After first UFC win, Ji Yeon Kim now hopes for fight closer to Korea

CHARLOTTE – Ji Yeon Kim was, understandably, happy about beating fellow flyweight Justine Kish on Saturday.

After all, it’s not every day that a fighter gets to pick up her first UFC win, let alone a win against a tough opponent like Kish (6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC), who was fighting in her own backyard at UFC on FOX 27.

Kim (7-1-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) had to make the particularly long journey from her own home in South Korea.

“It was my first time coming to the (U.S.),” Kim told MMAjunkie via an interpreter after the preliminary-card bout, which aired live on FS1 from Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. “So I had a problem with the jet lag and the time difference.”

Making the trip, however, paid off when the judges’ official decision was read, letting Kim know that, via split, she’d officially bounced back from a loss to Lucie Pudilova in her UFC debut.

However, the win came with some controversy. Despite one judge giving Kim a 30-27 mark – against dissenting 29-28 and 28-29 scores – some people thought Kish deserved the nod. That includes 11 media outlets who scored it for Kish and four for Kim, according to MMADecisions.com.

It turns out Kim, while happy, wasn’t “100 percent satisfied” with her display, which she attributes to a couple of different reasons. First off, there was the fact that while she tried to tune it out, there was kind of a big crowd rooting against her on Saturday.

And then there’s the fact Kim couldn’t reap the benefits of moving down from 135 pounds to the newly created women’s flyweight class.

“I wish I could move more freely, more light,” Kim said. “But I couldn’t do that. That’s one thing I’m going to prepare for the next fight.”

Kim said her plan is to remain in the UFC’s 125-pound pool. Considering she’s just arrived there, though, the South Korean fighter said she needs some time to map out the division’s situation before thinking about possible opponents and callouts.

Given a choice, however, there’s one thing Kim would like to request.

“Personally, I want to have my next fight near Korea,” she said. “The airplane ride is pretty tough.”

To hear from Kim, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC on FOX 27, check out the UFC Events section of the site.