Chan Sung Jung, AKA “The Korean Zombie,” is now retired after taking his last fight in August against Max Holloway. Despite losing to the opponent via knockout, the 36-year-old has no regret about how his career ended, saying he knows that he no longer has “that chin anymore.” For Jung, it is better to have an early retirement than a gruesome end.
The Korean fighter faced Holloway in the octagon months ago and failed to snatch success after a third-round KO loss. The Korean Zombie made a remarkable journey under UFC, allowing him to fight prominent names like Dustin Poirier, Alexander Volkanovski, and Holloway. However, with his last fight with the latter, Jung realized his time had come.
“The funny thing about this fight is I remember every single second of the fight,” Zombie told The MMA Hour. “From the moment I got dropped, every single punch I threw, every single punch that hit me. In the second round when I got dropped, I saw the punch coming, I thought I dodged it, but I was dropped. I was like, ‘What hit me?’ In the first round I was wobbled a little bit and in the third round everybody saw I got knocked down.”
At 36, many would think that the fighter could still fight. Yet, for the Zombie, the decision is the right thing to do, admitting the downside of aging and losing is earlier MMA brilliance.
“After experiencing these moments, I felt that I don’t have that chin anymore,” explained the Korean. “I’ve been having brain damage over the years, so I don’t have that chin anymore. I’m not going to say any names but there are fighter who, when they were young, used to have a really good chin, but then as they get older they get brain damage, their chin gets weaker, and they get frequently dropped. If the fighter fails to acknowledge the fact that they got old and their chin got weaker, the end isn’t as lovely. I didn’t want to become that fighter, so I decided to retire at that moment.”
Despite a loss being the last record placed in his MMA record, Jung sees his bout versus Holloway as the most memorable one in his career. The fighter is also appreciative of the UFC, which gave him “one heck of a life.” And although he is certain that his MMA era is now over, Jung knows that it is not over in terms of other things he could explore. With many MMA fighters trying other combat sports nowadays, Jung also sees himself trying different paths, particularly boxing, which he believes “would be fun” for him.
