Kim Ji Yeong got the first win of his career Friday night at Top FC 24 in Seoul, and he celebrated it by screaming in pain on the canvas. The referee who slid in to stop his knockout of Kim Jun Woo crashed straight into his leg, and Kim Ji Yeong’s knee appeared to give out completely.
The finish itself was a beauty. Midway through their lightweight undercard bout, in the second round, the two were tied up in the clinch along the cage when Kim Ji Yeong dug a short left hand into Kim Jun Woo’s body. Kim Jun Woo folded on the spot, covered up and had nothing left to offer. The referee read it correctly and moved fast, dropping into a slide to get between them. As he arrived, Kim Ji Yeong’s leg got caught underneath him, and the knee bent in a way knees aren’t supposed to bend.
MMA Mania reported that Kim Ji Yeong was visibly stunned as well as hurt, which makes sense when you consider the sequence. One moment he’s watching his opponent crumble in front of a home crowd. The next he’s the one on the mat. The referee did check on him moments afterward, according to the report. The official has not been named in the coverage so far.
Uncrowned posted the clip on X on Oct. 23 with a blunt caption: “An absolute disaster.” The account added, “This should be banned before oblique kicks,” a jab at the long argument over a technique that critics say wrecks knees. It’s a joke, but it lands, because this time nobody threw anything. The damage came from the man paid to prevent it.
Neither fighter came in with much of a résumé. Kim Ji Yeong entered the cage at 0-1, so the result should move him to 1-1, and for a young lightweight that first win in front of his own people is the kind of night you build a career around. The reports didn’t list Kim Jun Woo’s record. There’s also been no word yet on a diagnosis for Kim Ji Yeong’s knee or how long he could be out, and anyone guessing from the video alone is guessing.
My take: you can’t fault a referee for hurrying. A fast stoppage on a fighter who’s folded and covering up is exactly what you want, and plenty of fighters have taken extra shots because an official was a half-second late. The slide is a different matter. Diving feet-first into two tangled bodies at the cage puts the referee’s weight wherever the legs happen to be, and on Friday the legs belonged to the guy who’d just won. Promotions train officials on positioning and timing, and somebody at Top FC should be pulling this tape and asking why the safest path in was along the floor. Kim Ji Yeong did everything right with that left hand. He’s the one waiting on an MRI.
