Joseph Hyungmin Son ( ko, 손형민; born November 22, 1970) is a South Korean-born American convicted felon and a former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and actor. Prior to his 2008 arrest, he was best known for his appearance in the 1997 film '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery''. In 2011, he was sentenced to seven years to life in prison in California for torture committed during a 1990 gang rape. Following beating his cell mate Michael Thomas Graham to death, he was sentenced to an additional 27 years for voluntary manslaughter. He is now serving 34 years to life.

Early life

Son was born in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial offic ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He moved to California at an early age.

Mixed martial arts career

Son was a mixed martial arts fighter and retired with a record of 0–4. Though he had appeared before in

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

's UFC 3 in 1994 as Kimo Leopoldo's

cornerman In combat sports, a cornerman, or second, is a coach or trainer assisting a fighter during a bout. The cornerman is forbidden to instruct and must remain outside the combat area during the round. In the break, they are permitted to enter the ri ...

, Son had his proper debut at the UFC 4 event, entering the tournament billed as a

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

black belt and founder of a style called "Jo Son Do". He was pitted against kenpo fighter

Keith Hackney Keith Hackney (born 1958 in Roselle, Illinois) is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter. He competed in three Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments. Biography Hackney started training martial arts at the age 11 by learning Wrestling ...

, whom Son outweighed by 30 pounds, but was seven inches shorter. Son was able to perform a takedown and a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

attempt, but Hackney countered by punching Son's groin repeatedly, which was legal under the rules of the event. Hackney then performed a blood choke with his fingers and Son tapped out, being eliminated from the tournament. After his fight in UFC, Son competed in a match for the

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

federation, facing established star Nobuaki Kakuda. The much heavier Son initially led the pace with body shots and knees, scoring a mild knockdown by right hook, but he was eventually knocked out by Kakuda via high kick and punches. In 2002, Son debuted for Japanese promotion

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...

, fighting Takada Dojo exponent Yusuke Imamura at the PRIDE The Best Vol.2. He infamously wore a leopard

thong The thong is a garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions. Viewed from the front, the thong typically resembles a bikini bottom, but at the ...

with the PRIDE logo and sported

eye makeup Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

, as well as a

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

at his entrance, and hugged Imamura during the staredown. The bout was short, and Son quit after he was taken down and almost slid out of the ring, claiming an elbow injury. On April 12, 2002, Son also took part in Xtreme Pankration 2, wherein he faced Joe Moreira. After a brief exchange of strikes, Moreira landed a hit which drew blood, and Son then refused to continue fighting, and the fight was called. The result was officially listed as "submission (terror)". Son would return to PRIDE in July, facing Jukei Nakajima, and he once again gave up after being injured by being thrown on his head by the Japanese fighter. Son was also a

in Japan for a short time, wrestling

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the "Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the pr ...

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

's second Wrestle-1 event and working as singer and dancer for HUSTLE's third event.

Acting career

Son is best known for his role in the 1997 movie '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' as Random Task, a parody of the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

character Odd Job. This was also his final film role. Previously, Son had appeared in several low-budget action films, including ''

Joshua Tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

'' (1993) and '' Bloodfist V: Human Target'' (1994). He played the main villain in the

Lorenzo Lamas Lorenzo Fernando Lamas (born January 20, 1958) is an American actor. He is widely known for his role of Lance Cumson, the irresponsible grandson of Angela Channing—played by Jane Wyman—in the soap opera ''Falcon Crest'' (1981–1990), for ...

action film ''Bad Blood'' in 1994. He plays a supporting role in ''Shootfighter: Fight to the Death'' (1993) and a leading role as the main villain in its sequel ''Shootfighter II'' (1996).

Crimes

Son was first arrested for kicking in the door of a roommate's car. He pleaded guilty to felony vandalism on May 16, 2008, whereupon he was sentenced to probation and 60 days in jail. On August 18, 2008, he was taken into custody and given an additional 90 days in jail, due to a probation violation for failing to report to the Department of Probation and keep them informed of his current residence. As a condition of his original plea agreement, Son was required to provide a DNA sample. In early October 2008, his DNA sample was linked to a gang rape on Christmas Eve, 1990. Already in custody for a probation violation, Son was arrested at the Theo Lacy facility on October 7, 2008. Son was initially charged in Orange County, California, with five counts of rape, two felony counts of forcible sodomy, two felony counts of sodomy in concert by force, seven felony counts of forcible oral copulation, and one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object by force. He faced a maximum sentence of 275 years to life if convicted. Son and an accomplice tortured and repeatedly raped the victim before releasing her with her pants tied around her eyes. During the trial, the woman said that Son told her, "It's Christmas. This is your lucky day." Before

jury selection Jury selection is the selection of the people who will serve on a jury during a jury trial. The group of potential jurors (the "jury pool", also known as the ''venire'') is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. ...

began for his trial in early August 2011, the initial charges against Son were dropped having expired due to the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

. Son was then charged with

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

to commit murder and torture, crimes which have no statute of limitations. In late August, Son was found guilty of one felony count of torture. During the trial, the Orange County District Attorney's Office maintained that both Son and his co-defendant, Santiago Lopez Gaitan, pistol-whipped their female victim, repeatedly threatened to kill her, and raped her before finally releasing her. Gaitan, 40, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of kidnapping, sodomy by force in concert, rape in concert, forcible oral copulation, and forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement for committing rape while armed with a firearm. He was sentenced January 28, 2011, to 17 years and four months in state prison. On September 19, 2011, Son was sentenced to 7 years to life. In October 2011, Son was accused of killing his cellmate, Michael Thomas Graham, who was serving two years for failure to register as a

sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crim ...

in the county in February. The killing happened on October 10, 2011, on "B" Yard Reception, building 5 at

Wasco State Prison Wasco State Prison-Reception Center (WSP) is a state prison located in Wasco, Kern County, California. The Wasco facility was the first of two reception centers in Kern County. The primary mission is to provide short term housing necessary t ...

. The beating occurred at 5:25 p.m. and Graham died 25 minutes later. After the killing, Son was moved to

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

. On September 13, 2013, Son was charged with Graham's murder. At his trial in 2017, he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and received a 27-year sentence.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 0–4 , Jukei Nakajima , TKO (shoulder injury) ,

Pride The Best Vol.2 The year 2002 is the 6th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2002 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:54 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–3 , Joe Moreira , Submission (terror) , Xtreme Pankration 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Los Angeles, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–2 , Yusuke Imamura , TKO (elbow injury) , Pride The Best Vol.1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:33 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 ,

, Submission (blood choke) , UFC 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:44 ,

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

, United States ,

Kickboxing record

References

Notes

External links

* * *
Joe Son: "You can find me on Wikipedia"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Son, Joe 1970 births Living people American male kickboxers 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male mixed martial artists American people convicted of torture Heavyweight mixed martial artists Male actors from California Male erotic dancers People from the Las Vegas Valley Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California South Korean emigrants to the United States South Korean male film actors South Korean male kickboxers South Korean male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Sportspeople from California Heavyweight kickboxers Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American people of South Korean descent Sportspeople convicted of murder