Korean Zombie Hopes To Return In 10 Months, Would Love To Fight Aldo Again
‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung took part in a gruesome battle against Jose Aldo at UFC 163, which saw both men riddled with injuries in the time since. Aldo broke his foot during the fight and was taken down with kidney stones in the aftermath; Jung suffered a shattered eye socket, an injured foot and a dislocated shoulder.
Most events don’t come with an injury list as long as that title fight, Jung has since been sidelined and is likely to be until mid 2014. He spoke with Bloodyelbow.com about that night in Rio:
“I swung and the shoulder came out. It was the first time I’ve ever dislocated my shoulder, but I knew what happened. I thought, “So … this is what it feels like to dislocate your shoulder.” I tried to push the shoulder up, but I should have been trying to push it backwards. I also tried to hide it, but Aldo saw it and took advantage. Once the fight was called it hurt really badly, but it was okay once the doctors put it back in place.”
“I had surgery on my shoulder, otherwise it would have been recurring. Also, I had surgery for a fractured orbital bone. I’ll probably be back in the gym in ten months. With the surgery and the rehab, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jung’s potential 12 month layoff couldn’t have come at a worse time; the Featherweight division is teeming with talent right now, meaning that KZ could face a long run at the title should he return at 145.
Zombie may have been disappointed with the outcome at UFC 163, but I think he gave a great account of himself. He hurt Aldo a few times, and showed that he can fight smart. One criticism of KZ’s style was that he would just walk in to a bomb early on.
“You can’t fight wild against a guy like Aldo — at least not right off the bat. It was part of our gameplan. If that didn’t work out, I was planning to go into Zombie-mode, but things were going as we planned early in the fight. Part of my hesitation was that I kept expecting the low kicks, but they never came. I didn’t realize that he had injured his foot in the first round.”
“I felt that he’s definitely human. He’s got such an aura of invincibility built up around him, but after fighting him, I know that he’s human and can get tired. I would really like the opportunity to fight him again.”
I certainly look forward to The Korean Zombie’s return; he has been a favorite fighter of mine for a long time now. I just hope the time being sidelined doesn’t take too much of a toll.
Banner photo courtesy of USAToday.com
