Making The Case For Dong Hyun Kim vs. Matt Brown II
Dong Hyun Kim never really had much of a reputation as a finisher, and rather undeservedly so; back in his days of fighting in the East, ‘Stun Gun’ racked up six finishes in 10 fights and even debuted for the UFC with a TKO via elbows against Jason Tan in 2008.
Since then it was a steady road of decision wins and two T/KO losses. The injury against Demain Maia at UFC 148 could be excused, although the savage flying knee he ate in his KO loss to Carlos Condit was a straight up beatdown, no debate there.
Late 2012/early 13 saw Kim score yet another two decision wins, this time over Paulo Thiago and Sayir Bahadurzada. Kim was now without a finish in five years, and had experienced his first two losses as a pro. Something seems to have awakened a beast inside ‘Stun Gun’, as he starched Erick Silva at Fight Night: Barueri.
Then, at the surprisingly exciting Fight Night: Macau, Dong exploded on ‘The Hitman’ John Hathaway, and scored a wicked spinning back elbow KO. The win extends Kim’s streak to four with two knockouts, and the question of who his next opponent should be begins to be asked.
Rather unsurprisingly, there are a lot of great fights to be had at 170 pounds right now. One such fight includes a barn burner against Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown, whom ‘Stun Gun’ beat by split decision back at UFC 88. Brown was originally scheduled to face Carlos Condit in a number one contender bout, but injury forced the technical brawler from the fight.
Rory MacDonald recently got back in the win column against Demian Maia at UFC 170, but his high ranking position may see a fight with Kim as an irrelevant one. A potential rematch with Demian Maia could be pretty cool, but now I’ve mentioned Matt Brown, I can’t think of any better match ups.
‘The Immortal’ is a stand up, exciting, dangerous fighter. He currently rides a six fight/five finish streak in the UFC 170-pound division, and Kim’s new found love for the stand up war could mean a fight of the night performance should they meet. Kim sits in the #11 spot, and Brown is only a few places in front at #8.
The rankings make sense, the styles match up well and they are both currently not linked to any match ups/heated rivalries. Can you think of anyone better to face the ‘Stun Gun’ after his FN:Macau knockout? GIF courtesy of Zombie Prophet
