Athletes
HyunSung Park Focused On Making Most Of Main Event Opportunity
Road To UFC Winner Discusses New Assignment Against Tatsuro Taira This Weekend In Las Vegas
HyunSung Park was scheduled to face former title challenger Steve Erceg on August 9th at the UFC APEX. It was a clear step up in competition for the man who won the flyweight tournament on the inaugural season of Road to UFC, and an opportunity for “Peace of Mind” to introduce himself to a wider audience that maybe — for some strange reason — had yet to be drawn in by his exploits inside the Octagon.
But those plans changed, as Park was drafted to replace Amir Albazi opposite Tatsuro Taira in this weekend’s main event pairing, affording the 29-year-old South Korean an even greater opportunity to make a serious splash in the 125-pound ranks.
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
“I want to show that I can win the fight no matter who is the opponent,” Park told the UFC digital team via translator on Wednesday afternoon when asked about the shift in opponents and being elevated into his first main event assignment. “Even though the opponent has been changed on short notice, I don’t really think about the game plan.
HyunSung Park Submits Carlos Hernandez In Round 1 | UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Morales
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
HyunSung Park Submits Carlos Hernandez In Round 1 | UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Morales
/
“Basically, I’m gonna win the fight,” he added. “I know Tatsuro Taira is a good fighter, but I know that I can beat him with my skills, so I’m really confident. I just want to finish the fight and do my stuff.”
Finishing fights and doing his stuff has been a hallmark of Park’s career.
Miss UFC BJJ2? Watch The Whole Event Free Here!
Following a brief and pristine amateur career, the Team MMA Story representative turned pro towards the end of 2018. He posted five straight victories, the final four by stoppage, and claimed the vacant Double G FC flyweight title before garnering the opportunity to compete on the first season of Road to UFC in 2022.
In the opening round of the tournament in Shanghai, he dispatched Indonesian fighter Jeremia Siregar with strikes in a touch under four minutes to advance to the semifinals. Four months later in Abu Dhabi, he tapped out charismatic Thai competitor Topnoi Kirwam in three minutes and change, earning himself a place in the finals.
Order UFC 319: Du Plessis vs Chimaev
While the bout was delayed until the following February, Park was undeterred in his quest to win the competition and earn his spot on the UFC roster. Facing off with compatriot SeungGuk Choi in the finale, Park worked to his back midway through the third, taking the responsibility for determining a victor out of the hands of the judges by lacing up and securing a rear-naked choke finish.
Graduating to the UFC roster hasn’t changed things either.
Park made his official debut towards the end of 2023 at the APEX, felling Australian veteran and Dana White’s Contender Series grad Shannon Ross with a left hook to the body after stinging him to the midsection with a front kick seconds earlier, advancing to 9-0 as a professional with eight consecutive finishes. And though a knee injury kept him out of action for the entirety of 2024, the unbeaten emerging threat showed no real signs of rust in his return to the Octagon earlier this year as he quickly dragged Carlos Hernandez to the canvas and submitted him back in May.
HyunSung Park Tallies TKO Win In Round 2 | UFC Fight Night: Song vs Gutierrez
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
HyunSung Park Tallies TKO Win In Round 2 | UFC Fight Night: Song vs Gutierrez
/
“I feel like I’m better than other fighters,” Park said when asked what differentiates him from the opponents that have previously fallen to the highly regarded Japanese prospect Taira, who makes his third straight main event appearance this weekend. “I’m different — I have better skills than them — so Tatsuro will have a tough time.”
Brash as it may sound, it’s hard to argue against not only the results Park has put forth, but how things look on tape when studying what he brings to the Octagon.
Along with an unblemished record and a clear nose for the finish, the surging main event debutant has, as John Gooden put it just ahead of the finishing sequence in his fight with Ross, “a good vocabulary of strikes,” blending his punches and kicks from both stances and targeting all levels. With good size for the division, a solid build, and having put an increased focus on his conditioning since reaching the UFC, he’s positioned himself to have success in the talent-rich 125-pound weight class.
RELATED: Tatsuro Taira's Career Highlights
So far, the results have been there, and now he gets the chance to show he’s ready to hang with those in the upper echelon of the division.
“Basically, he could be special, but I don’t think of this as special; it’s just another fight I’m facing,” Park said of Taira, who opened his UFC career with six straight victories to advance to 16-0 before dropping a competitive decision to Brandon Royval last October. “Three rounds, five rounds — to me, it’s all the same.”
While short-notice fights can always be a little tricky, this feels like a near-ideal situation for Park, and a “nothing to lose” opportunity for the ascending Road to UFC alum.
He was already in the final stages of a training camp, preparing for an elite talent in Erceg, and though he’s had to bump things up a week, the spotlight has grown a little brighter and the opponent across from him stands several spots further up the divisional ranks.
MORE: Danny Silva Returns | 'Bang Bang' For Ribovics | Mateusz Rebecki Interview | Taira Interview | Nathan Fletcher Interview | Main Event Breakdown
Should things not go his way, few would fault him, as he rolled the dice against fighter many have tabbed as a future title challenger, if not champion. And if things work out in his favor…
“Beating a fighter like Tatsuro Tatsuro would give me (more) opportunities,” acknowledged Park. “I would be (ranked) and I would be closer to title contention, but right now, I don’t really concentrate on that stuff — I’m just focused on winning.”
UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 2, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!