‘Korean Zombie’ Releases Statement After UFC 273 Loss

A disappointed ‘Korean Zombie’ shared his thoughts following a tough fourth round stoppage loss to Alexander Volkanovski in Florida on Saturday night.

“The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung suffered a one sided loss on Saturday night at UFC 273 against featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. It was hard to watch through the third round, and fortunately in the fourth the referee stepped in and stopped the fight after Volkanovski started cracking Jung hard on the feet (check out the highlights here).

Following the bout, Jung was nothing but humble and respectful. But Koreans watching the event noted that his translator didn’t quite catch and convey everything “The Korean Zombie” said. “Pretty sure zombie’s translator left out him saying ‘I now know I can’t be UFC champion,’” one person on social media wrote.

This seems to line up with a similar comment in a statement released by Chan Sung Jung on Instagram.

“It’s sad or regretful, or something like that, but there’s no such thing,” Jung wrote (translation by Google). “I feel relieved, my physical condition was perfect and all the camps were perfect, but I lost so perfectly haha. I’m sorry to those who looked forward to me, thank you to those who worried about me, I’m okay I’m just disappointed to learn that a champion is like this.”

“I hope that Korean martial arts will be helpful to the next generation,” Jung concluded. “And I want to say thank you to Alex Volkanovski for showing the dignity of a champion. Thank you Alex.”

The loss drops Jung to 4-3 since returning from his mandatory military service in 2017. While “The Korean Zombie” is still clearly a force at the top of the featherweight division, the big question is whether Jung will want to continue if he feels he can’t achieve his goal of being a champion. Some of the comments he’s made point to the idea that he won’t, but Jung is also extremely hard on himself following losses. So time will tell.