Lee Sung-hyun

Lee Sung-hyun
Lee Sung-hyun
Born	January 10, 1991 (age 35); South Korea
Occupation	Professional kickboxer
Years active	2009–present
Known for	World Kickboxing Network welterweight champion, RISE Middleweight champion

Lee Sung-hyun (; born January 10, 1991) is a professional kickboxer from South Korea who competes across the lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight categories. He has previously held the World Kickboxing Network welterweight championship as well as the RISE Middleweight title.

Recognized for his rapid striking and sophisticated combination techniques, Lee made his K-1 debut in March 2009 and claimed the RISE Korea Super Lightweight Championship by June 2011. Frequently fighting under the RISE banner in Japan, he achieved notable milestones in 2013 by winning both the K-1 Korea MAX Tournament and the RISE lightweight championship.

By April 2013, LiverKick.com had ranked Lee as the fourth best lightweight fighter worldwide.

Early career

Lee initially rose to prominence after securing the Korean Welterweight Championship from the Korean Martial Arts Association (KMAA). His first K-1 appearance occurred on March 20, 2009, where he earned a unanimous decision victory over Kim Tae-hwan at K-1 Award & MAX Korea 2009 held in Seoul. Another significant moment came on October 3, 2010, at the K-1 World MAX 2010 in Seoul World Championship Tournament Final 16, when Lee defeated Kizaemon Saiga by unanimous decision. Following a cautious opening round, he took control in the second by knocking Saiga down twice with a sequence culminating in a liver punch and a combination of left hook and right low kick.

Capturing the RISE Lightweight title

Lee was invited by Krush to compete for their inaugural 63 kg (138 lb) championship. During the Krush First Generation King Tournaments ~Round.2~ in Tokyo on January 9, 2011, he faced Koya Urabe in the quarterfinals. After three rounds plus an extension round ended in a draw, Urabe secured victory via unanimous decision. Returning to South Korea, Lee triumphed in a four-man tournament on June 17, 2011, in Seoul by defeating Son Jun-hyuk and Park Don-fa, thereby earning the RISE Korea Super Lightweight (-65 kg/143.3 lb) title and establishing himself as a leading regional contender.

Soon after, Lee began competing at major RISE events in Tokyo. At RISE 85 on November 23, 2011, he suffered a unanimous decision loss to RISE Super Lightweight Champion Koji Yoshimoto in a non-title bout; a point deduction for missing weight influenced this result. Lee bounced back with an extension round victory over Park Byung-kyu at The Khan 3: New Generation held in Seoul on January 15, 2012. Later that year, on June 2 at RISE 88, he defeated reigning lightweight champion Yuki by majority decision in a non-title contest.

On July 1, 2012, at RISE 89, Lee overcame Yuto Watanabe via technical knockout in an extension round despite having been knocked down earlier. He was scheduled to face Hiroshi Mizumachi for the number one contender position at RISE 90 on October 25; however, Mizumachi withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Shohei Asahara, whom Lee defeated by unanimous decision. Then on December 2, 2012, during the co-promoted event ~Infinity I~ by RISE and M-1 Muaythai Challenge, Lee knocked out Buakaw Weerasakreck with a first-round right cross at a weight of 63.5 kg (140 lb).

This win granted Lee a rematch against Yuki and an opportunity to contest for the RISE Lightweight (-63 kg/138.9 lb) Championship at RISE 91/M-1 ~Infinity II~ on January 6, 2013. Utilizing his speed and precise combinations—especially effective low kicks—Lee stopped Yuki in the fourth round to claim the title and secured his ranking as the world’s fourth-best lightweight fighter.

K-1 Tournaments

After advancing to the -70 kg/154 lb division, Lee made his comeback to K-1 following a two-year hiatus by participating in the K-1 Korea MAX 2013 eight-man event held in Seoul on February 2, 2013. He secured a unanimous decision victory over Shingo Garyu in the quarterfinals, then achieved a TKO win against Zheng Zhao Yu in the semifinals. In the championship bout, Lee outscored Pongthong Jetsada to capture the tournament title. Continuing in the -70 kg category, he debuted in Glory against Yoshihiro Sato at Glory 8: Tokyo - 2013 65kg Slam on May 3, 2013, but was defeated by unanimous decision.

