RIZIN Champ Claims Management Has Been Embezzling Money From Her
Former UFC star and RIZIN atomweight champion Seo Hee Ham recently took to her Instagram page to call out her management for embezzling money from her.
Ham claims her manager, Hidekatsu Morooka, and his wife, have been embezzling money since the early days of her mixed martial arts (MMA) career. As a whole, she believes they’ve stolen more than $26,000 from her. Check out her translated Instagram statement below (H/T Elect Times)
“I moved into Japanese pro MMA league, making my debut in 2007. Hidekatsu Morooka and his wife, Yoon Sik Lee, were my [management team] and I could made a contract for my fight in Japan through them. They’ve treated me like a real daughter, so I respected and followed what they said until 2014. Five years have passed since then, and I started to fight in Japan again. And of course, I got reunited with Hidekatsu Morooka and his wife to work with them.
“But recently I figured out that they’re embezzling my fight money. If the sum involved is small, I will be able to forgive what they do. Because they always says that they received no extra money to make a fight for Korean MMA fighters in Japan and complain about big deficits. So I appreciated their effort, [feel] sorry for them, and didn’t believe the bad rumors about their embezzlement.
“But with recently discovered proof, I have lost all faith in them. They embezzled my fight money twice in 2019, and the total comes out to 30 million Korean Won [roughly $26,000]. I think it’s not just me who got mugged, maybe a lot of Korean MMA fighters got scammed by them.
“I hate to say this, cause I believed and followed them for the last 15 years. But I know that I must step up now, [because] I hope there will be no more innocent victims. Hidekatsu Morooka and his wife are still looking for [an] MMA fighter and making a fight in Japan. There was no contrition and no apology, so I’m very disappointed in their actions. I really want them out in the industry, and urge all the MMA fighters to avoid them.”
Ham, who spent time in the UFC from 2014-2016, only just won the RIZIN atomweight title last weekend when she beat Ayaka Hamasak via split decision.
What do you make of Ham’s management embezzling money from her?
