The Korean Zombie is coming off a long layoff. He suffered a shoulder injury and by the time he competes at UFC Singapore this weekend the 36 year old will have been away from the octagon for 16 months.
Chan Sun Jung has had plenty of time to train and reflect. He is coming off a one sided defeat at the hands of Alex Volkanovski at UFC 273 and it is not a performance he feels particularly proud about,
“The Volkanovski fight was a a big fight so losing like that was hurtful. I had to take a break, to reassess. I watched the fight and if I (ever) fight like this again I will not continue my career.”
Still one of the BEST in the featherweight division 🇰🇷🧟♂️ @KoreanZombieMMA #UFCVegas29 pic.twitter.com/NFWhuaAeI6
— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) June 21, 2021
Exciting fighters
The Korean Zombie openly discussed the possibility of retirement in the aftermath of that fight. He clearly wants to continue competing but has set himself high standards and will need to live up to them when he meets Max Holloway this weekend.
It is a fight he wanted and the Korean feels it has been several years in the making,
“He’s a fighter I have wanted to fight my entire career. As he mentioned in his interview we’ve been in the top ten for many years (and) Max and I are exciting fighters so him and me inside the octagon cannot be boring.”
He has had plenty of time to prepare for this fight. The Korean Zombie pulled out of UFC Seoul earlier this year after suffering a shoulder injury but it sounds like he has fully recovered.
View this post on Instagram
Best shape
The 24 fight veteran says he is in the best shape of his entire career heading into UFC Singapore,
“Before every fight I believe I am in the best shape but before this fight it’s true. I’m in the best shape of my entire career both physically and mentally.”
Despite the damaging defeat to Volkanovski he remains #8 in the featherweight division. It is an achievement of which The Korean Zombie is justifiably proud,
“I personally think that the featherweight division is the most exciting division. It’s right in the middle so I’m proud of myself because I’ve been in the top ten for so long in this exciting and difficult division.”
A win over Holloway would presumably propel him to #1 in the featherweight rankings. It would certainly put an end to any talk of retirement and The Korean Zombie wants to relaunch his career with a win over the former champion,
“Max is one of the best fighters out of all the division, he’s a former champion and in the pound for pound ranking. Getting a win over such a legendary fighter would be a huge boost to my career.”
