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HyunSung Park | RTU To UFC
Road To UFC Flyweight Tournament Winner HyunSung Park Puts Undefeated Record On The Line This Saturday At UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Morales
This Saturday, undefeated flyweight prospect HyunSung Park makes his third walk to the UFC Octagon at UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Morales.
The 29-year-old burst onto the scene three years ago during Road to UFC, a “win and advance” tournament that showcases top MMA prospects from Asia and gives them a pathway to a UFC contract.
Park didn’t spend much time in the Octagon during the tournament, but he made every second count. In the quarterfinals, the South Korean needed less than four minutes to dispatch Jeremia Siregar. After trading on the feet early, Park took Siregar down, flattened him out and unleashed ground-and-pound strikes until the referee was forced to step in and stop the fight.
It took even less time for Park to punch his ticket to the flyweight tournament final. Four months later, he faced Top Kiwram and proved he wasn’t just a striker with ground-and-pound, but that he had the submission skills to match.
Just like in his first bout, Park struck for the first half of the round before turning to his grappling. Kiwram showed good takedown defense, but Park climbed onto his back and dragged him to the ground, sinking in a rear-naked choke in the process. Kiwram defended well and broke away from the submission, all for Park to repeat the process and lock it in for good, forcing the tap just over three minutes into the fight.
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In the Road To UFC flyweight final at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac, Park closed as a -205 favorite over fellow finalist SeungGuk Choi. It was a back-and-forth affair through the opening two frames, with Park finding more success on the feet throughout, but Choi was able to take the fight to the mat in the second and control Park briefly.
In the third and final round, Park executed the same tactic he used in his semifinal bout against Kiwram, jumping on Choi’s back. This time around, Choi stayed on his feet, but Park held on like a backpack and worked for a submission — very similar to Charles Oliveira’s finish over Dustin Poirier.
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Once Park found the space to lock up a rear-naked choke, Choi dropped to the mat in an attempt to break free, but it was too little too late, and he was forced to tap. With the win, Park earned a coveted UFC contract.
Ten months later in December of 2023, Park returned to the Octagon against Shannon Ross at UFC Fight Night: Song vs Gutierrez, and he kept the momentum going. The first round was all Park, who took Ross down, threatened submissions and landed ground-and-pound.
Ross started to land more on the feet in the second, but just as he was finding his rhythm, he was crumbling to the mat as Park landed three crushing body shots in the span of five seconds to close the show. As impressive as it is to win Road to UFC, dominating Ross in his first post-tournament appearance sent an even stronger statement to the rest of the UFC flyweight division that a serious prospect has arrived.
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
Fans were hoping to see Park return to the Octagon sooner, but after two cancelled bouts, he’s finally set to face his next challenge this Saturday against Carlos Hernandez inside UFC APEX. The 31-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series grad is coming off a hard-fought win over Nyamjargal Tumendemberel this past November and presents another tough test for Park, who has the chance to leave Las Vegas with a perfect 10-0 record.
Road to UFC returns for its fourth season on May 22 and 23, live from the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, China. Each day will feature 10 opening-round bouts, with the action kicking off at 7am ET/4am PT, exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS.
UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Morales took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 17, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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