Lee then dropped down to 65 kg/143 lb to challenge RISE super lightweight titleholder Yasuomi Soda at RISE 94 on July 19, 2013. Despite an impressive opening phase, Lee was edged out by majority decision, concluding his five-fight winning streak. Having qualified for the K-1 World MAX 2013 World Championship Tournament Final 16 through his Korean victory, he defeated Charles François by unanimous decision in Majorca, Spain on September 14, 2013.

On January 11, 2014, Lee earned a split decision win over Elam Ngor during the K-1 World MAX World Championship Tournament Quarter-final held in Gran Canaria, Spain. At the K-1 World MAX 2014 World Championship Tournament Final 4 event in Baku on February 23, he was bested by Buakaw Banchamek via unanimous decision in the semifinals.

Competing at -65 kg at Shootboxing 2014: Act 3 in Tokyo on June 21, 2014, Lee defeated Hiroaki Suzuki by decision. He successfully defended his RISE lightweight crown against Shohei Asahara at RISE 99 on April 29, 2014, winning by majority decision.

Initially slated to face Andrei Kulebin at the K-1 World MAX 2013 World Championship Tournament Final in Pattaya on July 26, 2014, the bout was postponed due to the 2014 Thai coup d'état. The fight eventually took place in October 2014, with Lee prevailing by extra round decision.

RISE Middleweight champion

Lee triumphed in the Kunlun Fight Qualification tournament at KLF 40 by defeating Zhang Chunyu via third-round TKO in the semifinals and overcoming Chris Ngimbi through a decision victory in the final.

In July 2019, he secured the vacant RISE Middleweight Championship by defeating Shintaro Matsukura via decision at RISE 133.

He also claimed the WKN World welterweight title with a split decision win over Johnny Smith at Prokick: Knockdown Lockdown on November 27, 2021.

At RISE 161 on August 28, 2022, Lee faced Tsukuru Midorikawa in a non-title match that concluded as a majority draw after both regular time and an extra round.

Lee’s first defense of his RISE Middleweight title was against leading contender Kaito Ono at RISE EL DORADO 2023 on March 26, where he lost by unanimous decision.

On July 2, 2023, Lee competed against RISE welterweight champion Ryota Nakano in a non-title bout during RISE World Series 2023 - 1st Round and suffered a knockout via spinning backfist in the second round.

Super lightweight

At RISE ELDORADO 2024 on March 17, Lee faced former RISE Lightweight champion Taiju Shiratori, winning by majority decision.

He later had a rematch with Ryota Nakano at RISE WORLD SERIES 2024 YOKOHAMA on September 8, securing another majority decision victory with judges scoring it 30–29 twice and one scoring it even at 29–29.

On December 21, Lee participated in the quarterfinals of the GLORY RISE Featherweight Grand Prix held in Chiba, Japan, defeating Berjan Peposhi by majority decision. However, he was eliminated in the semifinals after losing to Petpanomrung Kiatmuu9, who received unanimous rounds from all judges.

Subsequently, Lee faced former RISE Lightweight (-63 kg) champion Kento Haraguchi at RISE ELDORADO 2025 on March 29 and was defeated by unanimous decision with all judges awarding Haraguchi a clean sweep of rounds at 30–27.

Kickboxing

Kunlun Fight
- Champion of the 2016 Kunlun Fight World Max Group F Tournament
K-1
- Winner of the K-1 Korea MAX Tournament in 2013
Korean Martial Arts Association
- Holder of the KMAA Korean Welterweight Title
RISE
- 2011 RISE Korea Super Lightweight (-65 kg) Titleholder
- 2013 RISE Lightweight (-63 kg) Champion with one successful title defense
- 2019 RISE Middleweight (-70 kg) Titleholder
World Kickboxing Network
- 2021 WKN Oriental Rules World Welterweight (-69.8 kg) Champion

