UFC’s ‘Korean Zombie’ leaves a huge legacy for Asian fighters, and can retire with his head held high
- Jung is considering retirement after his TKO loss to featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida
- If he hangs up the gloves, he will leave behind an important legacy for Asian fighters – whether he recognises it or not
Jung Chan-sung’s face was a mess of cuts and bruises by the end of Saturday’s UFC 273 event in Florida, but its most notable feature was a look of profound disappointment.
The fan favourite, better known by the nickname “The Korean Zombie,” challenged Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski for the promotion’s featherweight championship in the card’s main event, but ultimately suffered a fourth-round TKO loss.
It was one of the most decisive defeats of his career, and it had him considering retirement before he even left the Octagon.
“After every loss I always think about leaving the Octagon, leaving this MMA game, but I’ll need more time to think on it to see if I can continue fighting,” he told commentator Joe Rogan through his translator. “I will have to think on that.”
It is easy to understand Jung’s disappointment.
The Korean star was not only fighting for himself at UFC 273. He was striving to become the first Asian male to win an undisputed title in the UFC – and prove what he considered an important point in the process.
UFC 273: Volkanovski stops ‘Korean Zombie’ with standing TKO
“A lot of people think that Asian men not being able to become champions means Asian men are weak,” he explained at the UFC 273 pre-fight press conference. “That’s not the case.”
Jung may feel that, by failing to capture the featherweight title at UFC 273, he failed to prove this point, but the truth is that he has been proving it for the entirety of his illustrious career.
Just look at his resume.
In 2010, Jung defeated Leonard Garcia by decision in a fight that is still regarded among the greatest of all time.
In 2011 he defeated Garcia again, this time tapping the gritty American with a twister: one of the rarest submissions in all of MMA, and the first that we had ever seen in the UFC.
Later that year, he knocked former featherweight title challenger Mark Hominick out in just seven seconds to tie the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history at the time.
And in 2012, he defeated Dustin Poirier by submission in another fight that still stands out as an all-time classic.
And all of that is just scratching the surface.
Over the course of his UFC career, the Korean has earned eight post-fight bonuses – the second most in the history of the promotion’s featherweight division behind Mexican action fighter Yair Rodriguez.
He has beaten an impressive list of contenders, title challengers and champions, including Hominick, Poirier, Dennis Bermudez, Frankie Edgar and Dan Ige.
Many of his losses, meanwhile, have come against the best fighters in the world, such as featherweight great Jose Aldo, long-time featherweight contender Brian Ortega, and the current king Volkanovski.
The truth is that, while a UFC title may have eluded him, greatness has not.
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“[Jose] Aldo, Max [Holloway], and myself ... to be at the top and just under them champions that whole time, through three of the UFC featherweight greatest fighters, that’s still saying something,” Volkanovski told the Post of Jung on Tuesday.
“He never got that title but that doesn’t mean he ain’t a legend. That doesn’t mean he can’t fight. It’s just there’s been absolute killers at the top holding this division. We’re in my era now and it’s gonna be tough for whoever wants to take that belt from me.”
Time will tell whether we’ll see “The Korean Zombie” in the Octagon again.
But if he has fought his last fight, he can ride off into the sunset with his head held high, knowing that he is not only one of the greats of his division, but a testament to the talent of Asian fighters and an inspiration to entire generation of young fighters from all across the continent.
