Returning from a three-year absence from the sport, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung feels ready to chase the featherweight title again after a win over Dennis Bermudez at last night’s UFC Fight Night 104 put him right back into the mix at the top of the division.
UFC Fight Night 204 took place at the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas and featured Zombie’s return in the main event against top-10 ranked 145lber Bermudez.
Korean Zombie scores first round KO
Despite being rocked twice by his opponent, The Korean Zombie would live up to his name as he shook it off and marched forward regardless. Stuffing takedown attempts, he landed a big uppercut out of nowhere to drop Bermudez at 2:49 in round one for the knockout victory on his big return.
Talking at the UFC Fight Night 104 post-fight press conference, Jung believes his performance now puts him back to where he was three years ago and he is ready to get back into contention after proving to himself his abilities have progressed even with the absence from fighting.
“I’m human too. Times I thought can I keep up with the game, keep developing my techniques. That’s what I thought and now I feel like I’m about to cry,” said Korean Zombie
“My goal is always to be the champion and I think this fight has put me back in the game.”
Zombie hails former Bantamweight champion
The South Korean would later thank former UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz for inspiring him with his now infamous comments on ring-rust being all in the mind.
“I tried to explain there’s no such thing as rust,” said Cruz after regaining the UFC bantamweight title after his own hiatus from the sport. “How much have I said that? There’s only rust if you don’t train enough. Remember, ring rust is nothing more than mental weakness.”
These words clearly resonated with Jung as he would reveal he took those words as inspiration in the lead up to his own return.
@DominickCruz The things that you said in your press conference about ring rust really inspired me. Thank you!
— Chan Sung Jung (@KoreanZombieMMA) February 5, 2017
Who’s next for Korean Zombie?
With Bermudez being ranked ninth before this fight, it will be interesting to see where he enters the Featherweight rankings when they are released this week.
Fights with Cub Swanson or Yair Rodriguez seem a real possibility going forward with both fights guaranteed to be highly anticipated throughout the MMA community due to the exciting style of all three fighters.
For complete UFC Fight Night 107 results, click here.
UFC Fight Night 104: Post-fight Press Conference
