Kim Dong-hyun (35), who is undergoing rehabilitation, expressed his intention to use ‘Ma Dong-hyun’ as his nickname again if he returns as a mixed martial artist.
MBC’s current affairs program ‘True Story Expedition’ shed light on efforts to overcome cervical myelopathy caused by central nerve compression caused by a herniated disc in the neck through ‘paraplegic UFC fighter Maestro Kim Dong-hyun’.
Kim Dong-hyun said, “I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who shows interest and support. I will definitely stand up and show you a better image. I will start over as Ma Dong-hyun.”
Ma Dong-hyun is an abbreviation of ‘Maestro Kim Dong-hyun’. It is one of the active names used together with ‘Little Kim Dong-hyun’ and ‘Kim Dong-hyun B’ to distinguish him from UFC senior Kim Dong-hyun (42). He won 3 wins and 5 losses until 2019 in the UFC, which he entered in 2015 with the Korean TFC lightweight (-70kg) champion as a stepping stone.
During his time in the UFC, Ma Dong-hyun was a great matchmaker who won the best match prize money in three tournaments. In 2022, he was even chosen as the protagonist of one of the ‘2 fights that are legendary brawls but are not talked about enough’ by the mixed martial arts media ‘MMA Addict’.
However, the aggressive fighting style that enthused the spectators and viewers led to a decline in durability. It is cited as the reason that Ma Dong-hyun ended his UFC career with three consecutive wins in mixed martial arts.
“I think of the rehabilitation process as training to return to being a mixed martial artist from the moment my toes regain strength,” said Ma Dong-hyun, who said, “I don’t know when it will be, but my dream is to compete again in a great way.”크크크벳
Before his health worsened due to the accumulated shock of not buying his body, Dong-hyun Ma made up for his two consecutive losses in his UFC debut with three consecutive wins and was on the rise. In the mid-2000s, he defeated Takanori Gomi (45, Japan), who was the world’s strongest at -73 kg, with a punch TKO.
Ma Dong-hyun said, “It will be a success story that can give paraplegic patients a little bit of strength. I also want to raise his juniors into champions.”
He was a UFC fighter who fought recklessly with a heart that did not give up, but the paraplegia that came suddenly broke his body and mind. Ma Dong-hyun said, “I was so embarrassed and hopeless. I was engulfed in all sorts of bad thoughts.”
Ma Dong-hyun, who said, “I realized that even if I couldn’t move my body, I could decide my mood,” said Ma Dong-hyun, “From then on, I was determined to succeed in rehabilitation unconditionally.”