Denis Kang
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| Denis Kang | |
|---|---|
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| Statistics | |
| Nickname | Super Korean |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 183 lb (83 kg) |
| Born | September 17, 1977 |
| Town of birth | Saint-Pierre and Miquelon |
| Team/Association | American Top Team |
| Fighting style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 27 |
| By knockout | 8 |
| By submission | 15 |
| Losses | 9 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Denis Kang | ||||||||
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Denis Kang (September 17, 1977) is a Canadian mixed martial artist and PRIDE FC welterweight grand prix finalist. He currently competes for DREAM. Kang is a Jiu-Jitsu black belt, originally trained by Marcus Soares. He is best known for his explosiveness and well-rounded style of fighting, utilizing both submissions and striking equally.
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[edit] Biography
Denis Kang was born on the French island of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon to a Korean father and French mother.[1] He and his family relocated to the Canary Islands and finally North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1988.
[edit] MMA career
Denis Kang's MMA career began in 1998 at the Ultimate Warrior Challenge in Vancouver, Canada. Kang was successful in his debut fight, winning by submission (rear naked choke) over Eric Harcrow. Kang would go on to win his next 2 fights before going 2 - 5 over his next 8 with one no contest against Dennis Hallman. He would go 7-7 with one no contest in his first 15 fights, with a few convincing defeats. It was at this time that Kang completely dedicated himself to mixed martial arts and began progressing into a complete fighter[citation needed].
After winning 5 of his next 6 fights, Kang signed a contract with Spirit MC, an MMA organization in South Korea. Denis saw this not only as a financial opportunity, but also as a chance to see his father again[citation needed]. Denis went 5-0 while fighting in Korea and was crowned the Spirit MC heavyweight champion. Following this, Denis relocated to Florida and joined American Top Team.
It was at this time that Kang caught the attention of the PRIDE Fighting Championships. Kang signed a contract with PRIDE and made his debut at Bushido 6, where he defeated Japanese opponent Takahiro Oba via armbar at 4:24 of round one. Under the Korean banner, Denis went on to win his next two fights in PRIDE, with a victory coming over Englishman Mark Weir at Bushido 10. In between fights for Pride, Denis fought American Albert Basconcelles and knocked him out within 12 seconds of the opening bell. At Bushido 11, Denis Kang continued his winning streak by knocking out Chute Boxe member Murilo "Ninja" Rua in 15 seconds in the first round of the PRIDE Bushido Welterweight (183 lb) Grand Prix. At Bushido 12, Denis submitted Armenian Amar Suloev via rear naked choke to advance to the semi-final round of the Welterweight Grand Prix. With this win, Kang was then 18-0-1 in his last 19 contests. However, after advancing through the semi-final round of the Bushido tournament and beating Akihiro Gono on November 5, 2006 he was defeated by Kazuo Misaki in the final at Bushido 13. It should be noted that Kang tore his right biceps muscle earlier that night in his win over Gono, before his loss in the final match.[2] It is also worth noting that Kang's longtime girlfriend and stable-mate Shelby Walker had killed herself shortly before Bushido 13, both of these factors likely impacted his performance[citation needed].
Kang had only one match in 2007, after breaking his hand in a match against Jungkyu Choi for the Spirit MC heavyweight championship on March 11. Kang won via unanimous decision but was unable to compete for several months[citation needed].
After the contract termination of PRIDE, Kang moved to K-1 Hero's maintaining the championship of Spirit MC. Kang made his K-1 Hero's debut on October 28, 2007 in 'K-1 Hero's in Seoul'. His opponent was Yoshihiro Akiyama who was returning to MMA after a 10 month suspension. Kang lost via TKO.
Kang's most recent fight was on April 29, 2008 in the opening round of the DREAM Middleweight Granx Prix, losing to Gegard Mousasi via triangle choke.
After the defeat Kang stated that he would like to fight as soon as possible, signaling that he would return in dream's June event.
