Seo Hee Ham

Ham Seo-hee (함서희; ; born March 8, 1987), anglicised as Seo Hee Ham, is a South Korean professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. She is currently signed to ONE Championship, where she is ranked #1 in the ONE Championship Women's Atomweight rankings.

Ham previously competed in the MMA promotions Deep, Smackgirl, Jewels, Road FC, UFC, and Rizin. She is a former Jewels Atomweight Champion, former Road FC Women's Atomweight Champion, and former Rizin Women's Super Atomweight Champion.

Early life
Ham was born on March 8, 1987 in Gangwon Province, South Korea. She started training in kickboxing in 2004, when she was in her second year of high school. She was introduced to the Japanese MMA scene by UFC fighter Kim Dong-hyun.

With few female fighters to train with in South Korea, Ham regularly trains with male fighters, such as fellow gym member Dong Hyun Kim. She is nicknamed "Hamderlei Silva" because of the similarities between her fighting style and Wanderlei Silva's style. In Japan, she is occasionally nicknamed "Arale-chan", in reference to her looks outside of the ring bearing resemblance to the character Arale Norimaki from the manga series Dr. Slump. Currently, Ham uses "Hamzzang" as her official nickname.

Japan
Ham debuted against Japanese MMA veteran Hisae Watanabe on February 16, 2007 at Deep 28 Impact, upsetting the favorite Watanabe by winning via unanimous decision. Ham was defeated by Miku Matsumoto via triangle choke submission on May 13, 2007 at clubDeep Toyama: Barbarian Festival 6.

Ham rebounded back from her first loss with a unanimous decision victory over Ayumi Saito on September 6, 2007 at Smackgirl 2007: Queens' Hottest Summer. On December 26, 2007 at Smackgirl 7th anniversary: Starting Over, Ham challenged Smackgirl Lightweight Champion Yuka Tsuji for her title, losing by unanimous decision in a match that Tsuji completely dominated. On February 14, 2008, Ham participated in the Smackgirl World ReMix Tournament 2008 Opening Round, where she defeated Saori Ishioka by unanimous decision. In the tournament semi-finals on April 25, 2008, Abe Ani Combat Club star Megumi Fujii handed Ham her third professional defeat by submitting her with an armbar in the Smackgirl World ReMix Tournament 2008 Second Round.

After a year without fights in MMA, Ham made her debut with MMA promotion Jewels and earned another victory on September 13, 2009 by defeating Misaki Takimoto by unanimous decision at Jewels 5th Ring. Ham next participated at Jewels 9th Ring in the first round of the inaugural Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament, held to crown the first Jewels Lightweight Champion, where she defeated Mai Ichii by unanimous decision on July 31, 2010. Ham was slated to compete at Jewels 10th Ring, but since she decided to participate in two kickboxing matches with conflicting dates, Jewels released her. Jewels later announced that she would still participate in the semi-finals of the Lightweight Queen Tournament at Jewels 11th Ring. Ham faced Mika Nagano in the semi-finals and defeated Nagano by split decision. In the tournament final later that night, Ham was defeated by Ayaka Hamasaki via unanimous decision. Ham had a rematch against Saori Ishioka on February 25, 2011 at DEEP: 52 Impact in Tokyo, Japan. She once again defeated Ishioka by unanimous decision. On March 6, 2011, Ham faced Anna Saito in a mixed martial arts rules match at Gladiator 15: GI 2. Ham defeated Saito by unanimous decision. Ham faced Mei Yamaguchi in a Jewels vs. Valkyrie match at Jewels 15th Ring on July 9, 2011. She defeated Yamaguchi by unanimous decision. Ham challenged Jewels champion Ayaka Hamasaki in a rematch at Jewels 17th Ring on December 17, 2011. She was defeated by TKO (corner stoppage) after the first round when she could not continue due to injury. On April 21, 2013, Ham faced pro wrestler Ryo Mizunami at Gladiator: Dream, Power and Hope. She defeated Mizunami by submission due to an armbar early in the first round.

Ham dropped down in weight to challenge Naho Sugiyama for the Jewels Atomweight queen title at Jewels 24th Ring on May 25, 2013. She defeated Sugiyama by unanimous decision to become the new Jewels Atomweight queen champion. Following Jewels' closure, Ham's title was renamed the Deep Jewels Atomweight championship. She defended the title against Sadae Numata at Deep Jewels 2 on November 4, 2013. Ham won the fight by unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
In early November 2014 Seo Hee Ham signed a four-fight contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship to join UFC's Strawweight division. She made her debut against Joanne Calderwood at The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale on December 12, 2014. She lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Ham was expected to face Bec Rawlings on May 10, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 65. However, Ham pulled out of the bout on April 10 and was replaced by Lisa Ellis.

