Yang Dongi (born December 7, 1984), often anglicised to Dongi Yang or Dong-Yi Yang, is a South Korean mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Middleweight division of ONE Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Yang has formerly competed for DEEP and World Victory Road.

Yang Dongi
Born (1984-12-07) December 7, 1984 (age 39)
Seoul, South Korea
Other namesThe Ox
NationalitySouth Korean
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight242 lb (110 kg; 17 st 4 lb)
DivisionHeavyweight
Middleweight
Reach73 in (185 cm)
Fighting out ofSeoul, South Korea
TeamItaewon MMA
Rank  4th Dan Black Belt in Yong Moo Do
  3rd Dan Black Belt in Judo
  2nd Black Belt in Taekwondo
Years active2007-2008; 2010-2016; 2018-2019
Mixed martial arts record
Total18
Wins14
By knockout13
By submission1
Losses4
By knockout1
By decision3
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Mixed martial arts career

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Early career

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Yang began his professional career in South Korea in a tournament. Yang won three successive fights (the first via triangle choke submission and the next two via TKO to punches).

Yang followed this up with a win at the Super Sambo Festival, again via TKO (punches).

Rise to prominence in Asia

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Yang then joined the larger DEEP promotion. Here, Yang won two successive bouts, both via TKO (punches).

Yang then joined Sengoku and competed in their Sengoku Fourth Battle event. His opponent was Polish judoka Pawel Nastula. After 2:15 of the second round, Yang was victorious via TKO (exhaustion)[1] The fight was slightly controversial due to Yang landing a knee in the clinch that earned him a yellow card. After this, Nastula was noticeably sluggish and would later complain of a groin problem. For "inexplicable reasons" the referee stopped the fight and gave a TKO verdict.[2]

Yang then defeated two opponents; one in Japan and one in the Northern Mariana Islands. As was becoming a pattern in his career, Yang won both fights via TKO (punches).

Ultimate Fighting Championship

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In June 2010, Yang signed with the UFC, joining Chan Sung Jung as the members of Korean Top Team competing in Zuffa organizations.[3]

Yang's UFC debut was at UFC 121 against The Ultimate Fighter competitor Chris Camozzi.[4] Yang began the fight with a successful takedown, followed by ground-and-pound. After standing up, Camozzi was able to keep Yang at bay with kicks, before engaging in the clinch. However, Yang's thick neck and shoulders prevented effective attacks. Later, Camozzi was able to effectively time the advance of Yang. In the third, Yang began to swing wildly, to no avail. Camozzi was declared the winner via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).[5]

Yang next fight was against Rob Kimmons on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann.[6] Yang won the fight by TKO near the end of the second round, giving him his first UFC win.

Yang faced Court McGee on September 17, 2011 in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 25.[7] The match was a pure back and forth kickboxing match. Yang was able to have some success and connected with some punches that wobbled McGee, in the end it was not enough to get the victory.

Yang faced Brad Tavares on May 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier.[8] Yang was defeated by Tavares via unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.[9]

Post-UFC

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On June 29, 2013 Yang defeated ROAD FC veteran Jae Young Kim by TKO in the second round at Top FC 1 in South Korea. Yang followed that up with an impressive first round TKO of fellow UFC veteran Dennis Hallman at Top FC 6 on April 5, 2015.

Return to UFC

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In late August, it was confirmed that Yang had re-signed with the UFC and will continue competing in the promotion's Middleweight division. He faced Jake Collier at UFC Fight Night 79 on November 28, 2015.[10] He won the fight via TKO in the second round.[11]

Yang was expected to face promotional newcomer Ryan Janes on October 15, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 97.[12] However, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely.[13][14]

Post-UFC

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Yang returned to competition three years later to face Chinese fighter Paul Cheng. He won via first-round TKO.

Yang fought again a year later against Brazilian Callyugibrainn Marinho Borges. The two engaged in a wild brawl, and Yang was defeated via TKO in the first round.

