Overview
Hae Jun Yang (양해준), nicknamed “The Big Guy,” is one of South Korea’s most accomplished heavyweight mixed martial artists and a longtime representative of Team Posse.
Throughout a professional career spanning more than 15 years, Hee Jun Yang has competed across multiple weight classes—including light heavyweight, middleweight, and heavyweight—and has built a professional record of 16-6. Known for his physical strength, submission ability, and durability, Yang has competed in organizations such as M-1 Global, Legend FC, Road FC, DEEP, and Black Combat, capturing championships while remaining one of Korea’s top domestic heavyweights.
Early Life & Background
Born on April 12, 1988, Hae Jun Yang entered MMA during the early expansion of professional mixed martial arts in South Korea. After gaining experience on the regional circuit, he joined Team Posse, where he developed under one of Korea’s most respected coaching staffs. His willingness to compete in multiple weight classes early in his career helped him gain valuable experience against a diverse range of opponents both domestically and internationally.
Fighting Style
Despite carrying the nickname “The Big Guy,” Hae Jun Yang is far more than a power puncher. While nine of his professional victories have come by knockout or technical knockout, he has also demonstrated a highly effective grappling game, earning multiple wins through submissions including armbars, guillotines, Americana, and scarf-hold armlocks.
Hae Jun Yang thrives when he is able to pressure opponents into close-range exchanges, where his size, clinch control, and top pressure become overwhelming. As his career progressed, his submission game became increasingly dangerous, resulting in several first-round finishes against experienced competition. His versatility has allowed him to remain competitive across several eras of Korean MMA.
Professional Career
Hae Jun Yang made his professional debut in 2009, immediately making an impact with explosive first-round knockout victories in M-1 competition. He later became a regular competitor in Legend Fighting Championship, where he gained valuable international experience against foreign opposition before transitioning into Road FC, Korea’s premier MMA organization.
His Road FC run proved to be the defining chapter of his middleweight career. After suffering a competitive loss to future UFC standout Michel Pereira at Road FC 48, Yang rebounded with back-to-back victories over Dong Hwan Lim and undefeated champion In Jae La, capturing the Road FC Middleweight Championship via second-round TKO in one of the biggest upsets of 2019.
Rather than remaining at middleweight, Hae Jun Yang later embraced heavyweight competition. He won the inaugural Black Combat Heavyweight Championship in 2022 with a first-round submission over Won Jun Choi before successfully competing in Japan’s DEEP promotion and returning to Black Combat with another first-round submission victory in 2024. Those performances extended his winning streak to five consecutive fights while demonstrating a noticeable evolution toward a submission-oriented style.
Career Highlights
- Professional MMA record of 16-6.
- Former Road FC Middleweight Champion, defeating previously unbeaten In Jae La by TKO in 2019.
- Inaugural Black Combat Heavyweight Champion after submitting Won Jun Choi in the first round.
- Competed in M-1 Global, Legend FC, Road FC, DEEP, and Black Combat, showcasing longevity across multiple promotions.
- Recorded victories by knockout, technical knockout, and a wide variety of submissions, demonstrating a complete MMA skill set.
- Longtime representative of Team Posse, helping establish the gym as one of Korea’s elite professional MMA teams.
Summary & Trajectory
Hae Jun Yang has quietly assembled one of the most impressive résumés among Korean heavyweights of his generation. While he has rarely been the center of international attention, his success across multiple promotions and weight classes highlights a fighter capable of continually adapting throughout his career. From knocking out opponents during his early years to becoming an accomplished submission specialist later in his career, Hae Jun Yang has consistently evolved while remaining a fixture at the top of Korean MMA.
His championship victories in both Road FC and Black Combat further cement his place among Team Posse’s most accomplished athletes and one of the country’s premier veteran competitors.
Few Korean fighters have reinvented themselves as successfully as Hae Jun Yang. Early in his career, he was known primarily for his physicality and knockout power, but over time he transformed into a well-rounded finisher capable of ending fights with sophisticated submissions. That evolution allowed him to remain relevant through multiple generations of Korean MMA while collecting championships in two of the country's premier organizations.
Within Team Posse, Yang represents the gym's philosophy of continual growth and resilience. His upset victory over the undefeated In Jae La for the Road FC Middleweight Championship remains one of the defining moments of his career, while his later success in Black Combat demonstrated that he was far from finished. From a HanPunch perspective, Hae Jun Yang deserves recognition not only as a two-division-era champion but as one of Korean MMA's most adaptable and consistently dangerous veterans—an athlete whose longevity, versatility, and championship pedigree have earned him a lasting place in the sport's modern history.
Sang Kwon Han
Dae Hwan Kim
Yong Soo Jung
