Chan Sung Jung is eying his potential next challenge.
“The Korean Zombie” has suffered defeats, but perhaps none more difficult to process than his Oct. 17 UFC Fight Night unanimous decision loss to Brian Ortega.
“It was honestly the most mentally challenging fight of my career,” Jung told MMA Junkie. “Physically, it was also very challenging, and my ego was struck down too. Luckily, I didn’t have any injuries. My two-week quarantine once I returned home to Korea made me very focused on the future.”
“The fight plan was perfect,” Jung said. “(Ortega) used spinning elbows a lot in other fights. … We prepared accordingly, but he aimed for it and did his job. Unfortunately, it was a shot that I couldn’t fully recover from, and I couldn’t perform to the best of my abilities.”
Since returning home to South Korea, Jung has focused on recovering from a collateral ligament tear that occurred during preparation for the Ortega fight.
Korean Zombie making his first public appearance since the Ortega fight. Looks to be in high spirits after one of his Zombie MMA reps picked up a win at #DGFC5 pic.twitter.com/ddJf2g6p7d
— John Hyon Ko (@JHKMMA) November 28, 2020
“I want Zabit (Magomedsharipov),” Jung said. “That’s the fight that’s going to get me closest to a title shot. More than that, I want to once again try to prove myself against one of the hottest fighters in the division and prove that I’m still capable of competing at the highest level. Of course, I would understand if he doesn’t want to fight me.”
Will Magomedsharipov accept the challenge? Jung isn’t sure.
“This is a fight that would bring the fans to their feet,” Jung said. “(He) and I are both entertainers and extremely competitive, so I think he’d like to step in the octagon with me. A win for both of us would mean a lot for our careers, and it would be an amazing match. The ball is in Zabit’s court; I want this fight to kick off 2021.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jung and Cha improvised and created a custom “Zombie-centric” camp to prepare for Ortega.
“Training for my last fight in Korea was interesting,” Jung said. “It was very comfortable to be at home, but it also takes a lot of resources to bring my Fight Ready family around the world to me. Once I get my next opponent, I’ll likely travel and come join the squad in Arizona.”
