Ham Seo-Hee last night cemented her position at the top of ROAD FC women’s atomweight division, with a unanimous decision win over Park Jeong-Eun.
The atomweight champion went into her third title defense a clear favourite, but got more than she bargained for in Park. Over three rounds Park was able to frustrate Ham, landing good shots, while keeping a safe distance.
As the fight settled in, Ham showed why she was the champ, landing good takedowns, smart counters and some ground and pound. In the third and final round, Park again showed moments of brilliance, but Ham was able to capitalise on her takedown attempts, land on top and throw down punches to retain her title.
“I wanted a knockout or a submission, but I didn’t get it,” Ham said. I should have done better.”
Lee Su-Yeon (right) impressed in her debut against youngster Lee Ye-Ji.
The atomweight title headlined ROAD FC 51 XX in Seoul, the final card of the year for the Korean promotion.
Lee Ye-Ji and Lee Su-Yeon swung for the fences, with Su-Yeon scoring a knockdown and Ye-Ji coming back with multiple takedowns. Ye-Ji worked submission attempts from the back and pounding from the mount. The second round was a thriller with knockdowns from both women, and Su-Yeon getting a huge upset by gaining mount and pounding, earning the split decision.
Shi Ming kicked off the action with a flurry of punches to Shim Yu-Ri, then the two jockeyed for control along the cage. Shim’s knees in the clinch did a lot of damage and on the ground she had a guillotine from the bottom. In the second round, they traded punches then grappling. Shim’s knees came out in full force and she got the TKO.
Kim Young-Ji threw hard punches at Rowan Pilger so she quickly went to her wrestling, but ended up on the bottom of a takedown. At the end of the round, Pilger was able to make her grappling work with a back take. The second round both repeated their game, then Hong got a yellow card for an illegal knee. Hong landed a takedown, but Pilger worked for submissions constantly and it won her the decision.
To open up the main card, Baek Hyeon-Ju threw some nice punches, but Hong Yun-Ha went for the takedown and took control. From the back, Kim rained down the punches then sunk in a rear naked choke to make Baek tap fast.
ROAD FC 51 Prelims
In the main event of the preliminary card, Michel Pereira got backed up by Choi Won-Jun’s big punches, but once he came off the cage, the Brazilian “Showman” found his range fast for an solid KO in 41 seconds.
Shin Seung-Min blitzed with a sweep and a knee, but Park Hyung-Geun came right back with a big lift and throw. Park kept up the momentum with a knockdown, wrestling and multiple takedowns throughout the first round. Shin blitzed the opening of round two as well, so Park went right back to his wrestling. Shin was able to land big punches that had Park wobbled at the end of the match, but Park earned the victory by Decision.
Yeo Je-Woo came at Nandin-Erdene with a very surprising decision to strike, and he paid for it. Nandin-Erdene bided his time and then landed punches all over Yeo for the first round TKO, a terrific return to the win column for the Mongolian boxing champion.
ROAD FC 51 Results
ROAD FC Atomweight Championship
Ham Seo-Hee def Park Jeong-Eun
Unanimous Decision
Atomweight Match
Lee Su-Yeon def Lee Ye-Ji
Split Decision, 2:1
Atomweight Match
Shim Yu-Ri def Shi Ming
TKO, R2 4:08
60kg Catchweight Match
Rowan Pilger def Kim Young-Ji
Unanimous Decision
Atomweight Match
Hong Yun-Ha def Baek Hyeon-Ju
Submission (rear naked choke) R1 1:44
Prelims
-86kg Catchweight Match
Michel Pereira def Choi Won-Jun
KO, R1 0:41
Featherweight Match
Park Hyung-Geun def Shin Seung-Min
Unanimous Decision
-72kg Catchweight Match
Nandin-Erdene def Yeo Je-Woo
KO, R1 2:42
Lightweight Match
Jang Jung-Hyuk vs Max Handanagic
Draw, 1:1:D
Light Heavyweight Match
Kim Tae-In def Kim Ji-Hoon
TKO, R2 0:50