K-Pop star Jungkook of BTS spars Korean MMA legend

One of the biggest stars in the world has teamed up with one of the sexiest stars of mixed-martial-arts. According to the wonderful Instagram…

By: Tim Bissell | 1 year ago
K-Pop star Jungkook of BTS spars Korean MMA legend
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

One of the biggest stars in the world has teamed up with one of the sexiest stars of mixed-martial-arts.

According to the wonderful Instagram account that belongs to Yoshihiro Akiyama, the UFC veteran recently sparred with BTS member Jungkook.

The actual sparring seems to be have kept secret, but it’s clear Akiyama tired the young man out. If you want to see how Jungkook looks actually throwing punches, check out the video below:

Jungkook and his boy band BTS are one of, if not the, biggest global music sensations of the moment. The Korean pop group has seen their popularity explode in the past decade taking them from being one of South Korea’s most beloved acts to selling out stadiums all over the globe.

Jungkook himself is also famous beyond belief (even if we MMA sickos have never heard of him). According to Google he is one of the most searched people on the internet. He also holds a record with the Korean streaming service V Live for 22 million simultaneous viewers. He achieved that audience when live streaming a solo performance in March 2021.

Here’s a BTS video (with 1.5 billion, yes billion, views), if you’re interested or curious:

‘Sexyama’ is no stranger to the music, himself. The Japanese-born Korean is known to croon on spare occasions, like during the Dream2008Concert:

Akiyama also appeared on the Korean show “Singing Battle” in 2016 — and did pretty well.

We of course are more familiar with Akiyama’s performances inside the cage. After starting his career on the Japanese circuit, Akiyama signed for the UFC in 2009. He debuted at UFC 100, defeating Alan Belcher by split decision.

He next three UFC contests resulted in losses to Chris Leben, Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort. All of those contests earned Fight of the Night honours. He then lost to Jake Shields. In 2014 he scored his second UFC victory by beating Amir Sadollah.

Akiyama then lost a split decision to Alberto Mina and was released from the promotion. In 2019 he returned from a four year hiatus to sign with ONE championships. He’s gone 2-2 in ONE. Most recently, at ONE: X in March, he beat Shinya Aoki by TKO.

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About the author
Tim Bissell
Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

Tim is also BE's lead (only) sumo reporter. He blogs about that sport here and on his own substack, Sumo Stomp!

Email me at tim@bloodyelbow.com. Nice messages will get a response.

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