Kickboxing record

|- style="background:#;" | 2025-11-02|| ||align=left| TBA|| RISE World Series 2025 - Last Featherweight Standing Final 16 || Tokyo, Japan || || ||

|- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb" | 2025-03-29 || Loss || align=left| Kento Haraguchi || RISE ELDORADO 2025|| Tokyo, Japan || Unanimous Decision || 3 || 3:00 |- style="background:#fbb;" | 2024-12-21|| Defeat ||align=left| Petpanomrung Kiatmuu9 || GLORY RISE Featherweight Grand Prix, Semifinals || Chiba, Japan || Unanimous Decision || 3 || 3:00

|- style="background:#cfc;" | 2024-12-21|| Victory ||align=left| Berjan Peposhi || GLORY RISE Featherweight Grand Prix, Quarterfinals || Chiba, Japan || Majority Decision || 3 || 3:00

|- style="background:#cfc;" | 2024-09-08|| Win ||align=left| Ryota Nakano || RISE WORLD SERIES 2024 YOKOHAMA || Yokohama, Japan || Majority Decision || 3 || 3:00

|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc" | 2024-03-17 ||Win || align=left| Taiju Shiratori|| RISE ELDORADO 2024|| Tokyo, Japan || Majority Decision || 3 || 3:00

|- style="background:#fbb;" | 2023-07-02|| Loss ||align=left| Ryota Nakano || RISE World Series 2023 – 1st Round || Osaka, Japan || KO (Spinning back fist)|| 2||1:05

|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc" | 2023-04-29 || Win ||align=left| Tom Santos || KTK Championship || Daegu, South Korea || TKO (Jumping knee) || 2 ||

|- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb" | 2023-03-26 || Loss||align=left| Kaito Ono || RISE ELDORADO 2023 || Tokyo, Japan || Unanimous Decision ||5 ||3:00 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- |- style="background:#c5d2ea;" | 2022-08-28|| Draw||align=left| Tsukuru Midorikawa || RISE 161 || Tokyo, Japan || Extension Round Majority Decision || 4 || 3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" | 2021-11-27|| Win ||align=left| Johnny Smith || Prokick: Knockdown Lockdown || Belfast, Northern Ireland || Split Decision || 5 || 3:00 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- bgcolor="#FFBBBB" | 2019-09-28 || Loss ||align=left| Kaito Ono || Shoot Boxing 2019 act.4 || Tokyo, Japan || Unanimous Decision|| 5 || 3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" | 2019-07-05|| Victory||align=left| Shintaro Matsukura || RISE 133|| Japan|| Unanimous Decision||5||3:00 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2018-06-17|| Win||align=left| Shintaro Matsukura|| RISE125, Chiba, Japan|| Extension Round Unanimous Decision||4||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2018-05-12|| Win||align=left| Vladimir Shuliak|| KTK event in Kimpo, South Korea|| Decision||3||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2017-05-14|| Win||align=left| Sundui Batjargal|| ICX Seoul, South Korea|| KO (Right Low Kick)||2|| |- bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |2016-08-20|| Defeat||align=left| Jomthong Chuwattana|| Kunlun Fight50 – World MAX Final16, Jinan, China|| Unanimous Decision||3||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2016-03-25|| Win||align=left| Chris Ngimbi|| Kunlun Fight40 – World MAX Group F Final, Tongling, China|| Unanimous Decision||3||3:00 |- ! style=background:white colspan=9 | |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2016-03-25|| Victory||align=left| Zhang Chunyu|| Kunlun Fight40 – World MAX Group F Semi Finals, Tongling, China|| TKO||3|| |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2016-01-23|| Win||align=left| Jiao Daobo|| Kunlun Fight37, China|| Unanimous Decision||3||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2016-01-09|| Win||align=left| — || Kunlun Fight36, Shanghai, China|| Unanimous Decision||3||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2015-11-14|| Win||align=left| Mohan Dragon|| MKF Ultimate Victor, Incheon, South Korea|| Unanimous Decision||3||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2014-10-11|| Win||align=left| Andrei Kulebin|| K-1 World MAX2014 Final, Pattaya, Thailand||| Extension Round Decision|||4|||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2014-06-21||| Win||| Hiroaki Suzuki||| Shootboxing2014 Act3, Tokyo, Japan||| Unanimous Decision|||5|||3:00 |- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"

|2014-04-29||| Win||| Shohei Asahara||| RISE99, Tokyo, Japan||| Majority Decision|||5|||3:00
|-

