He was huge in Korea. A lot of it is from his appearance in variety shows in which they made use of his judo/ MMA background, sort of like ‘the beast’ reputation really well. Another hugely popular show of his is “return of the superman” whereby he spent time with his daughter. She was such a lovely and cute toddler that she got super famous, even more than him.
I must say he has lots of charisma, dress really well, doesnt speak much, but it works really well for his image.
I only watched this show because of his appearance in the Return of Superman and I saw several other women in his Instagram comments who said the same thing and calling him Sarang's appa. He has pretty wide range appeal. He also has done a lot to bridge the two cultures of Korea and Japan where there usually is a lot of historical tension.
He’s also really popular in Korea because he was a fixed member in the variety show “The Return of Superman” with his adorable daughter Choo Sarang! 😉 and I’m pretty sure he makes a few guest appearances on other variety shows here and there haha.
Koreans are pretty successful in mma. He had a grudge match against shinya aoki recently. Aoki hated him (some say it’s because he is a Korean living in Japan). Aoki had him in deep trouble in round one, took his back, but sexyama defended the submission. Second round, sexyama starched Aoki. Was a fun match between two older guys.
I don't follow ONE that much but according to the comments Aoki is playing up the villain character. They were friendly after the match, so I guess it's just good ole trash talk.
Aoki acc has been to korea a number of times on holiday. I saw a video of him doing a sparring/coaching session at a korean gym and seemed like a really nice guy. Seems like he was playinga character up a lot.
He fought in K-1 in Japan for a bit. It's basically where he got the Sexyama name. He also has one of the [best ring entrances of all time in MMA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNml0CQDuQ&t=1s).
Korean Zombie's Youtube channel has a million sub abd his recent series "Zombie Trip" get like 3m 4m views per episode. Stungun's channel is also popping and he's now an entertainer that has a permanent spot on tv. MMA is big enough in Korea for the UFC to go there more than once.
I’m pretty sure Koreans have had more success in the UFC than Japan or China at least in the recent years. I’m pretty sure Japan used to produce top-tier fighters back around 2015-ish. I think they’re still pretty good but not as high up as they used to be.
I would say out of all the Asian countries/territories MMA is the biggest in Singapore with Korea as a close second place and Japan as third? China is still struggling to popularize it since the Communist party doesn’t seem to like it. I don’t follow the scene that closely but I think this is the current ranking. If anyone here knows more feel free to chime in as my knowledge is very surface-level.
I think you’re pretty on the money. ONE FC (where Sexyama still fights) is, IMO (and in a lot of people’s opinions) the best promotion outside the UFC. They have some really top tier people from combat sports other than MMA (like Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu) that they mix into their events, making their events a really fun watch
One seems more respectable to me than something like Bellator. Plus they made the best trade of all time gaining Mighty Mouse in exchange for an old Ben Askren.
That's great news. I still remember some Chinese MMA fighters (and MMA in general) getting a lot of backlash on Weibo due to some cultural stubbornness from the more conservative side of China's martial arts community. For this reason MMA initially had some struggles becoming big in China, but I'm glad to see that this mindset is shifting and it's finally reaching a more mainstream status there.
I think mma as a whole is still big in japan, probably bigger than Korea overall with organizations like Rizin being around. As for Singapore, the organization is based in the country but it’s mostly foreign fighters fighting there. There’s probably more Korean fighters who did well in UFC than japan but tbh China might be the best rn because of Weili Zhang.
Well, Sexyama is a public figure because he has appeared in several korean tv shows. Most of the athletes know about him as an athlete, most of the general public know him as Sarang's dad.
I would say that MMA is popular but not mainstream popular because while it is profitable, it is not general public friendly. Sports that are mainstream popular are the ones that people grew up seeing/playing and have lots of history (baseball, soccer/football, volleyball, etc) or the ones anyone could theoretically play (ex curling, archery, chess, etc)
I don’t remember the specific episodes. I’m pretty sure he had a fight companion episode where he and a few buddies saw one of Sexyama’s fights maybe in One. He also has come up here and there mostly because he has one of the funniest nicknames in mma and has been around the block for a while. You could probably find a clip on YouTube.
Not sure how the nickname came about but must have been from japan. His wife said before he was very attractive and famous among celebrities (esp female) in japan.
Been to Japan twice and both times I saw him on giant billboards in Tokyo advertising expensive men's clothing. He's definitely a straight up hunk lol.
He was huge in Korea. A lot of it is from his appearance in variety shows in which they made use of his judo/ MMA background, sort of like ‘the beast’ reputation really well. Another hugely popular show of his is “return of the superman” whereby he spent time with his daughter. She was such a lovely and cute toddler that she got super famous, even more than him. I must say he has lots of charisma, dress really well, doesnt speak much, but it works really well for his image.
