On a recent episode of MBC‘s Radiostar, MMA fighter Song Ga Yeon revealed the difficulties that she and others go through in her profession. Even with her recent popularity and debut, she notes that there is rarely a moment when she isn’t fighting to survive.
The “Beauty fighter” Song Ga Yeon made her MMA debut earlier this summer and while K-Pop fans may recognize her as the beautiful and strong maknae of SBS Roommate Season 1, she has proven that her fighting skills are no joking matter.
The fierce and talented MMA fighter recently shared her struggles as an up and coming athlete in her profession regardless of her newfound recognition. She began by revealing that her fight money for her debut match against Emi Yamamoto was a mere 50,000 Won (approximately $50 USD). This surprised MCs and viewers as they expected much more for a debut match for an athlete who trained for so long.
To explain, she noted that because the MMA market in Korea is not very developed and thus lacks the viewership to pull in significant sponsorship. She continued, even her sunbaes are unable to get much more money from their own matches. She believes that as a Korean MMA fighter, if she can provide herself with a place to sleep and put food on the table, she is well off.
There were some who assumed that she participated in reality-variety shows in order to gain popularity and face recognition to boost her own match and salary. However, she cleared the air and put the rumors to rest, stating simply that she appeared on shows such as Roommate in order to raise awareness about MMA as a sport and create more interest in MMA as a whole.
Song Ga Yeon went on to say that because of her image on television, people have a preconceived notion that she is raking in the money but in reality, she sometimes cannot even afford to get physiotherapy because of financial difficulties in her line of work.
After sharing her difficulties, she later on demonstrated some of the powerful moves that she has trained years to perfect at the request of the MCs Kyuhyun and Kim Gook Jin.
As Kyuhyun is the MC maknae, he was forced to be her sparring partner which landed him in a choke hold on the floor after a low kick. Upon recovery, Kyuhyun noted that he felt like he was being hung eliciting laughter from the those present with his description of Song Ga Yeon’s powerful technique.
Known for her famous low kick that most male members of Roommate have endured (including Roommate Season 2’s Jackson), Song Ga Yeon performed the move on Kim Gook Jin.
In other news, the fighter has received various death threats which have been detrimental to her mental health and is now pressing charges against those that submitted the threats despite letters of apology.
Source: NewDaily Korea, and ETO Korea
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