'Stun gun' hoists Asia high in UFC

Kim Dong-hyun celebrates after defeating Belgium’s Tarec Saffiedine in a welterweight mixed martial art fight at UFC 207, Dec. 30, in Las Vegas. He won by a split decision. / AP-Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea’s Kim Dong-hyun clinched a tough victory on New Year’s Eve to become the Asian with the most wins in the UFC welterweight class.

The honor came from

his 13th UFC win, against Belgium’s Tarec Saffiedine

, 30, a former Strikeforce champion, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 30.

Kim, 34, the “stun gun” No.8 in USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie welterweight rankings, scored a split decision points victory over unranked Saffiedine in a UFC main event.

Two of the three judges had Kim ahead, a decision that shocked Saffiedine.

Kim is now behind Canada’s Georges St-Pierre with 19 wins, Matt Hughes (U.S.) with 16 and Josh Koscheck (U.S.) with 14.

“I watched the previous fights and I thought that I could win ‘Fight of the Night,’” Kim said, according to MMA Junkie.

“But Saffiedine has a great clinch game, so it was hard to make it an exciting fight.”

Kim said he next wanted to fight Brazil’s Demian Maia, who is ranked No.3 in the welterweight class.

Saffiedine, proven as a striker in past bouts, could not attack Kim as frequently as he wanted.

The Korean grappler pressed him against the fence for most of the match, giving him little room to attack with fists or kicks.

The third round started with a brief brawl, bringing the first sounds of excitement from the crowd.

While Kim landed a clear uppercut, the Belgian struggled with his shots, not strong enough to bring down his opponent.

Near the end of the round, Saffiedine tried a last-minute takedown, which failed.

Beginning judo while at middle school, Kim trained as a professional judoka at Yongin University.

After serving in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps in 2001 for his mandatory military service, Kim fought in the Korean mixed martial arts Spirit Martial Challenge and clinched two victories.

But he retired in 2004 for economic reasons.

Kim came to major attention as a fighter after debuting with Japan’s DEEP organization in 2006.

After seven wins and one loss, he signed a contract with UFC, scoring a TKO win over England’s Jason Tan in 2008.

After he scored a unanimous points victory over American Nate Diaz in 2011, the UFC extended Kim’s initial four-month contract to another four.

In 2013, UFC named his match-ending punch to Brazilian Eric Silva’s face “Knockout of the Night.”

He was then honored with “Performance of the Night” a year later when he defeated England’s John Hathaway with a back elbow to the face.

Kim had once feared that his style would soon make him unpopular among fans and that the UFC would no longer want him.

The realization came after Japan’s Yushin Okami, another grappler with whom Kim used to train before debuting with DEEP, was released by UFC in 2013 despite a winning streak.

UFC president Dana White had said he let Okami go because the Japanese was “almost like a gatekeeper” and “never able to get over the hump and win one of those significant fights.”

White added Okami had to go because the UFC had a packed roster.

“I am really shaken up right now,” Kim said right after UFC’s decision on Okami, according to M Fight.

“It’s like seeing my colleague being sacked. I see less and less spots for grapplers inside cages.

“When I first entered the octagon, I fought every three to four months. Now, the chance comes almost every six months.

“It’s because new fighters are pouring in. To give them opportunities to fight, some must leave.

Kim spoke of the fighting games’ “sad” reality ― that the UFC was conscious of fans wanting to see exciting bouts that would raise TV ratings and attract a bigger pay-per-view audience.

“It hurts to see my fighting style being rated according to popularity, not by how hard I trained,”Kim said.