Back in March, UFC welterweight Dong Hyun Kim was riding high as he established himself as a serious threat in the 170-pound division.
The South Korean fighter earned his second consecutive knockout victory as he dismantled John Hathaway in the third round at the TUF China Finale. The win not only earned him Performance of the Night honours, but also raised his stock considerably in the 170-pound division.
But now, heading into his bout with Tyron Woodley Saturday in Macau, the judo black belt has become somewhat of an afterthought at welterweight thanks to bad timing.
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In the last five months the welterweight title picture has changed significantly. Shortly after Kim’s victory over Hathaway, UFC 171 took place and painted a clear picture atop the welterweight ranks.
Johny Hendricks won the vacant title against Robbie Lawler in the competitive main event, plus Hector Lombard and Woodley both earned impressive victories over Jake Shields and Carlos Condit, respectively. What began to formulate was a pseudo-welterweight tournament that was seemingly going to decide the next title contender. Woodley was scheduled to battle Rory MacDonald at UFC 174 in Vancouver and Lombard was initially slated to take on Kim this Saturday. Also, Tarec Saffiedine was scheduled to fight Jake Ellenberger with Matt Brown battling Erick Silva at UFC Fight Night in Cincinnati. With Hendricks sidelined for the rest of 2014 due to injury, there was no rush to decide his next suitor.
But timing is everything in MMA and things began to go off course when Lawler came back into the mix. Fresh off his championship loss to Hendricks, Lawler would replace an injured Saffiedine and face Ellenberger at UFC 173. Lawler won the fight by TKO and was immediately put into a July bout with Brown, who earned his own impressive TKO victory over Silva when they fought in May.
UFC president Dana White deemed Lawler-Brown a No. 1 contender’s bout, even before the Woodley-MacDonald and Lombard-Kim matchups could take place. Woodley was dominated by MacDonald at UFC 174 in June and Lombard ended up pulling out of his bout with Kim due to injury, only to be replaced by Woodley. In the end, Lawler beat Brown and rightfully earned a rematch with Hendricks for the title, which makes Saturday’s co-main event between Kim and Woodley seem like a contest of two forgotten contenders rather than a fight with title implications.
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Kim (19–2–1, 1 NC) has quietly won four straight bouts and boasts a height and reach advantage over his American foe. For Woodley (13-3), it’s a chance for redemption after his poor showing in June against MacDonald. The loss was his second setback in the UFC, as he also lost a controversial, lacklustre decision against Jake Shields at UFC 161. The ATT product aims to revert back to the fighter that knocked out Josh Koscheck in the first round at UFC 167 and was dominating Condit before the former WEC champ’s knee blew out at UFC 171.
With just three knockout losses between them through 39 combined fights, expect Kim vs Woodley to be an all-out war for three rounds rather than a quick finish.
Even though Rory MacDonald is slated to fight Saffiedine at the UFC Fight Night in Halifax Oct. 4, an impressive finish for either of these fighters, especially Kim, could propel them to next in line for the winner of Hendricks-Lawler II. Should Kim get the next shot with an impressive victory, he would be the first UFC title challenger of Asian decent since Yushin Okami fought for the middleweight title against Anderson Silva at UFC 134.
