The Project Trigger heavyweight, Chang Joon Choi, says his toughest opponent isn’t another fighter, it’s the standards he sets for himself as he chases the UFC before turning 30.
For many aspiring MMA fighters, the road to the UFC is defined by sacrifice.
Long training days, financial uncertainty, sleeping wherever you can, and chasing opportunities from one gym to another have become familiar stories throughout the sport.
Chang Joon Choi‘s journey includes all of those hardships.
He trains two or three times a day, balances boxing, MMA, and strength work, travels to improve his skills, and has even spent nights sleeping in his car to continue pursuing his dream. But after watching BEHINDER’s latest Project Trigger documentary, it becomes clear that those sacrifices are only part of his story.
The real battle is happening inside his own mind.
Never Satisfied
Throughout the documentary, coaches and teammates repeatedly praise Choi’s work ethic.
They describe him as one of the hardest-working athletes in the gym, a fighter who rarely takes shortcuts, constantly studies his craft, and immediately applies corrections during training. His coaches believe he possesses the intelligence, athleticism, and technical foundation to eventually become one of Korea’s premier heavyweight fighters.
Yet Choi doesn’t seem interested in hearing those compliments.
Instead, he focuses on everything he still hasn’t achieved.
Even after hearing that others can clearly see his improvement, he admits he refuses to become comfortable. Every training session is another opportunity to close the gap between where he is today and where he believes he needs to be.
That relentless dissatisfaction has become one of the defining characteristics of his career.
Motivation Comes From Unexpected Places
One of the documentary’s most revealing moments comes when Choi explains what motivates him.
Rather than comparing himself to other professional fighters, he looks at the everyday people training around him.
Some of his teammates work overnight jobs before arriving at the gym. Others survive on only a few hours of sleep but still show up ready to improve.
As a full-time professional fighter, Choi believes he has no excuse.
“If they’re working that hard while balancing another career,” he essentially reasons, “then I have to work even harder.”
That perspective drives him to keep adding extra rounds, extra conditioning, and extra technical work long after most athletes would call it a day.
The Fear of Falling Short
Perhaps the documentary’s most emotional sequence comes when Choi speaks about the pressure he places on himself.
He admits there are moments during training when a single thought enters his mind:
“Is this really all I can do?”
Those moments almost bring him to tears.
Not because he wants to quit.
Not because he regrets choosing this life.
But because he feels he hasn’t reached his own standard.
Later, he recalls coaches asking him whether he truly wants to win badly enough. Hearing those words leaves him emotional because, in his mind, there is nothing he wants more than to become a better fighter.
“I hate losing,” he says.
“I want to win so badly.”
Rather than discouraging him, those moments push him to complete one more repetition, one more round, and one more day of training.
There Is No Backup Plan
Friends and family have asked Choi what happens if fighting doesn’t work out.
What if injuries force him to retire?
What if the UFC never calls?
Shouldn’t he prepare for another career?
His answer is remarkably simple.
He hasn’t seriously thought about doing anything else.
Not because he believes success is guaranteed, but because he genuinely loves the life he is living.
The long training sessions.
The constant learning.
The sparring.
The friendships built inside the gym.
For Choi, those aren’t sacrifices.
They’re exactly where he wants to be.
The Road to 30
Chang Joon Choi has set himself a clear deadline.
He wants to reach the UFC before turning 30.
Whether he ultimately gets there remains to be seen.
But BEHINDER’s documentary suggests his greatest advantage may not be his power, athleticism, or technical development.
It may be the fact that no one is harder on Chang Joon Choi than Chang Joon Choi himself.
For now, his mission remains unchanged.
Keep training.
Keep improving.
Keep proving himself.
And keep chasing the UFC until that dream becomes reality.
Full documentary available, courtesy of BEHINDER youtube channel.
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