In roughly two weeks, on September 3rd, the ONE Championship Atomweight Tournament will get underway. On a card filled with fighters from around the world, eyes will be on one in particular, Seo Hee Ham. As the former #1 ranked Atomweight in the world and having won several championships, her promotional debut has been delayed as a result of the pandemic. This has unfortunately led to her being on the shelf for nearly 2 years. However, this wait will come to an end soon when she faces the undefeated Denice Zamboanga in the opening round of the tournament. Taking into account her role as the first female mixed martial artist from South Korea and all of her achievements and victories, her inclusion in the tournament adds a sense of legitimacy to the entire affair. Whether she wins or not, ONE Championship can now boast that one of the best Atomweights in the world took part.
Her Impact On MMA in South Korea
As the first female mixed martial artist from her native country, Seo Hee Ham has been fighting since before it was even plausible. While this lack of opportunity may have made it more difficult to get started, she solved this problem by fighting abroad. In fact, she has spent the vast majority of her career fighting abroad. She only fought on her native soil once in her first 18 fights. While this had its disadvantages, like being brought in to lose to local favorites, she endured and overcame. In the process, she fought some of the best fighters in the world, gained international recognition, and eventually became a world champion.
Eventually, the sport started to catch up in South Korea and she was able to fight for Road FC, a prominent promotion in the country. Due to her success up to that point, she immediately brought attention to their new divisions. However, her first stint with the promotion was short lived, as she was signed by the UFC in the same year, becoming the first Korean woman to sign with the promotion. During her 4 fight tenure with the promotion, she went on to fight on their first event in South Korea and wowed the crowd in route to winning fight of the night honors.
Afterwards, she returned to Atomweight, became the Road FC champion and then eventually become the Rizin champion. This most recent stretch of her career, is easily the most impressive. Not only is she undefeated since returning to Aomweight, she also KO’d or TKO’d 5 of the 7 opponents. Those opponents by the way, include former champions like Mina Kurobe (Deep Jewels), Jinh Yu Frey (Invicta FC), and the former number 1 ranked Atomweight in the world, Ayaka Hamasaki (Deep Jewels, Invicta FC, Rizin).
Despite fighting a vast majority of her career outside of Korea, Ham’s impact there cannot be ignored. She fought abroad out of necessity and in doing so, raised awareness within her own country. Since then, fighters like Si Woo Park (Deep) and Ji Yeon Kim (UFC) have emerged and promotions like Road FC continue to include women in their events.
If you are interested in reading more about her career, here is a detailed article.
The Upcoming Tournament
When Ham signed with ONE Championship, it added legitimacy to their Atomweight division from a casual fan’s perspective. Not only was she the #1 ranked Atomweight in the world, she is the former Deep Jewels, Road FC, and Rizin champion. Those who are more familiar, understand that ONE Championship’s Atomweight division is more closely related to the traditional Strawweight Division, since fighters are allowed to weigh 52kg (115lbs) on the last day of weigh-ins. However, attention is rarely brought to these details and since the division is called the Atomweight division, the promotion will be able to market Ham and her credentials as if they happened in the same division. This will in turn allow them to market whoever wins the tournament and then the eventual fight with Angela Lee as the best Atomweight in the world.
On September 3rd, Ham will be returning after a nearly 2 year absence to face Denice Zamboanga. At 8-0, her Filipina opponent has been flawless so far, including a win over the veteran Mei Yamaguchi. This is their only common opponent, as Ham defeated Mei roughly 10 years ago, making any comparison nearly worthless. However, it is exactly this opportunity to fight these new and young fighters that partly attracted Ham to ONE.
When asked about her upcoming fight with Denice, Ham commented, “I believe I will knock her out, and thats the plan. That’s what I want, but of course I can’t guarantee that. I’m preparing to go the full distance. It has been a long time since my last fight, so I want to enjoy every minute of it.” She then added about the tournament itself, “As always, if I work hard and give it my all, I think I can win the whole thing.”
How to watch
- US: Bleacher Report, B/R App, or B/R’s YouTube channel
- China: Great Sports or iQiYi
- India: Disney + Hotstar or Star Sports Select 1
- Japan: Abema TV
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The header photo is courtesy of LadyGo!
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