Team departs Thursday — 'We'll come back with gold medals'
South Korea's first MMA national team is heading to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with gold medals in their sights.
The Korea MMA Federation said the national squad — including Yoon Tae-young, 30, Choi Eun-seok, 20, and Lee Bo-mi, 27 — departed for Nagoya, Japan through Incheon International Airport on Thursday.
MMA is making its debut as an official Asian Games discipline at this year's edition, and South Korea is fielding a national team in the sport for the first time. Yoon will compete in the men's 77-kilogram traditional category, Choi in the men's 71-kilogram modern category, and Lee in the women's 54-kilogram modern category — all three chasing what would be South Korea's first Asian Games medal in MMA, and aiming to make it gold.
Athletes were selected based on their results and participation in official international competitions sanctioned by the Asian MMA Federation, among other Asian Games qualification criteria. The squad has been preparing under head coach Kim Geum-cheon and chief assistant coach Kwon A-sol.
The team will spend Friday acclimatizing and fine-tuning their condition before taking part in the draw and a technical briefing on Saturday. Preliminary rounds and the quarterfinals are scheduled for Sunday, the semifinals on Monday, and the weight-class finals on Tuesday.
"There is a weight that comes with being the first national team representatives, and that does put pressure on me, but I have trained hard," Yoon said. "I will come back with a gold medal around my neck."
"I have become a completely different person through preparing for the Asian Games," Choi said. "I will definitely return with gold." Lee was equally confident. "I have prepared as well as I can and I feel ready," she said. "I will bring back a gold medal."
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