Mixed martial arts record

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Professional record breakdown
18 matches 14 wins 4 losses
By knockout 13 1
By submission 1 0
By decision 0 3
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 14–4 Cally Gibrainn de Oliveira TKO (punches) Double G FC 2 March 30, 2019 1 4:24 Seoul, South Korea
Win 14–3 Paul Cheng TKO (punches) Double G FC 1 November 18, 2018 1 2:06 Seoul, South Korea Return to Heavyweight.
Win 13–3 Jake Collier TKO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Masvidal November 28, 2015 2 1:50 Seoul, South Korea
Win 12–3 Dennis Hallman TKO (punches) Top FC 6: Unbreakable Dream April 5, 2015 1 3:25 Seoul, South Korea Catchweight (198) lb bout.
Win 11–3 Jae Young Kim TKO (body kicks and punches) Top FC 1: Original June 29, 2013 2 4:06 Seoul, South Korea
Loss 10–3 Brad Tavares Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier May 15, 2012 3 5:00 Fairfax, Virginia, United States
Loss 10–2 Court McGee Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger September 17, 2011 3 5:00 New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Win 10–1 Rob Kimmons TKO (punches) UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann March 3, 2011 2 4:47 Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Loss 9–1 Chris Camozzi Decision (split) UFC 121 October 23, 2010 3 5:00 Anaheim, California, United States
Win 9–0 Bill Saures TKO (punches) Trench Warz 12: Battle Brawl May 21, 2010 1 1:07 Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands Middleweight debut.
Win 8–0 Ryuta Noji TKO (punches) Heat 8 December 14, 2008 2 3:17 Tokyo, Japan
Win 7–0 Pawel Nastula TKO (exhaustion) World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 4 August 24, 2008 2 2:15 Saitama, Japan
Win 6–0 Keigo Takamori TKO (punches) Deep: 31 Impact August 5, 2007 1 1:57 Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout.
Win 5–0 Junpei Hamada TKO (punches) Deep: CMA Festival 2 July 23, 2007 1 3:56 Tokyo, Japan
Win 4–0 Chang Seob Lee TKO (punches) Super Sambo Festival June 24, 2007 3 4:56 Gyeongju, South Korea
Win 3–0 Yun Seob Kwak TKO (punches) WXF: North Jeolla MMA Championships June 2, 2007 2 2:35 North Jeolla, South Korea
Win 2–0 Dool Hee Lee TKO (punches) WXF: North Jeolla MMA Championships June 2, 2007 1 1:36 North Jeolla, South Korea
Win 1–0 Hyung Kyo Lee Submission (triangle choke) WXF: North Jeolla MMA Championships June 2, 2007 1 1:40 North Jeolla, South Korea

References

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  1. ^ "Takanori Gomi wins at Sengoku Fourth Battle". mmajunkie.com. August 24, 2008.
  2. ^ "Gomi, Trigg get wins; Schultz knocked out". sherdog.com. August 24, 2008.
  3. ^ "Undefeated Korean middleweight Dong Yi Yang inks deal with UFC". mmajunkie.com. June 29, 2010.
  4. ^ "Exclusive: Dongi Yang vs. Chris Camozzi added to UFC 121". cagepotato.com. July 20, 2010.
  5. ^ "UFC 121 Preliminary card recap: McGee taps Jensen, Lawlor smothers Cote". mmajunkie.com. October 23, 2010.
  6. ^ "Rob Kimmons vs. Dongi Yang Latest Addition to UFC on Versus 3 Card". mmaweekly.com. January 10, 2011.
  7. ^ "Yang vs. McGee added to UFC Fight Night 25". mmajunkie.com. May 26, 2011.
  8. ^ "UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier". ufc.com. March 12, 2012.
  9. ^ Anton Tabuena (June 4, 2012). "UFC Releases Several Fighters From Their Roster". bloodyelbow.com.
  10. ^ Rob Tatum (August 24, 2015). "Dongi Yang vs. Jake Collier Added to UFC Fight Night 79 in Seoul". combatpress.com.
  11. ^ Steven Marrocco (2015-11-28). "UFC Fight Night 79 results: Dongi Yang TKOs Jake Collier in second". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  12. ^ Staff (2016-09-03). "Moontasri vs. Morono, Yang vs. Janes announced for UFC Fight Night 97". themmareport.com. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  13. ^ Staff (2016-10-06). "UFC Fight Night Manila: Lamas vs. Penn to be rescheduled". ufc.com. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  14. ^ Staff (2016-10-06). "After B.J. Penn's withdrawal, UFC cancels next week's UFC Fight Night 97 event in Philippines". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
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