stronger grappling strength and took Choi down several times, Choi answered back with superior striking skills, as he destroyed Obiya’s face and legs with perfectly precise punching and kicking. Within 15 seconds of the final round, Choi handed Obiya his first loss via knockout with a flying knee to the face. Choi’s performance stunned the crowd and was hailed as one of the best fights in Japan that year.
After finishing his first two UFC fights by knockout, Choi did it again in his third fight against Thiago Tavares. Early in the round, Tavares performed two takedowns on Choi and kept him on the ground for the most part. However, Choi remained calm and poised, eventually getting back on his feet to thread a hard right cross through Tavares’ guard to knock him out. Choi earned his second Performance of the Night bonus, and he later took on Cub Swanson in a matchup that became the fight of the year.
With the fight taking place in Choi’s home country of South Korea, Choi made great use of his home-court advantage in his second UFC fight against freestyle fighter Sam Sicilia. Showing excellent composure and controlling the distance throughout, Choi out-striked and out-grappled Sicilia, who had never been stopped with strikes before. Choi rocked the Spokane, Washington-based fighter multiple times with some mean face punches, and even dropped Sicilia once before knocking him out with a left hook, earning Choi his first Performance of the Night bonus.
And there we have it folks, The Korean Superboy, Doo Ho Choi’s finest finishes! What was your favorite Korean Superboy fight moment? Which fighter would you like to see get KFK’d next? Let us know in the comments below; Like, share and join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter & Instagram. (Want m..m..more MMA? Then check out our Top 5 MMA series! And after you exit the cage, you can enter the FUniverse for Top 10’s, competitions, exclusive interviews and you can subscribe for videos too!)
