Choi Hong-man

Choi Hong-man (Korean: 최홍만, Hanja: 崔洪萬; born October 30, 1980),[1] often anglicised to Hong-man Choi, is a South Korean kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and former ssireum wrestler. In Asia, he is called "Che Man", "Techno Goliath", "Korean Monster" and "Korean Colossus". He won the 2005 K-1 Seoul Grand Prix beating Kaoklai Kaennorsing in the finals. He currently stands 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) and weighs between 140 kg (310 lb) and 166 kg (366 lb).[2]

In this Korean name, the family name is Choi.
Choi Hong-man
BornChoi Hong-man
(1980-10-30) October 30, 1980
Jeju, South Korea
Native name최홍만
Other namesThe Techno Goliath
Korean Colossus
Che Man
Nationality South Korean
Height2.18 m (7 ft 2 in)
Weight159.5 kg (352 lb; 25 st 2 lb)
DivisionSuper Heavyweight
StyleKickboxing, Ssireum
Kickboxing record
Total20
Wins12
By knockout7
Losses8
By knockout3
Mixed martial arts record
Total9
Wins4
By knockout3
By submission1
Losses5
By knockout3
By submission2
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Kickboxing career

K-1 (2005–2008)

Prepared for his kickboxing career by Korean K-1 fighter Choi Hong-man, he debuted in K-1 fighting at the World GP 2005 event in Seoul in March, 2005, which he won in the final vs. Kaoklai Kaennorsing. In the Final Elimination he defeated Bob Sapp with a 2–0 decision, eventually losing to Remy Bonjasky in the World Grand Prix Final.

He got his nickname "Techno Goliath" (테크노 골리앗) when he was a ssireum 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).[3]

He started the season 2006 at the K-1 World GP in Las Vegas with a unanimous decision win over Sylvester Terkay aka "The Predator". His new coach was the former Japanese Korean K-1 fighter Kin Taiei (anglicised to Taiei Kin).

One of Choi's most notable fights was against current K-1 World Champion Semmy 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), Choi 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) 161 kg (355 lb)). Choi won the fight by 2-0 decision, but it was a disputed win.

On September 30, 2006, Choi fought Jérôme Le Banner in the final eliminations, and lost after 3 Rounds and 1 extra Round on points.[4] 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!"[5]

On March 4, 2007, 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.[2]

On August 5. at the Asia World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, he beat Gary Goodridge by KO at 1:34 in the first round.[2] He weighed 163.5 kg (360 lb; 25 st 10 lb), the same when he fought Schilt in June 2006. Notable on this fight was his stance. Since his K-1 debut in 2005, he has fought using an orthodox stance. However, in this fight, he adopted for the first time a Southpaw stance. This was a strategy by his coach Kin Tailei 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 a knockdown. 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."[2]

In the World Grand Prix Final 2007 tournament on December 8, he again lost by decision to Jérôme Le Banner.[2] Choi was announced by Jimmy Lennon Jr. as weighing in at 166.6 kg (367 lb; 26 st 3 lb),[6] to date his heaviest pre-fight weigh-in. 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 champion Badr 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.

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 against Ray Sefo at the 2008 K-1 Championship Finals which he lost by Unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts career

K-1 events

On December 31, Choi fought his first mixed martial arts fight on K-1 Dynamite, facing former TV star Bobby Ologun, whom Choi outweighed by a large margin.[2] Ologun charged and missed a flying 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.[7]

Choi was scheduled to face former WWE, IWGP, and NCAA national champion amateur wrestler Brock Lesnar at the combined promotion event K-1 Dynamite!! USA, a pay-per-view event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on June 2, 2007.[8] However, reportedly due to a benign tumor on his pituitary gland,[9] Choi was denied his California 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 fighter Kim Min-soo.

He was confirmed to fight former Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at Yarennoka on New Year's Eve.[10] Choi opened the fight landing on top of Fedor during a takedown attempt, after which the Russian attempted an armbar 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.[11]

Choi fought again in Dynamite!! 2008, being scheduled to fight Mirko 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 multiple low kicks through the round, which eventually caused enough damage for the fight to be stopped in a KO for Cro Cop.

