'K-Machine' Lee Chang-ho (29) recorded a thrilling TKO victory in his UFC debut. UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili also praised Lee Chang-ho's performance.

The Road to UFC Season 2 bantamweight winner Lee Chang-ho (11 wins, 1 loss) achieved a TKO victory over Cortavius Romious (31, United States) at 3 minutes and 48 seconds of the second round in the main card of 'UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Murphy' held on the 6th (Korean time) at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was a thrilling victory as he had predicted before the match. Lee Chang-ho aggressively swung his fists and pressured Romious as soon as the match began. When Romious was cornered against the cage, Lee took him down by tripping him. However, Romious managed to get back up and succeeded in taking Lee down.

As the grappling exchange continued, Romious ultimately fell into a self-destructive move. Romious attempted an aggressive armbar from a favorable position, and Lee took advantage of this to gain a dominant ground back position and landed powerful punches.

In the second round, Romious continued to self-destruct. While grappling with Lee, Romious attempted another armbar, which allowed Lee to take the top position. Lee seized the opportunity to deliver strong punches and unleashed elbow strikes from the full mount position. The referee decided that Romious could no longer resist and declared a TKO.

In a winner's interview, Lee Chang-ho noted, “The coach devised a great strategy” and added, “I’ve grown a lot thanks to my teammates constantly pushing me.”

He then introduced his new nickname, 'K-Machine.' He added 'K,' which represents Korea, to the nickname 'Machine,' held by UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, who is his role model and boasts infinite stamina. He emphasized, “I’m still lacking a lot” and said, “I will work harder to become the 'Korean Machine.'”

In response, the original 'Machine,' Dvalishvili, directly praised Lee Chang-ho through his social network service (SNS) account, saying, “It was a great match, Korean Machine.”

With this TKO victory, Lee Chang-ho received a Performance of the Night bonus of $50,000 (about 73.3 million won). He also earned a 20% share of Romious's fight purse for exceeding the weight limit by 1.6 kg, adding to his substantial earnings from his UFC debut victory.

Regarding his future plans, Lee Chang-ho stated, “I will fight as the UFC arranges,” and added, “I will show gradual improvement.”

In the main event that day, 'Iceman' Lerone Murphy (33, England) extended his unbeaten streak to 17 (16 wins, 1 draw).

Murphy, ranked 10th in the UFC featherweight division (65.8 kg), achieved a unanimous decision victory (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) over 8th-ranked Josh Emmett (40, United States) after five rounds.

Murphy was cautious of Emmett's knockout power, keeping his guard up and attacking from a distance. He troubled his opponent with various techniques such as jabs, calf kicks, and oblique kicks. When Emmett advanced, Murphy countered with punches. Frustrated, Emmett leveraged his wrestling skills to succeed in four takedowns, but he couldn't maintain the position for long.

When the decision for Murphy was announced, the crowd booed in unison. However, Murphy remained undeterred, saying, “I’m 16 wins with no losses. It was a very easy fight.” He continued, “I had to fight according to my game plan. Emmett has knockout power, so I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes,” and assessed it as “a very intelligent fight.”

Murphy expressed his desire for a title shot but acknowledged that it would not be easy. He said, “Anyone in the top 5 or top 3 will do,” and declared, “I will continue my winning streak and rise to the champion's position.”

[Photo] Provided by UFC.

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