Hong Man Choi's career

Choi (born on October 30, 1980) is a Korean kickboxer and former ssirum wrestler. In Asia they call him "Che Man". He currently competes in K-1. Choi suffers from a rare growing disease, due to this disease he keeps on growing.

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 Hong Man's losses came via judges' decision against Remy Bonjasky and Jerome Le Banner, and knockout by Mighty Mo.

He got his nickname "Techno Goliath" when he was a ssirum wrestler in South Korea, as after a victory he would dance to techno music.

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 Jerome 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!"

On December 31, Choi easily won his first Mixed martial arts fight on K-1 Dynamite in Osaka. He decisively beat star Bobby Ologun in just 16 seconds in what was considered a huge mismatch.

On March 4, 2007, he was knocked out for the first 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 (364 lb), was very slow in what many say was his worst performance.

Choi Hong-man 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. However, reportedly due to a benign tumor on his pituitary gland, Choi was denied his California fighter's license on May 23, 2007. The California State Athletic Commission has never officially confirmed Choi's status.

On August 5. at the Asia World Grand Prix in Hongkong, he beat Gary Goodridge by KO at 1:34 in the first round. He weighed 163.5 kg (360 lb), the same when he fought Schilt in June 2006. Notable on this fight was his stance. Since his K-1 debut in 2005, he fought using an orthodox stance. But in this fight, he fought for the first time in the 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 unintentionally delivered to Mighty Mo's groin in the second round. 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."

In the World Grand Prix Final tournament on December 8, he will face Jerome Le Banner again.

His K-1/MMA record goes as follows:

09-29-2007 Mighty Mo W Decision
08-05-2007 Gary Goodridge W KO 1R 1:34
04-28-2007 Mike Malone W KO 2R 2:02
03-04-2007 Mighty Mo L KO 2R :50
12-31-2006 (MMA) Bobby Ologun W TKO 1R :16
09-30-2006 Jerome Le Banner L UD in Extra Rd.
07-30-2006 Akebono W KO 2R 0:57
06-03-2006 Semmy Schilt W Split Decision 2-1
04-29-2006 Sylvester Terkay W UD 3-0
11-19-2005 Remy Bonjasky L UD 0-3
09-23-2005 Bob Sapp W MD 2-0
07-29-2005 Akebono W TKO 1R 2:52
06-14-2005 Tom Howard W KO 1R 2:11
03-19-2005 Kaoklai Kaennorsing W UD in Extra rd.
03-19-2005 Akebono W KO 1R :24
03-19-2005 Wakashoyo W KO 1R 1:40

source: wikipedia.org