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 41 matches | 29 wins | 9 losses |
| By knockout | 10 | 2 |
| By submission | 15 | 5 |
| By decision | 4 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| No contests | 2 | |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Gegard Mousasi | Submission (Triangle Choke) | DREAM.2 Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 1st Round | 04/29/2008 | 1 | 3:10 |
| Loss | Yoshihiro Akiyama | KO (Punch) | K-1 - OLYMPIA HERO'S 2007 in KOREA | 10/27/2007 | 1 | 4:45 |
| Win | Jung Gyu Choi | Decision (Majority) | Spirit MC - Interleague 5 | 03/11/2007 | 3 | 5:00 |
| Loss | Kazuo Misaki | Decision (Split) | PRIDE Bushido 13 | 11/05/2006 | 3 | 5:00 |
| Win | Akihiro Gono | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE Bushido 13 | 11/05/2006 | 2 | 5:00 |
| Win | Amar Suloev | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | PRIDE Bushido 12 | 08/26/2006 | 2 | 4:10 |
| Win | Murilo Rua | KO (Punches) | PRIDE Bushido 11 | 06/04/2006 | 1 | 0:15 |
| Win | Albert Basconcelles | KO | Spirit MC 8 - Only One | 04/22/2006 | 1 | 0:12 |
| Win | Mark Weir | Submission | PRIDE Bushido 10 | 04/02/2006 | 1 | 4:55 |
| Win | Ron Fields | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | AFC 14 - Absolute Fighting Championships 14 | 12/10/2005 | 1 | 2:46 |
| No Contest | Robert Villegas | No Contest | Spirit MC 7 - Middleweight GP Final | 10/29/2005 | 1 | 0:00 |
| Win | Andrei Semenov | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE Bushido 8 | 7/17/2005 | 2 | 5:00 |
| Win | Takahiro Oba | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE Bushido 6 | 04/03/2005 | 1 | 4:24 |
| Win | Alexei Vezelozorov | Submission (Choke) | M-1 MFC - Heavyweight GP | 12/4/2004 | 1 | 1:17 |
| Win | Kazuyuki Miyata | Submission (Triangle Choke) | ROTR 6 - Rumble on the Rock 6 | 11/20/2004 | 2 | 2:46 |
| Win | Jin Ho Yang | TKO | Spirit MC 5 - 2004 GP Unlimited | 09/11/2004 | N/A | N/A |
| Win | Jae Young Kim | Submission (Choke) | Spirit MC 5 - 2004 GP Unlimited | 09/11/2004 | N/A | N/A |
| Win | Jyunpei Hamada | Submission (Armbar) | Spirit MC 5 - 2004 GP Unlimited | 09/11/2004 | N/A | N/A |
| Win | Kobus Huisamen | TKO | Spirit MC 4 - Revolution | 06/12/2004 | 1 | N/A |
| Win | Hyun Chul Cho | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | Spirit MC 3 - I Will Be Back!!! | 04/10/2004 | 1 | 2:06 |
| Win | Hyung Jun Kim | TKO (Punches) | Spirit MC - Interleague 1 | 02/7/2004 | 1 | 1:13 |
| Win | Jae Young Kim | TKO (Punches) | Spirit MC - Interleague 1 | 02/7/2004 | 1 | 0:38 |
| Draw | Andrei Semenov | Draw | M-1 MFC - Russia vs the World 7 | 12/5/2003 | 1 | 10:00 |
| Win | Stephan Potvin | TKO | TKO 13 - Ultimate Rush | 09/06/2003 | 3 | N/A |
| Win | Kaipo Kalama | Decision (Majority) | SB 30 - Collision Course | 06/13/2003 | 3 | 3:00 |
| Win | Brendan Seguin | Submission (Armbar) | SB 30 - Collision Course | 06/13/2003 | 1 | 2:24 |
| Win | Keith Rockel | KO | USMMA 3 - Ring of Fury | 05/03/2003 | 2 | 2:59 |
| Win | Chris Peak | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | WFF 4 - Civil War | 04/04/2003 | 1 | 0:57 |
| Loss | Jason Miller | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | EC 50 - Extreme Challenge 50 | 02/23/2003 | 2 | 1:41 |
| Loss | Joe Doerksen | Submission (Triangle Choke) | UCC 11 - The Next Level | 10/11/2002 | 1 | 4:49 |
| Win | Pat Healy | Submission (Guillotine) | RITR 7 - Rumble in the Ring 7 | 7/20/2002 | 1 | N/A |
| Win | Shane Biever | Submission (Armlock) | WFF 2 - World Freestyle Fighting 2 | 7/20/2002 | 1 | N/A |
| No Contest | Dennis Hallman | No Contest | WFF 1 - World Freestyle Fighting 1 | 04/13/2002 | 2 | N/A |
| Loss | Marty Armendarez | TKO (Punches) | Pancrase - Proof 3 | 5/13/2001 | 3 | 3:45 |
| Loss | Osami Shibuya | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | IFC WC 15 - Warriors Challenge 15 | 08/31/2001 | 1 | 3:52 |
| Loss | Keiichiro Yamamiya | Decision (Majority) | Pancrase - Trans 7 | 12/04/2000 | 2 | 3:00 |
| Win | Minoru Suzuki | Submission (Back Injury) | Pancrase - 2000 Anniversary Show | 09/24/2000 | 1 | 3:43 |
| Win | Lonnie Canida | TKO | WCT - Western Canada's Toughest | 03/18/2000 | N/A | N/A |
| Loss | Joe Slick | Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) | EC 24 - Extreme Challenge 24 | 05/15/1999 | 1 | 5:53 |
| Loss | Jacen Flynn | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | BRI 2 - Bas Rutten Invitational 2 | 04/24/1999 | 1 | 4:07 |
| Win | Tom Bolger | Submission (Triangle Choke) | BRI 2 - Bas Rutten Invitational 2 | 07-07-1996 | 1 | 1:55 |
| Win | Fadi Habib | TKO | UWC 2 - Ultimate Warrior Challenge 2 | 11/01/1998 | 1 | N/A |
| Win | Eric Harcrow | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | UWC - Ultimate Warrior Challenge | 08/02/1998 | 1 | N/A |
[edit] References
- ^ Deniskang.com. Official biography. Accessed 2008-05-29.
- ^ Bolduc, Justin (November 28, 2006). Din Thomas - Talks PRIDE and the Future. Nokaut.
