Jun Yong Park (32) has been recognized for his mixed martial arts skills, ranked in the UFC’s official top 15 for each weight class. It’s even more positive when it comes from the media of the opponent’s country.
UFC Fight Night 224 will take place on July 16 in Enterprise, Nevada, USA. Park will face Albert Durayev (34-Russia) at middleweight (-84 kg).
According to Russian fight media outlet Fight Time, “Durayev is really unlucky. Jun Yong Park, who knows how to fight without being driven by desire, is truly one of the top 15 UFC middleweights.”
Jun Yong Park (left) and Albert Durayev. The two have something in common: they are former Russian mixed martial arts champions. Photo via UFC Profile
Park, who entered the UFC in 2018 as the top-ranked middleweight in Russia’s Real Fight, has gone 6-2 since 2019, but has yet to be ranked by the organization. However, Fight Time raved about his South Korean opponent, saying, “I don’t think Durayev has a chance to win.”
Durayev fights out of Russia’s Absolute Championship Berkut, where he was the 2016 welterweight (-77 kilograms) and 2017-2018 middleweight champion. He entered the UFC through the Contender Series in 2021 in the aftermath of COVID-19 and is 2-1.
ACB changed its name to Absolute Championship Akhmat in 2019. It joins the UFC, Bellator, Professional Fighters League (USA), ONE Championship (Singapore), Rizin (Japan), Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (Poland), and Cage Warriors (UK) as the nine largest organizations in mixed martial arts.
The Contender Series is a talent search organized by UFC President Dana White (54, USA). In his career, Durayev has been rated as the 21st best UFC middleweight in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first three quarters of 2019 by the mixed martial arts rankings system FightMatrix.
While his ranking has dropped somewhat since the coronavirus pandemic, Durayev still deserves to be called a middleweight powerhouse. However, ‘Fight Time’ said, “He has good self-control and refined technique. He knows how to fight rough when he needs to.”
The May 22 Fight Matrix rankings also had Park ranked 27th at UFC middleweight, ahead of 36th-ranked Durayev. “Fight Time” said, “Durayev is nervous because he has yet to prove himself in the UFC. Park will go into this fight with confidence.”먹튀검증
Park is also a regular on season 2 of JTBC’s soccer program “Together We Can. If he defeats Durayev, he could move into a tie for second place on the UFC’s all-time Korean wins list. He has a chance to make a name for himself.
His size disadvantage is variable, with a height of 178-180 centimeters and a wingspan (both arms + shoulders) of 185-191 centimeters. For Park, he needs to stay calm against Durayev and not be rattled by the changes in the situation, as praised by Fight Time.