Seong Ung Kim “Viper” personally reshapes the 70 kg and 80 kg fields for Tartaros Season 2, backing rising prospects, making tough cuts, and teasing two major figures as the Pro Audition’s team captains.
ZEUS FC is preparing for the second season of its Tartaros Pro Audition, and this time, Seong Ung Kim, better known as “Viper”, has been given significant influence over who makes the final lineup.
After helping plan the new season, Viper sat down with ZEUS FC to review the applicants, evaluate the promotion’s initial selections, make cuts and personally choose fighters he believes deserve an opportunity.
And judging by his selection criteria, Viper isn’t simply looking for the biggest records or most recognizable names.
The goal is to find fighters ZEUS FC can build around.
Viper Wants Fighters Who Can Grow With ZEUS FC
Early in the discussion, ZEUS FC explains that the objective of Tartaros Season 2 goes beyond generating views. The promotion wants to discover fighters who can develop into long-term partners — athletes capable of staying active and competing multiple times per year.
Viper approached the selection process with three main priorities: skill, potential and star power, in that order.
Skill came first. Then he considered whether a fighter had room to develop through continued competition with ZEUS FC. Finally, there was the entertainment factor: whether that fighter could become someone fans actually want to watch.
The result is a smaller and, according to those involved, stronger field than the first season, with the competition divided into 70 kg and 80 kg groups.
Seven fighters are expected to make up each division.
Viper Reshapes the 70 KG Field
The 70 kg division produced some of the most interesting decisions.
Several familiar names were discussed, including Min Jung Kim (“Ottugi”), Tae Young Kim (“Anaconda”), Ban Tiger, Steel, Whisky, Jutopia, Marco and Sacheon Dragon.
One fighter Viper appeared particularly confident in was Steel.
After watching his footage, Viper described Steel as someone who genuinely knows how to fight and suggested he could be trusted to create an entertaining fight. He quickly became one of Viper’s firm selections.
Then came one of the more unconventional choices: Whisky.
Whisky entered the discussion carrying a 0-3 professional record, but Viper wasn’t willing to judge him solely by the numbers. He believes Whisky possesses more ability than his record suggests and sees the Pro Audition as an opportunity for him to finally demonstrate it.
With Steel and Whisky moving into the lineup, however, somebody had to make way.
Marco Gets Moved to the Backup Position
Viper ultimately leaned toward removing Marco from the main group.
It wasn’t necessarily an indictment of Marco’s ability. Instead, Viper argued that Marco had already received opportunities to establish himself through ZEUS FC and hadn’t produced enough in return.
Viper wanted to use the new season to give another fighter an opportunity.
That opened the door for Sacheon Dragon, whose appeal extends beyond fighting ability.
Viper believes Sacheon Dragon has the personality to actively create moments during the show, pointing to his previous behavior in Black Combat-related content as an indication that he won’t simply disappear into the background once filming begins.
Marco isn’t completely out, though.
He was instead moved into a backup position, leaving him available to enter the competition should an injury or another issue force one of the selected fighters out.
Viper expects the resulting 70 kg group to produce plenty of action.
The 80 KG Division Presents a Different Challenge
Seong Ung Kim was considerably more critical when evaluating the 80 kg field.
Viper openly acknowledged that he found the division somewhat weaker than the 70 kg applicant pool, forcing him to look more closely at which fighters had the potential to make the most of the opportunity.
Among the fighters discussed were Nix, Korean El Cucuy, Mario, Berserk and The Visual.
Nix presented an interesting dilemma.
Viper admitted that he initially considered dropping the veteran from the lineup in favor of a younger prospect with greater upside.
But there was a problem.
After reviewing the available candidates, Viper didn’t believe anyone had done enough to clearly take Nix’s position. His existing career and experience ultimately earned him another opportunity, with Viper hoping Tartaros can provide the veteran with a chance to turn things around.
Jun A Ryu Becomes One of Viper’s Fighters to Watch
One of the most interesting additions to the 80 kg lineup is Jun A Ryu, known as “Impact.”
This selection comes with some history.
Viper has trained with Ryu and says he has known him since Ryu was still in high school. Now 21 years old, Ryu has made significant progress in a relatively short period and has since made his professional debut and picked up his first victory.
Viper believes there is considerably more development ahead of him.
Naturally, his personal connection to Ryu led to some joking about whether Viper was showing favoritism.
Seong Ung Kim pushed back on that idea.
He insisted that despite knowing Ryu personally, he approached the selection objectively. The young fighter’s recent development and potential were enough to earn his place.
Mutant was also discussed as a potential backup fighter for the 80 kg group.
This Isn’t Just About Records
Perhaps the most interesting part of Viper’s selection process is what he didn’t prioritize.
A perfect record doesn’t automatically earn someone a place, and a poor record doesn’t necessarily eliminate them.
Whisky is the clearest example.
A fighter sitting at 0-3 would normally be an easy name to remove when narrowing an audition field. Instead, Viper believes the ability behind that record deserves another look.
On the opposite end, simply having experience isn’t enough either.
The philosophy behind Tartaros Season 2 appears to be about finding fighters who can become something more — competitors with enough ability to fight now, enough potential to improve and enough personality to give fans a reason to follow their journey.
In other words, ZEUS FC isn’t only searching for winners.
It’s searching for fighters it can build.
And Then Came the Biggest Tease
The fighter selections weren’t the only major development.
Near the end of the discussion, ZEUS FC revealed that the original concept for Season 2 was very different.
The initial idea was apparently for Viper and a ZEUS FC representative to become opposing team captains, creating a rivalry that could potentially culminate in an MMA fight between them.
That idea has effectively disappeared.
After working together, their relationship has become too close to manufacture that kind of rivalry.
So Viper proposed another solution.
Bring in two major figures to lead the teams instead.
The identities weren’t revealed during the discussion, but the reaction to Viper’s recommendations suggests ZEUS FC believes the selections could generate significant attention within the Korean MMA community.
They even joked that the announcement could turn the Black Combat online community upside down — and suggested that if one of the captains actually competes, Black Combat CEO Black could potentially show up to watch.
The video ultimately stops short of naming them, confirming instead that the Tartaros Season 2 team captains will be revealed through a separate video.
For now, the fighters have been selected, the backups are taking shape, and Seong Ung Kim “Viper” has put his fingerprints all over the second season of Tartaros.
The next reveal might be the one that gets everyone talking.
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