Myung Ho Bae Returns at Road FC 12 on Saturday Night in Wonju

Korean welterweight Myung Ho Bae returns to the cage on Saturday night (June 22, 2013) for what will possibly be a farewell fight against Japanese Brazilian Karate practitioner Andrews Nakahara at Road FC 12 from the Chiak Stadium in Wonju, South Korea.

Bae is rated as one of the top 170-pounders in Asia and was coveted by the UFC but inadvertently got himself locked into an exclusive Legend FC contract (read about it here) that prevented him from fighting for the biggest MMA organization in the world.

He has been out of action for 16 months as a result of this contract dispute but was recently conscripted into the Korean military for two years of national service starting later this year. Legend FC decided to allow him to fight in his homeland one more time and he will be looking to extend his five-fight winning streak against Nakahara.

Bae (13-5) has not been beaten since 2009 when he was stopped by Marius Zaromskis at Dream 12 while Nakahara (4-2) is also a Dream veteran who was born to Japanese parents in Brazil and has a pair of losses to veterans Kazushi Sakuraba and Ryo Chonan on his record.

The card also features the conclusion of the Road FC Bantamweight Grand Prix which was launched in April to find a replacement for reigning 135-pound champion Kyung Ho Kang who defected to the UFC. Min Jung Song (5-5) and Kil Woo Lee (3-4) both beat two separate opponents in a single night at Road FC 11 and will face off in the tournament final.

Road FC have used eight man tournaments to crown all their champions to date and on Saturday night it will be the turn of the featherweights. Two of the favorites are colliding in the opening round when Korean ONE FC veteran Bae Young Kwon (7-3) takes on Japanese UFC veteran Michihiro Omigawa (13-13-1).

The other three quarterfinals pit Japanese veteran Kosuke Umeda (13-12-3) against Korean submission specialist Chang Hyun Kim (16-9), Young Bok Gil (4-2) with Won Gi Kim (1-2-1) in an all-Korean affair and Holland's Hubert Geven (1-0) against Choi Myu Gyum (2-3).

Also on the card is a women's MMA matchup between Japan's Masako Yoshida (17-17-5) and Norwegian Celine Haga (4-11), who despite her poor record, is currently riding a three fight winning streak. Adding to the Japanese presence is Takafumi Otsuka (15-11-1), who will be taking on an opponent from the new Korean Zombie Gym, Yun Jun Lee (1-1) in a bantamweight fight.

Middleweight King of Pancrase Ryo Kawamura (15-7) was last seen getting beaten senseless by Melvin Manhoef but will be hoping for a happier ending to his Road FC 12 fight with Korean Dool Hee Lee (7-7) who is himself coming off a first round KO loss.

The main card will be available to view on U Stream for $9.99 USD. For more information visit http://www.ustream.tv/roadfc

Road FC 12, Chiak Arena, Wonju

Kil Woo Lee vs Min Jung Song

Myung Ho Bae vs Andrews Nakahara

Michihiro Omigawa vs Bae Young Kwon *

Masako Yoshida vs Celine Haga

Dool Hee Lee vs Ryo Kawamura

Ryuta Noji vs Ji Hoon Kim

Undercard

Takafumi Otsuka vs Yun Jun Lee

Chang Hyun Kim vs Kosuke Umeda *

Young Bok Gil vs Won Gi Kim *

Hubert Geven vs Choi Myu Gyum *

Heo Yoon vs Jo Byeong Ok

Kim Seong Jae vs Han Yi Moon **

* Road FC 145 pound GP quarterfinals

** Road FC 145 pound GP reserve match up

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