"Thank you Alex" - 'The Korean Zombie' pens a touching message following loss to Alexander Volkanovski
'The Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung suffered a one-sided defeat on Saturday night at UFC 273, losing all three rounds to featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski before the referee stopped the fight in the fourth. While 'The Korean Zombie' sits near the top of the 145 pound rankings at No.4, the difference in the skills between him and Volkanovski was made obvious during their fight.
During his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Jung implied that his days of chasing the UFC title were over. In a statement written in Korean on his Instagram, Jung expanded on how he was feeling following the loss. He wrote:
"It's sad or regretful, or something like that, but there's no such thing. 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. And I want to say thank you to Alex Volkanovski for showing the dignity of a champion Thank you Alex."
The loss drops Chan Sung Jung's record to 17-7. While he performed well in a June 2021 win over Dan Ige, an October 2020 loss to fellow top 5 ranked opponent Brian Ortega was also a one-sided affair, similar to the Volkanovski defeat.
'The Korean Zombie' received a lot of respect from Alexander Volkanovski
Chan Sung Jung is a legend of the sport who has been thrilling fans in the UFC for over a decade. Coming into UFC 273, Alexander Volkanovski made it clear that he had a lot of respect for 'The Korean Zombie', and he laid that out leading up to the fight. He said:
"Zombie's been at the top of the game since the featherweight division started. This is a legacy fight. I've taken out a lot of the legends and I want to keep taking out legends, and he's definitely one of them."
He also showed respect in the cage during their fight. After a 10-8 round three that had the referee watching 'The Korean Zombie' closely in his corner, Volkanovski started round four by asking Chan Sung Jung if he was all right.
What a guy @alexvolkanovski is 😍
A true champion 🙌 https://t.co/s5bt2VclZR
Following his victory, Alexander Volkanovski waited for Chan Sung Jung to leave the cage first so he could bow to his opponent.
#UFC273Nothing but respect 👏 #UFC273 https://t.co/fPundwqG1X