Top welterweight prospect Oban Elliott suffered his first UFC loss at UFC Baku.
‘The Welsh Gangster’ had a banner year in the UFC after earning a promotional contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023. Oban Elliott started his run in the Octagon with three-straight wins in 2024 and later called for a fight with inaugural BMF Champion Jorge Masvidal.
The unranked Elliott faced the toughest test of his career when he took on ‘The Korean Tyson’ Seokhyeon Ko at UFC Baku.
Elliott stood a massive 5-to-1 betting favorite against the debuting Ko.
The betting odds wouldn’t reflect the fight, however, with Ko cashing in a major upset over the highly-touted 12-2 prospect.
Oban Elliott hit with ‘fraud check’ claims after lopsided loss to Seokhyeon Ko
Ko snapped Elliott’s 8-fight win streak on fight night, beating him everywhere the fight went.
Elliott only threw ten significant strikes across 15 minutes. Ko had four times as many total strikes and landed six takedown attempts.
Ko racked up 10 minutes of control time for a 30-27 unanimous decision win over Elliott, winning every round of their welterweight matchup.
Elliott wouldn’t hear the end of it following his first UFC defeat.
“Oban Elliot getting fraud checked by KO ( who’s making his debut ) is not something I expected,” one fan wrote on X.
“Imagine landing 13 significant strikes in 15 minutes in a fight where you are a -500 favorite. Oban Elliott, everybody.” another fan said.
“Shortest favourite of the night. 8 fight win streak. 3 fight UFC win streak. Utterly embarrassed in there. Nightmare matchup taking that monster on debut,” a fan said of Elliott losing to Ko.
“What a total mismatch,” another fan said amid the ‘fraud check’ claims.
Seokhyeon Ko trains with UFC ‘Stun Gun’ Dong Hyun Kim
Overlooked by the oddsmakers, the 12-2 Seokhyeon Ko made it five wins in a row by dominating Oban Elliott.
Like his opponent, the South Korean signed to the UFC off Dana White’s Contender Series last September.
While he’s new to the Octagon, Ko has trained with a number of fighters who have been there and done that in the UFC.
One of Ko’s main training partners is ‘Stun Gun’ Dong Hyun Kim, a former UFC Welterweight contender who went an impressive 13-4 in the promotion where he fought the best in the world for a near decade.
Ko also trains with the likes of 21-fight veteran Yushin Okami.