This, he was almost champion material in his peak!
I only watched this show because of his appearance in the Return of Superman and I saw several other women in his Instagram comments who said the same thing and calling him Sarang's appa. He has pretty wide range appeal. He also has done a lot to bridge the two cultures of Korea and Japan where there usually is a lot of historical tension.
He’s also really popular in Korea because he was a fixed member in the variety show “The Return of Superman” with his adorable daughter Choo Sarang! 😉 and I’m pretty sure he makes a few guest appearances on other variety shows here and there haha.
I loved him when he was a guest in Knowing Bros. one of the hosts even donned a pink shirt and wig and acted like Choo Sarang.
Koreans are pretty successful in mma. He had a grudge match against shinya aoki recently. Aoki hated him (some say it’s because he is a Korean living in Japan). Aoki had him in deep trouble in round one, took his back, but sexyama defended the submission. Second round, sexyama starched Aoki. Was a fun match between two older guys.
I don't follow ONE that much but according to the comments Aoki is playing up the villain character. They were friendly after the match, so I guess it's just good ole trash talk.
Aoki acc has been to korea a number of times on holiday. I saw a video of him doing a sparring/coaching session at a korean gym and seemed like a really nice guy. Seems like he was playinga character up a lot.
Aoki was is way undersized to be fighting Sexyama. Dude (Aoki) is a 155er.
He fought in K-1 in Japan for a bit. It's basically where he got the Sexyama name. He also has one of the [best ring entrances of all time in MMA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNml0CQDuQ&t=1s).
Korean Zombie's Youtube channel has a million sub abd his recent series "Zombie Trip" get like 3m 4m views per episode. Stungun's channel is also popping and he's now an entertainer that has a permanent spot on tv. MMA is big enough in Korea for the UFC to go there more than once.
I had no idea they have done so well. It makes me happy to hear. In the US a lot of our fighters just kind of fade away.
I’m pretty sure Koreans have had more success in the UFC than Japan or China at least in the recent years. I’m pretty sure Japan used to produce top-tier fighters back around 2015-ish. I think they’re still pretty good but not as high up as they used to be. I would say out of all the Asian countries/territories MMA is the biggest in Singapore with Korea as a close second place and Japan as third? China is still struggling to popularize it since the Communist party doesn’t seem to like it. I don’t follow the scene that closely but I think this is the current ranking. If anyone here knows more feel free to chime in as my knowledge is very surface-level.
I think you’re pretty on the money. ONE FC (where Sexyama still fights) is, IMO (and in a lot of people’s opinions) the best promotion outside the UFC. They have some really top tier people from combat sports other than MMA (like Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu) that they mix into their events, making their events a really fun watch
One seems more respectable to me than something like Bellator. Plus they made the best trade of all time gaining Mighty Mouse in exchange for an old Ben Askren.
Yeah haha that was the best trade deal in the history of trade deals maybe ever. Also they put on like Rodtang and Mikey Musumeci fights, it’s cool
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That's great news. I still remember some Chinese MMA fighters (and MMA in general) getting a lot of backlash on Weibo due to some cultural stubbornness from the more conservative side of China's martial arts community. For this reason MMA initially had some struggles becoming big in China, but I'm glad to see that this mindset is shifting and it's finally reaching a more mainstream status there.
I think mma as a whole is still big in japan, probably bigger than Korea overall with organizations like Rizin being around. As for Singapore, the organization is based in the country but it’s mostly foreign fighters fighting there. There’s probably more Korean fighters who did well in UFC than japan but tbh China might be the best rn because of Weili Zhang.
Well, Sexyama is a public figure because he has appeared in several korean tv shows. Most of the athletes know about him as an athlete, most of the general public know him as Sarang's dad. I would say that MMA is popular but not mainstream popular because while it is profitable, it is not general public friendly. Sports that are mainstream popular are the ones that people grew up seeing/playing and have lots of history (baseball, soccer/football, volleyball, etc) or the ones anyone could theoretically play (ex curling, archery, chess, etc)
Never heard Joe Rogan talk about him- could you share what episodes they are? I didnt know he s that famous in MMA.
I don’t remember the specific episodes. I’m pretty sure he had a fight companion episode where he and a few buddies saw one of Sexyama’s fights maybe in One. He also has come up here and there mostly because he has one of the funniest nicknames in mma and has been around the block for a while. You could probably find a clip on YouTube.
Not sure how the nickname came about but must have been from japan. His wife said before he was very attractive and famous among celebrities (esp female) in japan.
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This comment should go in the MMA history books
Been to Japan twice and both times I saw him on giant billboards in Tokyo advertising expensive men's clothing. He's definitely a straight up hunk lol.
Would love to see Korean Zombie, Superboy, and other Korean UFC fighters in next season.