Dooho Choi explains emotional display at UFC on ESPN 60 after first win since 2016

LAS VEGAS – Dooho Choi was overcome with emotion after picking up his first win in eight years.

At UFC on ESPN 60, Choi (15-4-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) stopped Bill Algeo in the second round with punches. It was his first win since stopping Thiago Tavares in June 2016.

Immediately after the referee stopped the fight after Algeo (18-9 MMA, 5-5 UFC) dropped to the canvas, emotions were fully displayed as “The Korean Superboy” began crying inside the octagon.

“I got emotional because this win was a long time coming,” Choi said through an interpreter at a post-fight news conference. “It’s been a while since I won and the last time it didn’t go very well. I heard all the haters, all the people that said I’m done and I can’t do it anymore. It started to affect me and I started to doubt myself a little bit. I was thinking is this really it? Am I really done? I kept faith in myself and I had to prove it to myself.”

After his win against Tavares, Choi would go on to lose to Cub Swanson, Jeremy Stephens and Charles Jourdain. Then, in his previous outing in Feb. 2023 against Kyle Nelson, the judges declared the fight a majority draw, adding another frustrating result to a tough run.

Choi admits that he began to doubt his abilities.

“I just know this is the one thing that I’m good at,” Choi said. “If I try my best and leave it all out there, then if it doesn’t go my way, then maybe I can accept that maybe I don’t have it. But I kept believing in myself, kept trying, and got it done.”

Now that he’s back in the winner’s column, Choi wants to get out of the UFC Apex, where he has competed in back-to-back outings. After all, just four fights ago, he was a headliner in front of over 10,000 people.

“I’m a crowd-pleasing fighter, so it’s a bummer my last two fights have been with a small crowd,” Choi said. “So, I want to fight in front of a big crowd, and I want to fight someone in the rankings.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 60.