"I will cut off Mighty Mo's nickname of the 'Korean Killer'."  Get to know Kang Dong-Kook, the national wrestling champion re-birthed in MMA with a title shot.

Kang Dong-Kook (0-1, Team Paradise) is a wrestler whose career spans 20 years. He was on the National Team from 1999 to 2002 and has won the National Tournament nine times. As a Division 1 wrestler, he won third in the World University Wrestling Championships 2001 and the Folk Style Championships in the USA.

Kang sought out martial arts as a kid, and wanted to go to a sports school, but none was available to him. So he took up Taekwondo and judo until high school, where he got into wrestling. There, for fun he also cross-trained with the boxers.

Kang also grappled domestically in ADCC. He said he was interested in MMA and trained some for almost a decade, which was what spurred his decision to add grappling to his list of skills.

While it was not his goal to fight MMA throughout all his years in combat sports, he attended ROAD FC 9 to watch his friends compete, and he got the bug. Kang said, “I was cross training with a lot of MMA guys for a long time, and I’ve been watching them fight. I was at the last ROAD FC, and 

I wanted to fight. So I told Mr Jung and he made it happen.”

And it happened fast. Kang finally turned his hand to MMA when he faced Jeff Monson at ROAD FC 10 in 2012.

Nobody expected it to be competitive: a grizzled veteran facing an MMA debutant. But it was. The grappling pair surprised the audience with a bit of striking, then turned it into a grinding wrestling war. The crowd cheered when Kang landed a huge takedown. They gasped when a failed shoot allowed Monson to rain down knees to his head. Kang took the fight all the way to the bell, and while the odds were already in the 60+ fight veteran's favor, everyone cheered for Kang even though his hand did not get raised.

Fast forward to Xiaomi ROAD FC 040 and Kang will enter the cage for only the second time against reigning, defending ROAD FC Openweight Champion Mighty Mo. Seeming calm and well prepared, Kang vowed, “It is an honor to be able to get the title fight. I will beat the 'Korean Killer' Mighty Mo.”

That's a pretty big statement. Mo's punches are the stuff of nightmares. Kang replied, "I think that any heavyweight can stun any other heavyweight he hits. I will try to move a lot, avoid his fists, and try to mix in my wrestling. I've been training boxing since January last year."

At ROAD FC 10, Kang tipped the scale at 97.3 kgs. His next match at openweight will see him face an opponent who could be 140 kgs. Even with the complement of skills he has, the weight is going to make a huge difference. There are already comparisons about Kang's background of wrestling mixed with striking being comparable to Choi Mu-Bae, whom Mo has already knocked out twice.

Kang is quite analytical when it comes to discussing strategy. "It seemed to me that Choi Mu-Bae didn't move around a lot. Mighty Mo thinks he can't get hit by anyone in the clinch because he weighs close to 140 kgs. But his center of gravity is unnatural.”

If mindset and spirit are also a component of preparation and readiness, well, Kang has those in spades. "My physical condition is very good now. People who work out together with me say that I'm better now at MMA than I was at wrestling. So I'm very confident."

The stage is set and the line is drawn. Kang concludes, “This time I will cut off Mighty Mo's nickname of the 'Korean Killer'."

Xiaomi ROAD FC 040 takes place on July 15, 2017 at the Jangchung Arena in Seoul, South Korea. The Main Event will be Openweight Champion Mighty Mo defending his belt against Kang Dong-Kook. The opening round of 16 fighters for the ROAD FC $1 Million Lightweight Tournament will also take place.