‘Stun Gun’ Kim Stuns Silva

October 10, 2013

Knocks Out Brazillian Opponent in Brazil

Kim Dong-hyun celebrates after knocking out Erick Silva of Brazil at UFC Fight Night 29 at Jose Correa Arena, Brazil, Thursday (KST). / USA TODAY

Kim Dong-hyun celebrates after knocking out Erick Silva of Brazil at UFC Fight Night 29 at Jose Correa Arena, Brazil, Thursday (KST). / USA TODAY

 

By Jung Min-ho

Kim Dong-hyun lived up to his ”Stun Gun’’ nickname Thursday (KST) at the UFC Fight Night 29 in Brazil, where he knocked out crowd favorite Erick Silva in what arguably was the biggest win of his career.

The welterweight fight had been billed as a clash of styles, with the underdog Kim rated a top-class grappler and the explosive Silva being one of the most feared strikers in his weight class.

Kim has a chance against Silva only if he can take him off his feet, observers had said. If anyone of them claims they pictured the 31-year-old Korean dropping Silva with a left, they are probably lying.

Kim and Silva were engaged in a brawl before the decisive moment in the second round, when Kim dodged Silva’s straight and landed a massive left hand punch to his face. Silva tumbled down and Kim dropped a final shot before the referee stopped the fight at the 3:01 mark of round two.

It was Kim’s first knockout win in five years and Silva’s first knockout defeat since turning pro in 2005.

Silva was aggressive out of the gate, throwing hefty punches at Kim, who was forced to fight in a quicker pace than what he preferred.

Kim, right, fights Silva of Brazil during their co-main event.  / AP-Yonhap

Kim, right, fights Silva of Brazil during their co-main event. (AP-Yonhap)

Facing a blitz of punches, knees and kicks, Kim relentlessly tried to take Silva to the matt. He finally succeeded in the middle of the first round and managed to keep Silva down until the bell.

In the next round, Silva looked even more dangerous, attacking Kim with a combination of knees, deceptively fast hooks and elbows. Kim seemed to being lured into a brawl that would have theoretically favored his opponent, only it didn’t.

After a fast-paced 2 minutes, both fighters were visibly exhausted. But the atmosphere was in Silva as Kim looked more tired after his over-paced seven-minute performance that had never been displayed.

Then the ferocious punch hit Silva, slipping his left straight, and the deathly hush descended on the crowd.

It wasn’t a lucky punch. Kim put great amount of effort to practicing strikes ahead of the event in case the bout turns into a standing fight, which it did.

With one of the best wins of his MMA career, Kim moved to 18-2-1, 1 NC, while Silva dropped to 15-4, 1 NC. It also took Kim to the prime position to reach the top echelons of the division.

Silva proved a lot, too, after occasionally showing how dangerous he can be; Kim went into the fight with little chances of winning again against the Brazilian.

The dynamic win also swept aside Kim’s “boring grappler” image ― which earned him the nickname “cicada” in Korea ― as well as his concern of being kicked out of the world’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion at least for now.

4 Comments

  1. DI Cheon

    October 10, 2013 at 10:46 AM

    Good job Dong Hyun! It was awesome match.

  2. BJ So

    October 10, 2013 at 10:57 AM

    Right ! I’m waiting his burning fight !

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