Hongman Choi

Choi Hong-man
Born	(1980-10-30)October 30, 1980 Jeju, South Korea
Nationality	Republic of Korea
Height	2.18 m (7 ft 2 in)
Weight	330 lb (150 kg; 23 st 8 lb)
Style	Ssireum
Kickboxing record
Total	17
Wins	12
By knockout	7
Losses	5
By knockout	2
Mixed martial arts record
Total	3
Wins	1
By knockout	1
Losses	2
By knockout	1
By submission	1

Choi Hong-man (Korean: 최홍만, Hanja: 崔洪萬, South Korean born on October 30, 1980 in Jeju-do) is a Korean kickboxer and former ssireum wrestler. In Asia he is called "Che Man". He currently competes in K-1. Standing at 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) and weighing between 149 kg (328 lb; 23.5 st) and 166.6 kg (367 lb; 26.24 st), he is the biggest professional combative sport competitor in the world, even bigger and heavier than the current WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev and the MMA fighter Tim Sylvia.

Career

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.

Choi's losses came via judges' decision against Remy Bonjasky and twice Jérome Le Banner, knockout by Mighty Mo, and technical knockout (rib injury) by Badr Hari.

He got his nickname "Techno Goliath" (테크노 골리앗) when he was a ssirum 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' (Koreanモンスター).

One of Choi's most notable fights was against current K-1 World Champion Semmy Schilt at the World GP 2006 event in Seoul. Choi won the fight on points. The fight was unique due to the enormous size of both fighters.

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

On December 31, Choi easily won his first Mixed martial arts fight on K-1 Dynamite in Osaka. He decisively beat former TV star Bobby Ologun in just 16 seconds in what was considered a huge mismatch.

On March 4, 2007, he was knocked out for the first and to this day only time in his career. Mighty Mo landed an overhand right to the chin and Choi was not able to stand up again. In this fight he weighed 165.4 kg (365 lb; 26.05 st), was very slow and many say it was his worst performance.

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 major pay-per-view event at the massive Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, on June 2, 2007. However, reportedly due to a benign tumor on his pituitary gland, 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. The California State Athletic Commission has yet to officially confirm Choi's status. Choi was replaced in the fight by fellow Korean fighter Kim Min-soo.

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. He weighed 163.5 kg (360 lb; 25.75 st), 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.

On September 29 at the K-1 Final Eliminations in Seoul, he redeemed his previous loss and defeated Mighty Mo by decision. The win was disputed, 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."

In the World Grand Prix Final 2007 tournament on December 8, he again lost by decision to Jérôme Le Banner. Choi was announced by Jimmy Lennon Jr. as weighing in at 166.6 kg (367 lb; 26.24 st), to date his heaviest pre-fight weigh-in.

He was confirmed to fight MMA heavyweight and former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at Yarennoka on New Year's Eve. Choi landed twice on top of the two takedown attempts of Fedor. He escaped an armbar attempt on the first takedown, but after the second one was forced to tap to another armbar applied by Fedor at 1:54 of the first round.

Military Service

In April 2008, Choi joined the Korean army for his 26 months military service. After failing two medical tests, he was relieved from his military duty. The main reason was a sightedness of his left eye, which was the result of a brain tumor. On June 9th, the tumor was finally removed through surgery.

Comeback to K-1 in late 2008

On September 27th 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 because of a rib injury as the result of many hard punches and kicks for Hari. The Moroccan landed in the first two rounds very heavy punches to the Korean's chin, which had no effect on him. In the third round he stopped to attack the head and throw many punches and kicks to Choi's ribcage. After 3 Rounds, two judges had a draw, one had Choi as the winner. In the second round, Choi was able to land the only knockdown of the fight, sending Hari with a straight left to the floor. Since his last fight, Choi lost tremendous weight. He was announced with 149 kg (328 lb; 23.5 st).

Choi was picked as a first reserve fighter against Ray Sefo at the 2008 k-1 Championship Finals which he lost by Unanimous decision .

Choi fought again in MMA against Mirko Cro Cop (who was wearing shoes) On December the 31st where he lost by a low kick to the left knee in Sataima, Japan.

Outside the Ring

He released a rap single featuring vocals by model Kang So Hee.

He recently began a singing career with supermodel Kang Soo Hee in Korea under the name of Beauty & The Beast.

Since 2008, he´s wearing his surname "Choi" as Tattoo on his left shoulder. [1]

In the 2009 realesed japanese movie "Goemon" he will make his debut in a movie.

Kickboxing Record

Professional record breakdown

17 matches	12 wins	5 losses
By knockout	7	2
By decision	5	3

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	12-6	Ray Sefo	Decision	K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final	December 6, 2008	3	3:00	Yokohama, Japan
Loss	12-5	Badr Hari	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	K-1 World GP Final 16 2008	September 27, 2008	4	0:00	Seoul, South Korea	K-1 WGP 2008 Final Elimination
Loss	12-4	Jerome 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	TKO (Doctor stoppage)	K-1 Hawaii GP 2007	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	Jerome Le Banner	Decision (Unanimous)	K-1 Osaka GP 2006	September 30, 2006	4	3:00	Osaka, Japan	K-1 WGP 2006 Final Elimination
Win	9-1	Akebono	KO	K-1 WORLD GP 2006 in Sapporo	July 30, 2006	2	0:57	Sapporo, Japan
Win	8-1	Semmy Schilt	Decision (Split)	K-1 Seoul GP 2006	June 3, 2006	3	3:00	Seoul, South Korea
Win	7-1	Sylvester Terkay	Decision (Unanimous)	K-1 Las Vegas GP 2006	April 29, 2006	3	3:00	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	6-1	Remy Bonjasky	Decision (Unanimous)	K-1 World GP Final 2005	November 19, 2005	3	3:00	Tokyo, Japan	K-1 WGP 2005 1/4
Win	6-0	Bob Sapp	Decision (Majority)	K-1 Osaka GP 2005	September 23, 2005	3	3:00	Osaka, Japan	K-1 WGP 2005 Final Elimination
Win	5-0	Akebono	TKO	K-1 Hawaii GP 2005	July 29, 2005	1	2:52	Hawaii, United States
Win	4-0	Tom Howard	KO	K-1 Hiroshima GP 2005	June 14, 2005	1	2:11	Hiroshima, Japan
Win	3-0	Kaoklai Kaennorsing	Decision (Unanimous)	K-1 Seoul GP 2005	March 19, 2005	4	3:00	Seoul, South Korea	K-1 Seoul GP 2005 Champion
Win	2-0	Akebono	KO	K-1 Seoul GP 2005	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 Seoul GP 2005	March 19, 2005	1	1:40	Seoul, South Korea	K-1 Seoul GP 2005 1/4

Mixed Martial Arts Record

Professional record breakdown

3 matches	1 win	2 losses
By knockout	1	1
By submission	0	1

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	1-2	Mirko Filipović	TKO (Low Kick)	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 Dynamite!! 2006	December 31, 2006	1	0:16	Osaka, Japan

Titles and Accomplishments

• 2003: Jinan Competition '03
• 2003: The General Championship '03
• 2004: Jungwal Competition '04
• 2004: Hamyang Competition '04
• 2005: K-1 WORLD GP 2005 in Seoul Champion

External links

• K-1 Profile
• Professional Kickboxing record
• Choi Hong Man's Singing Debut Performance