Dream

Choi's next MMA match would be for the Dream promotion. He faced retired baseball player Jose Canseco in an MMA match on May 26, 2009 as part of its Super Hulk Tournament. Choi beat Canseco in 1 minute 17 seconds.[12]

The Korean advanced to the semi-finals at Dream 11 and was pitted against Ikuhisa Minowa, a Japanese fighter familiar with large differences in size. Minowa resorted to creative takedown and guard pulls to bring the match to the mat, but Choi used his size and strength to shut down his gameplan. Eventually Minowa pinned Choi in side control and landed knee 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 a heel hook, making Choi submit.[13]

Choi was expected to participate in Dream 14, which was supposed to have taken place in Seoul, South Korea.[14] But many factors, including the issue that many top Korean stars such as Denis Kang and him (Choi) were not available in April, contributed to the event being canceled.

Road

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.

In December 2015 he fought the Chinese Luo Quanchao and won by cut stoppage (TKO).

In April 2016, he fought the "Chinese" Aorigele, whom he defeated by knockout in round one. He was weighing 157 kg (346 lb) [15]

Military service

In April 2008, Choi joined the Korean army for his 21 months military service. After failing two medical tests, he was relieved from his military duty. The main reason was a problem with the sight in his left eye, which was the result of a brain tumor. On June 9, the tumor was finally removed through surgery.

Outside the ring

In 2008 Choi began a singing career with supermodel Kang Soo Hee in Korea under the name of Beauty & The Beast. [16][17] He also made a rap single featuring vocals by the model Kang Soo Hee.[18] In 2009, he made his movie debut in the Japanese film Goemon.

He has some Tattoos. His surname "Choi" on his left shoulder.,[19] on his left forearm the phrase "Secret of success is constancy to purpose“.,[20] on his chest "No Pain No Gain“.

In April 2010, Choi appeared as part of the main cast in Japanese TV drama series Kaibutsu-kun, adapted from Fujiko Fujio's Kaibutsu-kun of the same name. Choi played the character Franken, which was one of the three understudies of prince Kaibutsu-kun.[21]

In April 2012 he appeared as a guest in the 19th episode of the Korean variety show Invincible Youth 2.[22]

He has also done several endorsement works with actress / former model Karina. He has been a face for Lotte's ice cream product Mona Oh ('Monaka-King') alongside Karina. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch along with Karina at the Chiba Lotte Marines-Yomiuri Giants game in Chiba Marine Stadium on June 11, 2006.[23] He has also done endorsement works for videogame LittleBigPlanet with Mari Yaguchi, a former member of the music group Morning Musume.[24]

In March 2012, he made a special guest appearance in episode 2 and another on July 2012 in episode 17 of JTBC variety programme Shinhwa Broadcast hosted by boyband Shinhwa.

On September 08th and 15, 2013, he appeared in episodes 310 and 311 of the variety show 2 Days & 1 Night (KBS2) as a guest of regular cast-member Kim Jong-min.

On November 16, 2014, he appeared in episode 28 of reality show Roommate (SBS) as a guest along with female singer Hong Jin-young.

ON June 23, 2015, he appeared in episode 254 of variety show Running Man (SBS) as a guest and as well as a hunter for Running Man nametags.

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing
  • K-1
    • 2005 K-1 World Grand Prix in Seoul Champion

Mixed martial arts

Ssireum

Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
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

