Brian Ortega has a problem with rapper Jay Park. Brian Ortega does not, however, have any beef toward “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
Ortega made that very clear by issuing a statement Monday night in which he admitted to slapping Park in the face and explained why. Ortega also included one of those non-apology apologies for the incident, which was caught on video.
Here is the statement, which he deleted from Twitter not long after posting it:
On May 9, 2018, Jay Park signed Korean Zombie to a management contract under AOMG Entertainment, of which Park is the CEO, and soon after the trash talking began. When I finally mae it to Korea for the press conference, KZ approached me with his translator (a real one, not Jay Park) and said, “I want to apologize for the trash talking, it was my management that wants to do it to promote the fight.” I accepted his apology, shook his hand and we had a great press conference. Soon after I tore my knee, and the fight was cancelled. Four weeks ago, KZ and JP went on Ariel’s show and said I dodged the fight. “Dodging” and “injury” are two separate things, and since I already knew JP was the one writing the script, that’s when I welcomed him to the fight game and warned him to watch his mouth.
On Saturday night, I slapped three people a the same time. I apologize for slapping the “translator,” and I apologize for slapping the “K-pop star,” but I don’t apologize for slapping the “instigator.”
All that is a long way of Ortega saying that he doesn’t believe Park is just a translator translating “Korean Zombie’s” trash talk to English but instead is the driving force behind it, including last month when he translated for Jung during an interview on “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” which is what set off Ortega.
OK, but here’s the thing – and I’ll just let Park’s words do the talking …
“He’s like the No. 2 guy in the world, a UFC professional fighter. What is he doing coming and attacking me?” Park said Monday. “… I’m a singer, bro. I weigh 143 pounds. I’m like 40 pounds lighter than you. He’s the No. 2 UFC dude in the world. It doesn’t make you look tough.”
It’s hard not to agree with that. Even if Park has been pulling strings with the trash talk – which he’s denied, mind you – how could it be a good look for one of the top MMA fighters in the world to attack just a regular guy?
Whether Park is an “instigator” or not, it’s really no different than what we saw on the video of Conor McGregor sucker-punching that man in the pub. And that’s the kind of thing we wouldn’t expect from Ortega based on his character.
He’s been one of the sport’s good guys in recent years. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come.
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So here's why Brian Ortega has beef with Jay Park but not 'The Korean Zombie'
