LAS VEGAS – It’s been nearly five years since [autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag] has gotten to feel the weight of an extra $50,000 check on his flight home from a fight.
There’s a fairly big asterisk next to that stat about UFC post-fight bonuses for the South Korean, though, since he had to return home to serve a mandatory two years in the military. He came back in 2023, and two fights into that return no doubt will be looking for a return to those extra checks, too.
At UFC 310 (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Choi (15-4-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) opens the main card in a featherweight tussle with Nate Landwehr (18-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) that falls into the old adage of “Fight of the Night written all over it.”
Before his military stint, Choi had five straight post-fight bonuses – and three of those came for Fight of the Night in losses. That is a telling stat, given in his draw with Kyle Nelson nearly two years ago and a decision win over Bill Algeo in July – his first win in more than eight years – he got no bonus.
He needs dance partners who share the load, he thinks.
“For my last two fights, I didn’t really have the opportunity to a banger fight to the fans,” Choi said at Wednesday’s UFC 310 media day through a translator. “I’m going to grab this opportunity against Nate Landwehr and I’m going to show a slugfest to the fans.”
“I totally love that hyper-aggressiveness (he has). I totally agree with his mindset and I expect us both to be in the octagon on fight night and be hyper-aggressive to each other.”
Check out Choi’s full interview above.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.