Sato Shoko (35, Japan) has emerged as a new ‘Korean enemy’ on the mixed martial arts stage of Asia’s largest organization ‘ONE Championship’.
On the 14th, ‘ONE Fight Night 6’ was held at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand (capacity: 11,440). Sato won a unanimous decision victory over Kim Jae-woong (29) in the first match of the main card.
The main card of this competition was held according to the schedule so that it could be watched live on the global OTT service ‘Amazon Prime Video’ from 8:00 pm on the 13th in New York, USA. Before the One Championship, Kim Jae-woong, the official featherweight ranking No. 1, was blocked by Sato and lost his face.
Jaewoong Kim and Sato progressed to the middle weight between bantamweight and featherweight. Sato was the 2017-2018 Japanese ‘Shuto’ bantamweight champion, and Kim Jae-woong was the 2017 Korean TFC featherweight champion.
Sato, who advanced to the One Championship in October 2019, won Kwon Won-il (27) in January 2020 with a strangling technique called ‘Rear Naked Choke’ in 4 minutes and 5 seconds from the start of the game.
Kwon Won-il later rises to 2nd place in the official ranking of One Championship Bantamweight. Sato even caught Kim Jae-woong and defeated Korean lightweight powerhouses one after another in two years.
Tang Kai (27, China) is a representative of the One Championship mixed martial arts ‘Korean natural enemy’. In the process of winning the featherweight championship with 7 consecutive victories in his debut, ▲ Seongjong Lee (Kick KO) in 2019 ▲ Chang-Min Yoon (Punch KO) in 2021 ▲ Jae-Woong Kim (Punch KO) in 2022 were all defeated before the first round was over.
If Tangkai defeated Korean fighters, Sato, who has experienced 52 professional mixed martial arts matches (34 wins, 2 draws, 15 losses, 1 null), stands out for his skill. As his 58.9% KO win rate suggests, his destructive power is also above average. 카지노사이트
The only players who have beaten Sato at the One Championship are Fabricio Andrade (25, Brazil), who currently ranks first in the official bantamweight rankings, and Stephen Roman (31, the Philippines), who is fourth.
ONE Championship evaluates 5 people who are likely to aim for the champion in the official ranking. As Kim Jae-woong faltered, the Korean ranker in the mixed martial arts bantamweight and featherweight divisions is now only Kwon Won, who ranks 5th in the bantamweight division.
Tang Kai was like a wall for Korean fighters who were developing ambitions in the featherweight division of the One Championship, including defeating Kim Jae-woong in a challenger match in March 2022.
Now, in the One Championship bantamweight division, it is an atmosphere in which he must beat Sato to be recognized for a higher status than fourth place. If the confrontation between Sato and a Korean fighter takes place again, the uniqueness of the Korea-Japan match will be added to attract more attention.