MMA News: Recapping South Korea's Magical String Of Victories In ONE Championship

South Korea is enjoying a magical run in ONE Championship as they were able to pick up three important wins in their most recent outings.

At ONE: Empower, Seo Hee Ham survived a brutal three-round war with the Philippines’ Denice Zamboanga in the quarterfinals of the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix.

Despite many thinking that Zamboanga had the upper hand in her fight against Ham, the South Korean atomweight was able to stem the floodwaters that were Zamboanga’s striking and ground game to convince the judges that she deserved a spot in the semifinals.

For her to defeat the No. 1-ranked atomweight in the promotion and to pull off the victory was a great sign of things to come for the South Koreans.

At ONE: Revolution, two South Koreans entered the cage with Kim Jae Woong going up against Martin Nguyen and Ok Rae Yoon challenging Christian Lee for his lightweight title.

Kim was able to take control of the striking game early in the fight and forced Nguyen out of his comfort zone as the South Korean chopped at his base with leg kicks.

Nguyen wanted to get in some offense of his own with an overhand right but instead caught a straight right from Kim, crumpling the Vietnamese-Australian and swarming him with strikes en route to the first-round TKO victory.

Nguyen’s inability to at least take the fight to the ground allowed Kim all the time he needed to figure out his striking game before landing flush with the straight right hand.

South Korea would cap off its current run with Ok dethroning Lee in the main event.

From the very start, Lee had hoped to swarm Ok with strikes and takedowns from all kinds of angles, but the challenger figured out that the champion would expend his energy trying to get the finish.

There were times when Ok seemed as if he was going to be finished but always found a way out and defended extremely well against Lee’s submission attempts.

Ok had some moments in the fight where he caught Lee being careless with his defense and was able to land strikes that showed off his veteran experience.

The risky gamble paid off for Ok in the later rounds as he was able to defeat Lee via unanimous decision.

Ok’s game plan worked to perfection as they surmised correctly that Lee would not be able to keep up his work rate in the later rounds, allowing the South Korean to take advantage with ease.

Mixed martial arts will always have a hint of luck and unpredictability in it, but the South Korean contingent’s run in ONE Championship is a testament to how well they prepare for their fights.

Ham will look to continue her nation’s winning ways as she faces Stamp Fairtex in the semifinals of the World Grand Prix at ONE: Next Generation that will be held on October 29th.