JunYong Park

Overview

Nine UFC wins, and only three of them came by finish. All three were submissions.

JunYong Park, "The Iron Turtle," fights at middleweight and holds a 9-4 UFC record. He is not a knockout artist: none of his wins came by KO/TKO, and six of the nine went to the judges. What separates him is how often he hunts for the submission, and the three that landed show it wasn't empty effort. He carries a loss into his next fight, and the story of this career is a fighter who beats the opponents he should beat and struggles against the ones the model rates as strong.

UFC Career

Park debuted at UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang in August 2019 and lost to Anthony Hernandez by submission in Round 2. He answered with back-to-back unanimous decisions over Marc-Andre Barriault and John Phillips, then took a majority decision over Tafon Nchukwi in 2021.

That run ended in October 2021, when Gregory Rodrigues stopped him in Round 2 at 3:13. It is the only KO/TKO loss on his UFC record.

The rebuild was his best stretch. A split decision over Eryk Anders started it, and then came the finishes: Joseph Holmes by submission in Round 2, Denis Tiuliulin in Round 1 at 4:05, and Albert Duraev in Round 2 at 4:45. Four straight wins, his longest streak. Notice the clock on those finishes. He gets there late in the round, not early.

The next step up stopped him. Andre Muniz, an opponent our model tiers as strong, took a split decision in December 2023. Park bounced back with decision wins over Brad Tavares and Ismail Naurdiev, then dropped a unanimous decision to Ikram Aliskerov at UFC 321, another opponent in the strong tier.

He has no wins over elite opponents. Both losses to strong opponents went the distance, and neither ended early.

Fighting Style

JunYong Park is a submission hunter. He goes after finishes on the ground more often than almost anyone in the UFC, and all three of his stoppages have come by submission, none by strikes.

On the feet he is a busy, accurate striker who outlands most opponents. His defense and his takedown game are middle of the road, so he doesn't give much away, but he isn't known for avoiding damage either.

Six of his nine UFC wins have gone to the scorecards. When he does finish, it comes early: once in Round 1 and twice in Round 2, never later.

Notable Wins

• Albert Duraev — submission, Round 2 (4:45), UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Bueno Silva (2023)
• Denis Tiuliulin — submission, Round 1 (4:05), UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac (2023)
• Joseph Holmes — submission, Round 2 (3:04), UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Allen (2022)
• Brad Tavares — split decision, Round 3, UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Taira (2024)

Quick Facts

• Division: Middleweight
• UFC record: 9-4
• Professional record (all promotions): 19-7-0
• UFC debut: 2019
• Stance: Orthodox
• Reach: 73"
• Height: 5'10"
• Team: Korean Top Team, Seoul, South Korea
• Born: Seoul, South Korea