"Don't be so hard on yourself" - Alexander Volkanovski urges 'The Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung to reconsider retirement thoughts

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Alexander Volkanovski (left), The Korean Zombie 'Chan Sung Jung' (right) [Image courtesy: @alexvolkanovski via Instagram]

Alexander Volkanovski has urged Chan Sung Jung to reconsider thoughts of retirement in the aftermath of their featherweight title clash at UFC 273.

'The Korean Zombie' contemplated retiring from the sport during his post-fight interview after taking a hellacious beating at the hands of the featherweight champion. Speaking to TMZ Sports, Volkanovski explained that he wanted his South Korean rival to reconsider the retirement thoughts that arose primarily over the disappointing loss he suffered that night:

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"I felt bad because you could see he was a bit emotional after the fight. I obviously couldn't understand him, but I knew he was like talking about retiring and all that. I wanted him to understand that, 'It doesn't matter who was there in front of me, that was going to happen, so don't be so hard on yourself. Because if you were in front of someone else that night, it wouldn't have looked that way.'"

Watch Volkanovski's full conversation with TMZ Sports in the video below:

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Alexander Volkanovski wants Max Holloway trilogy in Australia

After a third successful featherweight title defense against 'The Korean Zombie', it appears that a third fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway could be the next order of business.

While there has been no official confirmation of the bout, the champion has revealed that he would like the fight to take place in his home country of Australia. During the same interview with TMZ Sports, the 33-year-old said:

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"Max [Holloway], that's obviously going to be a big fight whenever that happens. Everyone is still talking about it. I would love to do that in Australia and we are talking about doing it in Australia, you know? But then you've got Dana [White] obviously talking about not going there, but I think if that trilogy does happen, I would love for that to happen in Australia."

Alexander Volkanovski captured the featherweight title from Max Holloway with a unanimous decision win in December 2019. The pair had a rematch in July 2020, with Volkanovski emerging victorious via split-decision.

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The two featherweights were set to collide for a third time at UFC 273. However, 'Blessed' was forced to pull out due to an injury.

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