The retirement match opponent for mixed martial artist Choo Sung-hoon, 51 years old (Japanese name: Akiyama Yoshihiro), has been finalized. His opponent will be Chris Leben, 46, a former UFC fighter.
The domestic MMA organization Black Combat announced via its YouTube channel on the 7th, “Chris Leben has been confirmed as Choo Sung-hoon’s opponent.” Choo Sung-hoon will hold his final career match at Black Combat 17 on November 21, 2026, at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome.
This bout also marks Choo Sung-hoon’s return to MMA after approximately four years and seven months. He last competed in 2022 at the One Championship in Singapore, where he defeated Aoki Shinja, 43, via TKO. Two years prior, he faced kickboxer Nikki Holtzken, 43, in a special rules match consisting of boxing in the first round, Muay Thai in the second, and MMA in the third, but suffered a first-round KO loss.
Chris Leben was a striker active in the UFC during the 2000s–2010s. Though he retired from MMA in 2014, he returned in 2018 to compete in the bare-knuckle organization Bearknuckle, winning three of four fights. His last match was in 2021.
Choo Sung-hoon and Leben previously faced each other at UFC 116 in 2010. Leben submitted Choo with a triangle choke in the final seconds of the third round. For Choo, this final match presents a chance for redemption.
Choo Sung-hoon, a fourth-generation Korean-Japanese, initially competed as a judoka in South Korea. He raised issues of discrimination and regional bias before naturalizing as Japanese in 2001. That year, he won gold at the Asian Judo Championships, followed by a gold medal in the men’s 81kg judo category at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. He transitioned to MMA in 2004 and competed in global organizations like the UFC and One Championship. His professional MMA record stands at 16 wins and 7 losses.
Leave a comment