Road Fighting Championship

Road Fighting Championship

Type	Private
Industry	Mixed martial arts event
Founded	October 2010
Founder	Mun-Hong Jung
Headquarters	Wonju, South Korea
Key people	Mun-Hong Jung, CEO Sang-Min Park
Website	http://www.roadfc.com/

Road Fighting Championship (Road FC) (Hangul: 로드FC) is a South Korea based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which was officially launched in 2010.^[1] To December 2016, Road FC held 38 events in three countries - South Korea, Japan, and China - with a total of 456 professional MMA matches.^[2]

About

Road FC was established in 2010 to promote the sport of MMA which embodies the Asian spirit of martial arts. Over 300 athletes from South Korea, Brazil, North America, Europe, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East have signed agreements with Road FC. Events are being broadcast in more than 50 countries around the world, on dozens of television stations and internet platforms.

Road FC initiated its global strategy in 2015. the held Road FC 024 in Tokyo, Japan, and the held Road FC 027 in Shanghai, China are significant achievements in South Korean sports history.

Road FC recognizes Asia as the global center of martial arts. In Asia, many combat sports have been born and become world-famous, such as Korea's Olympic sport Taekwondo and China's mamoth national Sanda competition. In the past, Asia was also the global center of MMA, where notable promotions such as Pride and K-1 once drew Asian crowds of 50 to 90 thousand spectators live, and broadcast live around the world. As these organizations subsided, Road FC was launched to take up the mantle in Korea.

History

Road FC was founded in 2010 by former national kickboxing champion, Mun-Hong Jung.^[3] It is the largest MMA organization in South Korea following the closure of Spirit MC in 2009,^[4] and with expansion into Japan and China, one of the largest in Asia.^[5]

The first event, Road FC 001: The Resurrection of Champions, was held on October 23, 2010 in Seoul, South Korea.^[6]

In 2012 Road FC organized an amateur MMA competition system to encourage growth, experience, and support for the sport of MMA in Korea.^[7] The amateur and semi-pro Central and Into Leagues provide a structured, safe, and competitive atmosphere for beginning fighters. They gain experience before transitioning into professional competition. The Young Guns undercard series features amateurs transitioning into professionals, foreign fighters new to Road FC, and fighters who are trying to make a comeback.

In 2015, Road FC expanded into the Japan market with Road FC 24 in Japan on July 25 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Also in 2015, it held its first event in China with Road FC 27 in China in Shanghai on December 26,^[8] starting a 3-year broadcast deal with China's state broadcaster CCTV.^[9] The event was the first live MMA event to be aired on CCTV5 and garnered a viewership of 35 million.^[10]

In 2017, the first event Road FC 037 XX of a female MMA league Road FC XX was held at the Convention Centre, Grand Hilton Seoul in Seoul, South Korea. 

Broadcasts

In South Korea, events are broadcast live and on delay and replay on MBC Sports+, the South Korean non-'free-to-air' television network, which is well known for its sports broadcasting,^[11] online on afreecaTV, and online on Daum. In China, events are broadcast live and on delay and replay on CCTV-5,^[12] the predominant state television broadcaster in the People's Republic of China, online on Yy.com.^[13] In Japan, events have been broadcast live and on delay and replay on Niconico, Tokyo MX, and Abema. In SouthEast Asia, events are broadcast on Kix. Internationally, events are streamed pay per view through Epicentre.tv.^[14]

Events

Scheduled events

Past events

Current Champions

Men

Division	Weight Limit	Champion	Since	Defenses	Next Challenger/Title Fight
Openweight	no weight limit	Mighty Mo	September 24, 2016	2
Light Heavyweight	-93 kg (205.0 lb)	vacant
Middleweight	-84 kg (185.2 lb)	Jung Hwan Cha	January 31, 2016	1	vs. Young Choi (date TBA)
Welterweight	-77 kg (169.8 lb)	vacant
Lightweight	-70 kg (154.3 lb)	A Sol Kwon	August 17, 2014	2
Featherweight	-65.5 kg (144.4 lb)	Mu Gyeom Choi	February 9, 2014	3
Bantamweight	-61.5 kg (135.6 lb)	Soo Chul Kim	April 15, 2017	0
Flyweight	-57 kg (125.7 lb)	Min Jong Song	October 9, 2015	0	vs. Taiyo Nakahara (date TBA)

Women: Road FC XX

Division	Weight Limit	Champion	Since	Defenses	Next Challenger/Title Fight
Openweight	no weight limit	vacant
Strawweight	-52 kg (114.6 lb)	vacant
Atomweight	-48 kg (105.8 lb)	Seo Hee Ham	June 10, 2017 @Road FC 039	0

Men's Championship History

Openweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Mighty Mo def. Hong Man Choi	Road FC 033 Seoul, South Korea	September 24, 2016	334 days (incumbent)	1. def. Carlos Toyota at Road FC 035 on December 10, 2016 2. def. Dong Kook Kang at Road FC 040 on July 15, 2017

Middleweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Shungo Oyama def. Hye Suk Son	Road FC 006 Seoul, South Korea	February 5, 2012	294 days
2	Eun Soo Lee	Road FC 010 Busan, South Korea	November 24, 2012	585 days
Lee vacated the title in July 2014 for droping down to welterweight. [15]
3	Riki Fukuda def. Uh Jin Jeon	Road FC 024 Tokyo, Japan	July 25, 2015	190 days
4	Jung Hwan Cha	Road FC 028 Seoul, South Korea	January 31, 2016	571 days (incumbent)	1. def. Young Choi at Road FC 035 on December 10, 2016

Lightweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Yui Chul Nam def. Takasuke Kume	Road FC 011 Seoul, South Korea	April 13, 2013	295 days	1. def. Takasuke Kume at Road FC 013 on October 12, 2013
Nam vacated the title in February 2014 after signing a contract with Las Vegas based Zuffa's Ultimate Fighting Championship. [16]
2	A Sol Kwon def. Takasuke Kume	Road FC 017 Seoul, South Korea	August 17, 2014	1,103 days (incumbent)	1. def. Kwang Hee Lee at Road FC 022 on March 21, 2015 2. def. Shinji Sasaki at Road FC 035 on December 10, 2016

Featherweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Mu Gyeom Choi def. Bae Yong Kwon	Road FC 014 Seoul, South Korea	February 9, 2014	1,292 days (incumbent)	1. def. Doo Won Seo at Road FC 021 on February 1, 2015 2. def. Marlon Sandro at Road FC 029 on March 12, 2016 3. def. Murat Kazgan at Road FC 034 on November 19, 2016

Bantamweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Kyung Ho Kang def. Andrew Leone	Road FC 008 Wonju, South Korea	June 16, 2012	16 days
Kang vacated the title in July 2012 after signing with Ultimate Fighting Championship. [17]
2	Kil Woo Lee def. Min Jong Song	Road FC 012 Wonju, South Korea	June 22, 2013	540 days
3	Yoon Jun Lee	Road FC 020 Seoul, South Korea	December 14, 2014	593 days	1. def. Je Hoon Moon at Road FC 023 on May 2, 2015
Lee vacated the title in July 2016 suffering cerebral infarction. [18]
4	Soo Chul Kim def. Min Woo Kim	Road FC 038 Seoul, South Korea	April 15, 2017	131 days (incumbent)

Flyweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Nam Jin Jo def. Min Jong Song	Road FC 016 Gumi, South Korea	July 27, 2014	439 days
-	Min Jong Song def. Takeshi Kasugai for interim title	Road FC 021 Seoul, South Korea	February 1, 2015	250 days
2	Min Jong Song	Road FC 026 Seoul, South Korea	October 9, 2015	685 days (incumbent)

Women's  Championship History

Women's Openweight Championship

Women's Strawweight Championship

Women's Atomwweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (Total)	Defenses
1	Seo Hee Ham def. Mina Kurobe	Road FC 39 Seoul, South Korea	June 10, 2017	75 days (incumbent)

Tournaments

Road FC held its first tournament in the middleweight division in 2012. Since then, it has held tournaments in the bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and openweight divisions, which have all led to a championship.

Year	weight division	Champion	Runner up	Event	Notes
2015-2016	Openweight	Mighty Mo	Hong Man Choi	Road FC 033	for the inaugural Road FC Openweight Championship
2013-2014	Featherweight	Mu Gyeom Choi	Bae Yong Kwon	Road FC 014	for the inaugural Road FC Featherweight Championship
2013	Bantamweight	Kil Woo Lee	Min Jong Song	Road FC 012	for the vacant Road FC Bantamweight Championship
2012-2013	Lightweight	Yui Chul Nam	Takasuke Kume	Road FC 011	for the inaugural Road FC Lightweight Championship
2012	Bantamweight	Kyung Ho Kang	Andrew Leone	Road FC 008: Final 4 Bitter Rivals	for the inaugural Road FC Bantamweight Championship
2011-2012	Middleweight	Shungo Oyama	Hye Suk Son	Road FC 006: Final 4	for the inaugural Road FC Middleweight Championship

$1 Million Tournament

Road FC Championship $1 Million tournament is a tournament for a grand prize of one million US dollars.^[19]

Year	Weight Division	Tournaments Winner vs. Current Champion	Event	Notes
2017-2018	Lightweight	TBD vs. A Sol Kwon (c)	Road FC TBD	for the Road FC Lightweight Championship & $1 Million

Notable fighters

Road FC has many Korean fighters of note, and an international roster of fighters from Japan, Brazil, China, USA and more. In 2015, it signed former UFC fighter and TUF China veteran Lipeng Zhang to a multi-fight contract.^[20]

References

External links

• Road FC Official Homepage
• List of Events on Sherdog
• List of Events on Tapology