Former Black Combat lightweight champion Song Ha Lee is finally back. Nearly two years after his last Black Combat appearance, Lee returns against Eo Jin “Young Boss” Park on August 29 with a potential path back to the lightweight title waiting for the winner.
It has been almost two years since Black Combat fans last saw Song Ha “Pierrot” Lee compete inside the promotion.
That changes on August 29.
The former Black Combat lightweight champion will return against Eo Jin “Young Boss” Park at Bucheon Gymnasium, adding an important lightweight matchup to a card that will also feature the Black Cup semifinal between Japan and USA.
Lee’s return has been talked about for a long time. He was one of Black Combat’s most successful early fighters, winning the lightweight championship at Black Combat 4 in 2022 with a victory over Jung Kyun Kim. He later became a DEEP lightweight champion as well.
But after establishing himself as one of the top Korean lightweights, Pierrot disappeared from Black Combat.
Now we finally know why—and why he decided to come back.
Pierrot Admits He Lost His Motivation
Lee dealt with a serious cervical disc injury, but during his appearance on Black House, he admitted that his physical condition wasn’t the only reason for the long break.
The bigger issue may have been burnout.
Lee felt he had accomplished a lot in a short period of time and acknowledged that his mentality suffered as a result.
“More than physical injuries, I think I was a bit mentally weak,” Lee said when discussing the time away.
That is interesting because Lee was still relatively young and had already accomplished a lot domestically.
He had been the Black Combat champion. He had competed successfully in Japan. He became the DEEP lightweight champion.
His next goal was obvious.
He wanted to go bigger.
For a long time, whenever Lee was asked whether he would return to Black Combat, he talked about moving toward the international stage instead.
But while Pierrot was away, something changed.
Black Combat became much more international itself.
International Competition Brought Pierrot Back
This was probably the most interesting thing Lee said during the video.
“Black Combat became a global stage.”
Over the nearly two years that he was away, Lee watched stronger international fighters enter Black Combat and saw new contenders beginning to move through the rankings.
Instead of making him less interested in returning, it did the opposite.
It made him want to fight again.
Lee said seeing the quality of the competition improve gave him new motivation, and he now feels both physically and mentally ready to compete.
The timing of his return makes sense.
Black Combat is in a very different position than it was when Pierrot last competed.
The Black Cup has brought fighters from Japan, USA, Brazil, Mongolia and other international markets into the promotion. Even in the lightweight division, fighters like Japan’s Takuya Yamamoto and USA’s Chuka Willis are already being discussed as potential problems for Black Combat’s existing contenders.
For a fighter who wanted international competition, Pierrot may no longer have to leave Black Combat to find it.
Eo Jin Park Saved the Fight
The opponent is also an important part of this story.
Eo Jin Park wasn’t originally scheduled to fight Pierrot.
In fact, he wasn’t even the second option.
Black Combat initially wanted Subutai for Lee’s return. That fight fell apart because Subutai’s father was in critical condition and he needed to withdraw.
The promotion then turned to undefeated Brazilian Wallison “Big Bull” Silva, but Silva suffered an injury.
At that point, Pierrot’s comeback was in danger of being delayed again.
Park stepped in.
What makes that more impressive is how quickly he’s turning around.
Young Boss recently competed against Mongolia’s Seventh Round and won. He came out of the fight without a major injury and accepted the Pierrot matchup approximately one month later.
Black Combat openly acknowledged that Park essentially saved Pierrot’s return fight by accepting on short notice.
That’s a big opportunity for Park.
But I wouldn’t call him an easy comeback opponent.
Not even close.
Young Boss Has Already Beaten the Current Champion
This is where the lightweight title picture gets interesting.
Pierrot is the former champion.
Eo Jin Park owns a victory over the current champion, Han Guk “Captain Korea” Jung.
And Black Combat knows exactly what it has with this matchup.
During the discussion, the promotion indicated that if the winner comes through August 29 without a significant injury, there is a strong possibility that fighter could compete at the planned November event at Gocheok.
Pierrot has the former championship résumé.
Young Boss has already defeated the current champion and recently added another victory against Seventh Round.
That gives either fighter a legitimate argument for a major lightweight fight with a win.
For Lee, the goal is pretty obvious.
He still sees that championship as his.
Pierrot joked that Captain Korea has basically been holding the belt for him while he was away.
“Now that I’m back, it’s time for the championship belt to find its rightful owner.”
That’s a very Pierrot way to announce your return.
But first he has to beat Eo Jin Park.
This Is a Difficult Comeback Fight
Stylistically, I like this matchup.
Pierrot has always been a very good grappler, and that has been one of the strongest parts of his MMA game.
Young Boss is also a strong grappler.
That matters.
If Black Combat simply wanted to give Pierrot a comfortable return after two years away, there were easier stylistic matchups they could have made.
Park has the ability to make Lee work in the area where Lee is normally strongest. That was specifically highlighted during Black House, with the discussion focusing on whether Young Boss can counter Pierrot’s grappling.
They even gave us a small preview when Pierrot and Young Boss competed in the one-handed boxing challenge.
Young Boss won.
Obviously, a one-minute mini-game doesn’t tell us who wins an MMA fight.
Pierrot immediately had his own explanation about what would happen with open-finger gloves.
Everyone else basically told him the same thing:
Show us in the fight.
That’s exactly what makes August 29 interesting.
What Does Pierrot Look Like After Two Years?
That’s the biggest question for me.
We already know what Song Ha Lee was.
He was good enough to become Black Combat lightweight champion. He beat Jung Kyun Kim for the belt. He went to Japan and became a DEEP champion.
But two years is a long time in MMA.
Black Combat has changed.
The lightweight division has changed.
And Pierrot has changed too.
Lee says his body is healthy again. He says the motivation has returned. He watched Black Combat grow from the outside and says he finally understands why its fans became so passionate.
Now we get to see whether that renewed motivation translates back into the cage.
And Eo Jin Park is a very good test.
If Young Boss wins, he adds a former Black Combat and DEEP champion to a résumé that already includes a victory over the current Black Combat champion.
If Pierrot wins after nearly two years away, suddenly one of the biggest names from Black Combat’s early years is right back in the middle of the lightweight title picture.
That’s why this fight matters.
Song Ha Lee isn’t coming back just to make an appearance. He’s coming back to find out whether he can be champion again.
And Eo Jin Park gets the first chance to tell him how much the division has changed while he was gone.
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