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UFC Fight Night: Kim vs. Hathaway
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Published: 3/1/2014  at  2:15:00 AM
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UFC Fight Night 37: Kim vs. Hathaway

Saturday, March 1 – 10:00 a.m. ET
Macao, China

Dong Hyun Kim (18-2-1) vs. John Hathaway (17-1)

Welterweight bout
Line: Kim -400, Hathaway +300

Dong Hyun Kim looks for his fourth consecutive victory as he squares off against John Hathaway at UFC Fight Night in China on Saturday.

In his last match on Oct. 9, Kim was able to knock out Erick Silva in the second round of their fight at UFC Fight Night 29. Prior to that victory, his previous seven wins had been by way of decision. Kim's cardio is as good as there is in the sport, and he has the ability to eventually wear his opponents out and get the victory. However, that knockout power that he displayed in the win over Silva is what allows him to start getting bigger fights and try and move into the top-10 discussions. He will be going up against a fighter that is similar to him in John Hathaway, who has been victorious in his past three fights, all by decision. He has actually won his past six fights by way of decision, and he has the cardio to keep up with a guy like Kim. While they are very similar fighters, Kim is starting to emerge as a guy to look out for in the sport, and has a big opportunity to come out in this fight and continue that rise in the rankings. Look for a close fight early, but for KIM to eventually deliver the knockout blow to get the win.

While he has won most of his fights by way of decision (10 of 18), Kim has the ability to win a fight in knockout fashion, with seven knockouts and one win by submission. In fact, seven of his past 14 victories have been by knockouts. While the 32-year-old South Korean native is not going to win a lot of matches by submission, he is a very good wrestler that does allow him to wear his opponents out to help get the decision victory later in the fight. Coming into this match, he has a takedown average of 3.27, compared to just 2.74 for Hathaway. The two opponents are very close in takedown percentage, 48.4% for Kim and 47.6% for Hathaway, but Kim does a much better job of defending against the takedown (81%) compared to his opponent's 60% rate. While "Stun Gun" showed in his last fight that he has the knockout power, Kim needs to be careful in this fight as he is going up against a guy that also packs a serious punch.

The 26-year-old Hathaway has 17 career victories, with seven of them coming by decision. He also has seven wins by knockout, and three by submission. Hathaway’s biggest advantage coming into this fight is his punching ability, as he averages 3.49 strikes landed per minute, while Kim averages just 2.14. Kim is a little more accurate with his strikes (54% to 42%), but does not possess the power that "The Hitman" Hathaway has. He is one of the top MMA prospects in England where he hails from, and his 7-1 UFC record shows that he is a legitimate fighter. This is an intriguing match as these two fighters are very similar both in style and build (both 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds), and the winner will have to be very sharp and execute his game plan almost to perfection. Hathaway has talent to win this fight, and could lock up the biggest victory of his career.


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