Iron Turtle” Park Joon-yong (32) achieved three consecutive UFC finishes and four consecutive wins with a rear-naked choke submission. If Park Joon-yong wins again in the future, it will be a new history, tied with Korea’s best record held by “Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-sung (36), Choi Doo-ho (32), and “Stern Gun” Kim Dong-hyun (41), respectively.
In the middleweight (83.9kg) match of “UFC Fight Night: Home vs. Bueno Silva” at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the 16th (Korea Standard Time), Park Joon-yong won a submission to Albert Duraev (34, Russia) at 4:45 of the second round.
The winning formula of submission victory due to hitting pressure was matched again. At the beginning of the first round, Park Jun-yong struggled with Duraev’s powerful left-handed hook and leg kick, but gradually began to increase the pressure. Before the end of the round, he went as far as getting the tap with a powerful guillotine choke.
Entering the second round, Duraev was visibly exhausted. Duraev, who was under pressure, tried wrestling, but Park Joon-yong woke up quickly. Park Joon-yong continued to jab and pushed Duraev to the cage and poured out consecutive hits. In the end, Duraev collapsed on the left hook following the body shot and elbow.
Park Joon-yong immediately followed the ground, dominated the back position, and walked a rear-naked choke. At first, Duraev calmly defended, but he eventually tapped and gave up the game due to continuous attempts. Park Joon-yong celebrated his victory with his hip-shaking dance.
Expectations for entering the middleweight ranking have increased. Since Park Joon-yong recorded his seventh UFC win (two losses) with four consecutive wins and three consecutive finishes, the next game is likely to be a middleweight top 15 ranking match. South Korean fans have high expectations for Park Joon-yong as no new Korean rankers have emerged since Jung Chan-sung, who completed his military service, returned to the UFC rankings in February 2017.
Park Joon-yong said at a press conference after the match, “It came out as it was trained at the gym. “My sparring routine is to pressure the opponent with a blow to drain his physical strength and then finish with a submission when the opponent comes to the ground,” he explained about the game strategy.
Regarding the dance ceremony, he said, “I usually like to drink, but it’s a dance that I sometimes dance when I drink.” “I’ll dance again if I have beer,” he said, drawing laughter.
Park Jun-yong is famous as a heavy eater as well as a heavy drinker. He said, “I want to drink something red in sundae soup. However, soju is expensive in Las Vegas, so I will drink it in Korea,” he said with a smile.
