Injured Denis Kang out of commission until August

By Mike Doyle

After re-breaking his right hand in a unanimous decision title defense against Chae Jung Kyu March 11 in South Korea’s premiere MMA organization, Spirit MC, Vancouver B.C.’s Denis Kang is on the mend. Kang (26-8-0) had surgery two weeks ago to repair his fourth and fifth metacarpals and expects to be back in the ring by August.

The American Top Team standout, who is partially of Korean heritage, may have fought his last fight for the promotion based in the birth country of his father. With four fights remaining on his contract with PRIDE, expect an exclusivity clause to be added to his contract with the organization that was acquired by Zuffa LLC. and UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta last week.

As reported by The Fight Network ‘s Loretta Hunt last week, in an apparent response to the UFC/PRIDE merger, an “organizational alliance” between mixed martial arts promotions Fight Entertainment Group’s K-1, Pro Elite, BodogFIGHT, California-based Strikeforce, England’s Cage Rage, and Korea’s SpiritMC was announced. The partnership was created to bolster the fight cards and salability of member organizations events through strategic lending of marquee fighters.

The fact that Kang sustained this injury fighting for one of the six organizations aforementioned might be a point of contention with PRIDE’s new ownership.