Kang Ji Won credits taekwondo background as his gateway to mixed martial arts

Kang Ji Won’s journey into mixed martial arts began as a child taking taekwondo classes.

Making his promotional debut in 2021, the South Korean knockout artist has already delivered a series of highlight-reel knockouts inside the Circle. He’ll look to add one more to his resume on November 3 when he heads to the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok for a clash with Canadian newcomer Ben Tynan.

Before gunning for his fourth career win under the ONE Championship banner, Kang spoke about his youth and the path that ultimately led him to a career in martial arts.

“Korean kids learn taekwondo. I was no different,” Won told the promotion. “I trained taekwondo as a child, so that was my first introduction to martial arts. I started mixed martial arts in my second year of high school [around 17 or 18]. I started off here at my gym, Wang Ho Academy.”

Through four appearances, Kang Ji Won has three incredible knockouts, putting away Mehdi Barghi, Amir Aliakbari, and Paul Elliott in just over a year. On November 3, he’ll look to add another name to his hit list when he welcomes fellow finisher Ben Tynan to the ONE Championship.

Tynan, known by fight fans in the Great White North as ‘Vanilla Thunder,’ has scored himself four straight finishes, three of those coming inside the first round. His last three appearances have all come inside the Legacy Fighting Alliance cage, where he landed two impressive knockouts and one win by way of submission.

Will Ben Tynan make it a memorable first appearance in his promotional debut, or will the experience of Kang Ji Won prove to be the deciding factor when these two heavy-hitting heavyweights step inside the Mecca of Muay Thai?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video live in U.S. primetime on November 3.