! style=background:white colspan=9 |

|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2014-03-31||| Victory||| Meng Guodong||| Kunlun Fight3, Harbin, China||| KO|||2|||2:00
|- bgcolor="#FFBBBB"
|2014-02-23||| Loss||| Buakaw Banchamek||| K-1 World MAX2013 Semi Finals, Baku, Azerbaijan||| Unanimous Decision|||3|||3:00
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2014-01-11||| Win||| Elam Ngor||| K-1 World MAX Quarter-final Gran Canaria, Spain||| Split Decision|||3|||3:00
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2013-09-14||| Victory||| Charles François||| K-1 World MAX Final16 Majorca, Spain||| Unanimous Decision|||3|||3:00
|- bgcolor="#FFBBBB"
|2013-07-19||| Defeat||| Yasuomi Soda||| RISE94 Tokyo, Japan||| Majority Decision|||3|||3:00
|- bgcolor="#FFBBBB"
|2013-05-03||| Loss||| Yoshihiro Sato||| Glory8 Tokyo, Japan||| Unanimous Decision|||3|||3:00
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2013-02-02||| Win||| Pongthong Jetsada||| K-1 Korea MAX Final Seoul, South Korea||| Unanimous Decision|||3|||3:00
|-

! style=background:white colspan=9 |

|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2013-02-02||| Win||| Zheng Zhaoyu||| K-1 Korea MAX Semi Finals Seoul, South Korea||| TKO (front kick to body)||2||||2:04
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2013-02–02||| Victory||| Shingo Garyu||| K–1 Korea MAX Quarter Finals Seoul, South Korea||| Unanimous Decision||||||
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2013–01–06||| Win|||| Yuki|||| RISE91/M−1 Infinity II Tokyo, Japan|||| KO (low kicks)||4||||1:58
|-

! style=background:white colspan=9 |

|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2012–12–02||||Win||||Buakaw Weerasakreck||||RISE/M−1 Infinity I Tokyo Japan||||KO(right cross)||1||||2:58
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2012–10–25||||Win||||Shohei Asahara||||RISE90 Tokyo Japan||||Unanimous Decision|||| 
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2012–07–01||||Win||||Yuto Watanabe||||RISE89 Tokyo Japan||||TKO(right cross)||4||||1:29
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2012–06–02||||Win||||Yuki||||RISE88 Tokyo Japan||||Majority Decision|||| 
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2012–01–15||||Win||||Park Byung–kyu||||The Khan New Generation Seoul South Korea||||Extension Round Unanimous Decision|||| 
|- bgcolor="#FFBBBB"
|2011–11–23||||Loss||||Koji Yoshimoto||||RISE85 Tokyo Japan||||Unanimous Decision|||| 
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2011–06–17||||Win||||Park Don-fa||||RISE Korea Final Seoul South Korea||||Unanimous Decision|||| 
|-

! style=background:white colspan=9 |

|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2011–06–17||||Win||||Son Jun-hyuk||||RISE Korea Semi Finals Seoul South Korea||||KO(low kicks)||2||||1:50
|- bgcolor="#FFBBBB"
|2011–01–09||||Loss||||Koya Urabe||||Krush First Generation King Tournaments Quarter Finals Tokyo Japan||||Extension Round Unanimous Decision||
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2010–10–03||||Win||||Kizaemon Saiga||||K−1 World MAX Seoul World Championship Final16 Seoul South Korea||||Unanimous Decision||
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2010–00–00||||Win||||Kwon Min-seok||||RISE Korea Seoul South Korea||||Decision||
|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
|2009–03–20||||Win||||Kim Tae-hwan||||K−1 Award & MAX Korea2009 Seoul South Korea||||Unanimous Decision||

|- ! colspan=9 | Legend:

External links

Official profile on Glory

References