Traveling journeyman Gokhan “Pitbull” Turkyilmaz returns to action this weekend, this time in Taiwan, where he is set to meet South Korean Seok Mo Kim in the co-main event at Pro Fighting Championship 8. Turkyilmaz also joins fellow Tiger Muay Thai team mates Kai Kara-France and Matt Te Paa on the card.
Since leaving his hometown on the Gold Coast earlier in the year, Turkyilmaz has traveled as far as Dubai to pursue overseas matchups. There, the 27 year-old competed in a four-man, one-night, welterweight tournament which was held by Dubai based promotion, Global Fighting Championship back in May. After making it past the first round of the tournament, “The Pitbull” was outpointed in the final by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, Christofer Silva. Back home, Turkyilmaz has faced some of the country’s best fighters including Ben Alloway, Damien Brown, and Greg Atzori, and holds notable wins over Jay Cobain — who he has defeated twice — also Chris Bridgewater and Sam Bastin.
His opponent, Seok Mo Kim, is a Road FC and ONE FC veteran and has fought three times previously in Pro Fighting Championship, where his record stands at two wins and one loss. Like Turkyilmaz, Kim is 27 years old and has a similar number of fights under his belt.
Joining Turkyilmaz from the Tiger Muay Thai gym in Phuket, Thailand, will be New Zealand fighters, Kai Kara-France and Matt Te Paa.
After a brief start to his MMA career fighting on local shows in New Zealand, 20 year-old Kara-France was signed in early 2012 by Hong Kong based promotion Legend FC, where in his most recent outing in April was defeated by Danaa Batgerel. The young bantamweight will meet South Korean fighter Ho Jun Kim.
After spending years on the MMA sidelines, Kiwi veteran Matt Te Paa returned to competitive Mixed Martial Arts this year in Thailand, where he picked up two straight wins on the Friday Fight Night promotion. The 31 year-old, who notable lost a split points decision to Kyle Noke in 2004 in the XFC promotion, will be ridding a four fight win streak into the event, where he is set to face Dae Sung Park from South Korea.
Pro Fighting Championship 8 will take place at the Luxy Contemporary Nightlife Complex in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sunday August 4.
Fight Card:
- Kim Sang Kuk vs Rocky Lee
- Seok Mo Kim vs Gokhan Turkyilmaz (AU)
- Kristoffer Persson vs Jeff Huang
- Dae Sung Park vs Matt Te Paa (NZ)
- Yi Sak Kim vs Will Chope
- Eliot Corley vs Jong Hun Kim
- Ho Jun Kim vs Kai Kara-France (NZ)
- Zheng Ming Kui vs Markus Lewis
- Daniel Gray vs Tom Ni
