Denis Kang Signs With The UFC
by Robert Sargent
Literally years in the making, the UFC has finally announced the signing of former top-five middleweight in the world, Denis "Super Korean" Kang, who is expected to debut in the promotion early in 2009 and will look to make an immediate impact.
The signing comes years after plans to feature Kang on Season Two of The Ultimate Fighter, but the PRIDE and Spirit MC veteran remains as one of the sport's top-ranked middleweights.
Kang (31-10-1, 2 NC), second only to Georges "Rush" St. Pierre as the top Canadian mixed martial artist today, made his name in Pride Fighting Championships in Japan and Spirit MC in Korea, and has scored notable wins over the likes of Andrei Semenov, Mark "The Wizard" Weir, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Amar Suloev, "The Japanese Sensation" Akihiro Gono and Marvin "The Beastman" Eastman during his career, in addition to a trio of stoppage wins over Jae Young Kim in Spirit MC.
As the reigning Spirit MC Heavyweight Champion, Kang may be faced with a tough decision, as the UFC generally does not permit its fighters to compete outside of the promotion while under contract. Kang has a huge following in Korea, due to his Korean heritage, and is one of the top stars in Spirit MC. He may be forced to give up his Spirit MC Heavyweight Championship, but Kang will look to add one of the sport's most coveted titles, the UFC Middleweight Championship, to his mantle.
Beginning his career as a journeyman in North America, Kang's path to stardom seemed to be a distant dream, but a string of 23 fights without a single defeat opened many eyes to the true talents of the native of British Columbia. That streak came to an end with a controversial Split Decision loss to Kazuo "Grabaka Hitman" Misaki in the finals of the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix. Kang had entered the bout badly injured and following the devastating loss of his girlfriend, yet put on a performance that had many seeing him as the fight's true victor.
Not one to complain, Kang returned to Spirit MC in March of 2007, as PRIDE's ten-year tenure came to a close, and he scored a hard-fought decision victory. However, Kang's next fight, against controversial but highly-skilled judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama, ended with a one-two from Akiyama that knocked Kang out and sent him spiralling down the ultra-competitive middleweight rankings. A subsequent submission loss to Gegard Mousasi in the opening round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix left Kang's future in limbo.
However, as he has done countless times before, Kang rebounded in a big way. After scoring his third victory over Jae Young Kim, Kang returned to Calgary, Alberta, Canada and quickly dispatched of former UFC and King of the Cage standout Marvin "The Beastman" Eastman in just 48 seconds at RAW Combat: "Redemption."
The signing to the UFC finally provides Kang with the long-awaited chance to compete in front of a large North American audience. Hoping to debut on the UFC's annual Super Bowl weekend show, at UFC 94 on January 31st, Kang will be training extensively with Georges "Rush" St. Pierre in Montreal until then.
Once heralded as the man to dethrone UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva, Kang may now get his chance, and he relishes the opportunity to face Silva before the Brazilian retires in 2009.
This is undoubtedly one of the biggest signings in recent memory for the UFC, and immediately adds a top contender to the middleweight division.
