Fight fans may well have seen the last of The Korean Zombie. Chan Sung Jung was badly beaten by Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273 and admitted afterwards the loss has left him contemplating retirement,
“After every loss I always think about leaving the octagon, leaving this MMA game. But I’ll need more time to think on it and see if I’ll continue fighting. I have to think on that,” he said after the fight.
Second chance
It was Chan Sung Jung’s second time fighting for the UFC featherweight title. In 2013 he came up short against Jose Aldo and afterwards the 35 year old admitted he would not get a third chance,
“I think I’ve realized today that I’ll never be champion, and I don’t know if I have it in me to come back into the octagon again,” he said in Korean.
The translator omitted this from the post fight interview but various Korean outlets picked up on it. The bout was completely one sided with Volkanovski dominating from start to finish.
Feeling confident
The Korean Zombie prepared for this bout at Fight Ready in Arizona. He worked with coaches Henry Cejudo and Eddie Cha and says he was confident heading into the contest,
“I was the most confident out of my entire career. I was ready, I was ready to go but It felt like I hit a wall that I could not go over,” he explained.
The wall in question is an Australian looking to go down in history as the greatest featherweight of all time. There is no shame in losing to the best in the business and the Korean has done it twice.
But this loss was far more damaging than the 2011 defeat to Aldo, both mentally and physically. The Korean Zombie always gives his all but it seems his career could be coming to an end.