Kickboxing record
Professional record breakdown
20 matches 12 wins 8 losses
By knockout 7 2
By decision 5 6
Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 12–8 Yi Long TKO MAS FIGHT November 15, 2018 1 0:30 Macau
Loss 12–7 Zhou Zhipeng Decision (Unanimous) Silk Road Hero Kickboxing November 6, 2016 3 3:00 China
Loss 12–6 Ray Sefo Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World GP Final 2008 December 8, 2008 3 3:00 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 12–5 Badr Hari TKO (Corner Stoppage) K-1 Seoul GP 2008 September 29, 2008 3 3:00 Seoul, South Korea K-1 WGP 2008 Final Eliminations.
Loss 12–4 Jérôme Le Banner Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World GP Final 2007 December 8, 2007 3 3:00 Yokohama, Japan K-1 WGP 2007 1/4.
Win 12–3 Mighty Mo Decision (Majority) K-1 Seoul GP 2007 September 29, 2007 3 3:00 Seoul, South Korea K-1 WGP 2007 Final Elimination.
Win 11–3 Gary Goodridge KO (Knee Strike) K-1 Hong Kong GP 2007 August 5, 2007 1 1:34 Hong Kong
Win 10–3 Mike Malone KO K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hawaii April 28, 2007 2 2:02 Hawaii, United States
Loss 9–3 Mighty Mo KO (Right Overhand) K-1 Yokohama GP 2007 March 4, 2007 2 0:50 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 9–2 Jérôme Le Banner Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Osaka Opening Round September 30, 2006 4 3:00 Osaka, Japan K-1 WGP 2006 Final Elimination.
Win 9–1 Akebono KO (Left Hook) K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Sapporo July 30, 2006 2 0:57 Sapporo, Japan
Win 8–1 Semmy Schilt Decision (Split) K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul June 3, 2006 3 3:00 Seoul, South Korea
Win 7–1 Sylvester Terkay Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las Vegas April 29, 2006 3 3:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 6–1 Remy Bonjasky Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 November 19, 2005 3 3:00 Tokyo, Japan K-1 WGP 2005 1/4.
Win 6–0 Bob Sapp Decision (Majority) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Osaka - Final Elimination September 23, 2005 3 3:00 Osaka, Japan K-1 WGP 2005 Final Elimination.
Win 5–0 Akebono TKO (Referee Stoppage) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hawaii July 29, 2005 1 2:52 Hawaii, United States
Win 4–0 Tom Howard KO (Knee Strike) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hiroshima June 14, 2005 1 2:11 Hiroshima, Japan
Win 3–0 Kaoklai Kaennorsing Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul March 19, 2005 4 3:00 Seoul, South Korea K-1 Seoul GP 2005 Champion.
Win 2–0 Akebono TKO (Corner Stoppage) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul March 19, 2005 1 0:24 Seoul, South Korea K-1 Seoul GP 2005 1/2.
Win 1–0 Wakashoyo KO (Left Hook) K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Seoul March 19, 2005 1 1:40 Seoul, South Korea K-1 Seoul GP 2005 1/4.

TV appearances
Year Network Title Notes
2013 KBS2 2 Days & 1 Night Special guest, Ep. 310-311
2015 SBS Running Man Special guest, Ep. 254
2016 tvN Hey Ghost, Let's Fight (cameo)

References
  1. http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Hong-Man-Choi-20693
  2. 최홍만 : 네이버 통합검색 (in Korean).
  3. スポーツナビ｜格闘技｜K-1｜速報 Archived 2007-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Moon, Seong Dae (2006-09-30). "최홍만, '배틀 사이보그' 밴너에 연장끝 판정패". Newsis. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. k1 News Archived 2007-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Jerome Le Banner vs Hong-Man Choi - K-1 WGP 2007 Final - Vídeo Dailymotion". 31 December 2007.
  7. K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!! 12/31/06 Osaka Kyocera Dome
  8. "Gracie & Lesnar At L.A. Coliseum Official". MMAWeekly.com. 2007-03-23.
  9. Sherdog.com. "Latest UFC, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) News and Results".
  10. やれんのか！大晦日！２００７ Supported by M-1 GLOBAL [12月31日(月) さいたまスーパーアリーナ]
  11. M-1 Yarennoka! Omisoka (New Year's Eve)! 2007 12/31/07 Saitama Super Arena
  12. "Canseco beaten in MMA debut".
  13. MMA Review: #248: DREAM 11: Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Finals
  14. "DREAM.14 set for April 24 in South Korea". nightmareofbattle.com. 2010-02-13. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  15. Fight Network ROAD FC 030 Weigh In Archived 2016-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Beauty & The Beast Live Performance Archived 2008-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Wrestler Choi Hong-man Now Grapples With a Mic Archived 2008-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "YESASIA: Beauty And Beast Single Album CD - Beauty And Beast, Loen Entertainment - Korean Music - Free Shipping".
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-04-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. http://adcombat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/data-d70374ca3666a691b273748ca7880d40.jpeg
  21. "Live-action 'Kaibutsu-kun' scores viewership ratings of 17.5, Choi Hong-man gets highly praised", April 19, 2010, Livedoor, (in Japanese)
  22. "Choi Hong Man vs G6 on this week's 'Invincible Youth 2'? - allkpop.com".
  23. "Karina slashes the 'Giant' Choi in a ceremonial first pitch", June 12, 2006, Oricon News, (in Japanese)
  24. "Little Mari Yaguchi and big Choi Hong Man cheering! 'LBP' special event is held", December 18, 2008, Dengeki Online (in Japanese)
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