Park Seo-young returns at Road FC 079 after injury, surgery

Park Seo-young, 23, is set to make her comeback after battling injury, surgery and a title-fight loss, taking on a Japanese prospect in her return to the cage.

Park will face Japan's Wada Serina, 24, at a 49-kilogram contract weight at Road FC 079, scheduled for Nov. 1 at Jangchung Arena in Seoul.

Park took up combat sports in high school and gained wider recognition through "Matjjang-ui Shin," a fighting talent show on SBS MediaNet. She went 2-5 in her first seven professional bouts before reeling off three consecutive wins to establish herself as a contender. She also claimed the title at Japan's Shootboxing Infinity League.

A shoulder injury then forced her onto the operating table, requiring roughly a year of rehabilitation. Upon her return, she challenged Road FC atomweight champion Park Jeong-eun but lost by decision. In that fight, an elbow strike from Park Jeong-eun opened a cut above her left eyebrow, causing significant bleeding — yet she told the cage doctor and referee she wanted to continue and fought to the final bell, leaving a strong impression on fans.

More recently, she has been serving as a training partner for Lee Bo-mi, a bronze medalist in MMA at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Her upcoming opponent, Wada, is a striker with a background in karate and taekwondo. She made her Road FC debut on Aug. 29, defeating Jeong Min-ji to introduce herself to Korean fans.

"I was excited when I got the offer, knowing it would be a Korea-Japan matchup on home soil," Park said. "This time I want to completely overwhelm my opponent. I'll show everyone I can dominate with both striking and ground work."

Park has also mapped out her path beyond the Wada fight: she wants to test her ground game against Hong Yun-ha, 37, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, before setting her sights on a title rematch with Park Jeong-eun.

"After beating Wada convincingly and getting one more fight in, I want to challenge Park Jeong-eun again," she said. "In our first fight I showed some striking ability, but my ground game wasn't good enough. I want to prove myself against Hong as well and become a well-rounded fighter."

Road FC 079 will be held in two sessions on the day of the event — the first beginning at 2 p.m. and the second at 5 p.m. The second session's main event will feature Artur Soloviev against Park Si-won at a 72-kilogram contract weight, with a 59-kilogram bout between Pyeon Ye-jun and Aerchuli also on the card.