Choi Hong-man

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This is a Korean name; the family name is Choi.

Choi Hong-man

Nationality	Republic of Korea
Height	2.18 m (7 ft 2 in)
Style	Ssireum
Kickboxing record
Total	16
Wins	12
By knockout	7
Losses	4
By knockout	1
MMA record
Total	2
Wins	1
Losses	1
By submission	1
Other information

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 they call him "Che Man". He currently competes in K-1.Standing at 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) and weighing between 160 kg (350 lb/25 st) and 166.6 kg (367 lb/26.24 st), he is the largest professional combative sport competitor in the world, even bigger and heavier than the former WBA Heavyweight Champion Nicolay Valuev.

1 Career
2 Military Service
3 Kickboxing Record
4 Mixed Martial Arts Record
5 Titles and Accomplishments
6 References
7 External links

[edit] 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 Jérome Le Banner, and knockout by Mighty Mo.

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).^[1]

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!" ^[2]

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.^[3]

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. ^[4]

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. ^[5] However, reportedly due to a benign tumor on his pituitary gland, ^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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."^[9]

In the World Grand Prix Final 2007 tournament on December 8, he again lost by decision to Jérôme Le Banner. ^[10] Choi was announced by Jimmy Lennon Jr. as weighing in at 166.6 kg (367 lb/26.24 st)^[11], to date his heavist 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^[12]. 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^[13].

He released a rap single featuring vocals by model Kang So Hee.^[14]

He recently began a singing career with supermodel Kang Soo Hee in Korea under the name of Beauty & The Beast. ^[15]^[16]

[edit] Military Service

In April 2008, Choi joined the Korean army for his 26 months military service. According to the FEG, his contract with K-1 and MMA will still exist, but he will be out of his sport career until 2010. [1]

[edit] Kickboxing Record

12 wins
4 losses

Date D-M-Y	Opponent	Result	Detail	Tournament
08-12-2007	Jerome Le Banner	L	Decision	K-1 World GP Final 2007
29-09-2007	Mighty Mo	W	Decision	K-1 Seoul GP 2007
05-08-2007	Gary Goodridge	W	KO 1R 1:34	K-1 Hong Kong GP 2007
28-04-2007	Mike Malone	W	KO 2R 2:02	K-1 Hawaii GP 2007
04-03-2007	Mighty Mo	L	KO 2R :50	K-1 Yokohama GP 2007
30-09-2006	Jerome Le Banner	L	UD in Extra Rd.	K-1 Osaka GP 2006
30-07-2006	Akebono	W	KO 2R 0:57	K-1 Sapporo GP 2006
03-06-2006	Semmy Schilt	W	Split Decision 2-1	K-1 Seoul GP 2006
29-04-2006	Sylvester "The Predator" Terkay	W	UD 3-0	K-1 Las Vegas GP 2006
19-11-2005	Remy Bonjasky	L	UD 0-3	K-1 World GP Final 2005
23-09-2005	Bob Sapp	W	MD 2-0	K-1 Osaka GP 2005
29-07-2005	Akebono	W	TKO 1R 2:52	K-1 Hawaii GP 2005
14-06-2005	Tom Howard	W	KO 1R 2:11	K-1 Hiroshima GP 2005
19-03-2005	Kaoklai Kaennorsing	W	UD in Extra rd.	K-1 Seoul GP 2005
19-03-2005	Akebono	W	KO 1R :24	K-1 Seoul GP 2005
19-03-2005	Wakashoyo	W	KO 1R 1:40	K-1 Seoul GP 2005