After nearly a year away from the company, Ham returned to face Cortney Casey on November 28, 2015 at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Masvidal. She won the fight via unanimous decision. The win also earned Ham her first Fight of the Night bonus award. She lost to Danielle Taylor at UFC Fight Night 101 on Nov. 26, 2016 via split decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Road FC
After briefly considering retirement, Ham signed with Road FC where she became the atomweight champion with a victory over Mina Kurobe. On December 23, 2017, she successfully defended her atomweight championship with a first round stoppage over Jinh Yu Frey.

Rizin
On June 21, 2019, it was announced Ham would face former DEEP Champion Tomo Maesawa at Rizin 17 on July 28, 2019. She won the fight by TKO in the first round.

Next, Ham faced Miyuu Yamamoto at Rizin 19 on October 12, 2019. She won the fight via technical knockout in the second round.

With two consecutive victories in Rizin, Ham earned a title shot against Ayaka Hamasaki at Rizin 20 on December 31, 2019. She won the trilogy fight via split decision, becoming the second Rizin Women's Super Atomweight Champion.

Ham vacated her Rizin Atomweight title in October 2020, as she couldn't come to an agreement with Rizin for her next fight.

ONE Championship
After vacating her Rizin Atomweight title, Ham signed with ONE Championship, where she will compete in the atomweight division. She was scheduled to take part in the ONE Atomweight Grand Prix. It was reported that Ham will face Denice Zamboanga in the quarter-final of the ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix at ONE Championship: Empower on May 28, 2021. The event was later postponed due to COVID-19 precautions. The event was rescheduled for September 3, 2021. She won the close bout via split decision. Due to the controversy the decision stirred, the bout was placed under review but the ONE Championship committee left the result standing.

Ham was scheduled to face Stamp Fairtex in the semi-final bout of ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix at ONE Championship: Next Generation on October 29, 2021. Ham had to pull out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by alternate bout winner Julie Mezabarba.

Ham was scheduled to rematch Denice Zamboanga at ONE: X on December 5, 2021. Their rematch was later postponed to March 6, 2022. Ham failed the hydration test the day before the fight, and was given until midnight to pass. Ham was able to pass the test in the mandated time and won the fight by unanimous decision.

Ham was scheduled to face Itsuki Hirata at ONE 163 on November 18, 2022. However, Hirata missed weight and failed the hydration test, and the match was scrapped after Ham declined a catchweight bout due to Hirata's history of missing weight. The pair was rescheduled for March 25, 2023, at ONE Fight Night 8. She won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ham faced Stamp Fairtex at ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29, 2023. The bout was originally scheduled to be for the interim ONE Women's Atomweight title, however after reigning champion Angela Lee announced her retirement during the event, the fight became for the vacant undisputed title. Ham lost the fight via technical knockout in the third round.

Kickboxing career
Ham had her first professional kickboxing match at CMA Festival 2: Ikuhisa Minowa Debut 10 Anniversary Tournament on July 23, 2007, where she defeated former Smackgirl Open Weight Champion Megumi Yabushita by unanimous decision. On November 3, 2009, Ham defeated Ayano Oishi in a K-1 rules match by unanimous decision at Japan-South Korea friendship international martial arts tournament Gladiator Okayama tournament.

At Jewels 7th Ring on March 19, 2010, Ham had an exhibition match against Shoot boxing rising star Rena Kubota.

Ham earned another unanimous decision victory over Japanese fighter Miyu Matsui on April 25, 2010 at Gladiator 6, winning the CMA KPW Lightweight Championship.

On February 27, 2011, Ham faced Megumi Yabushita for a second time at Gladiator 14: KOK Samurai Series. Ham won the fight by TKO in the second round.

On August 19, 2011, Ham entered the 2011 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup tournament. She defeated Emi Fujino and Mina in the opening rounds, but lost to Erika Kamimura via unanimous decision in the tournament final.

Ham faced Erika Kamimura in a rematch at Rise 88 on June 2, 2012. She was defeated by unanimous decision.

Ham entered the 2012 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup on August 25, 2012. She defeated Lisa Ellis to advance to the semi-final round, but lost to Rena Kubota via unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

 * CMA/KPW Women's Champion
 * CMA/KPW Women's Lightweight Championship (One time)
 * Two successful title defenses
 * Jewels 
 * Jewels Atomweight Championship (One time)
 * Two successful title defenses
 * Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament Runner-up
 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Cortney Casey
 * Road Fighting Championship
 * Road FC Women's Atomweight Championship (one time)
 * Two successful title defenses
 * Rizin Fighting Federation
 * Rizin Women's Super Atomweight Championship (one time)

Other activities
Ham defeated pro-wrestler Stalker Ichikawa by left high kick KO at Gladiator 10 on October 3, 2010. She defeated pro-wrestler Antonio Koinoki by KO at Gladiator 11 on October 9, 2010.

Kickboxing record
Legend: