Although he has been surrounding title talk for some time now, UFC featherweight title contender Chan Sung Jung, or “The Korean Zombie,” as he’s more affectionately known, recently found himself with a stroke of luck when Anthony Pettis was forced to withdraw from August 3rd’s UFC 163 main event.
Stepping in to challenge Jose Aldo Jr. for the featherweight strap, KZ knows that he must couple skill with luck. Although he acknowledged that his formerly scheduled opponent Ricardo Lamas might deserve the shot more than him, Jung is taking the cookies when they’re passed, telling MMA Weekly this week:
“It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to fight for a title in the UFC, so I’m thrilled that I got the call. Timing on these things isn’t something that you can control, so you have to ‘roll with the punches’ so to speak.”
So it seems that Jung has an upbeat and evolving view of the events in place, always willing to adapt throughout the situation. He also knows that Aldo will no doubt be his toughest test ever in MMA, a top-ranked opponent that will require great adaptability:
“Aldo is close to perfect as a fighter and I realize that I have shortcomings in my game. On paper it may not look like a good fight, but in MMA things happen that you can’t predict on paper. I think the difference may come down to the mental game.”
KZ may give himself the edge in the mental aspect of fighting, and indeed, that’s never an attribute to look past. But I don’t think that his fight with Aldo is a bad one on paper. It should be a great bout, as KZ has shown prowess in all aspects of mixed martial arts. Aldo is of course one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, and now he has a list of title challengers lining up to attempt to take his belt. Will they have to look towards fighting Jung instead after the dust settles on UFC 163?
