After a long layoff due to injury and a mandatory two-year stint in the South Korean army, Chan Sung Jung, the Korean Zombie, finally makes his return to the UFC this Saturday for UFC Fight Night 104 on Fox Sports 1.
Jung’s last fight, a fourth-round knockout loss to longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo in August 2013, wasn’t his best. He struggled to find his range and rhythm against the Brazilian great and was repeatedly taken down before separating his shoulder and succumbing to punches.
Few thought that Jung would win that fight against Aldo; he closed as a more than 6-1 underdog, and that may still have been generous. It was still an anticipated fight, though, because of Jung’s brawling style.
Prior to his time away from the sport, Jung had made a name for himself as one of the most exciting young fighters. He was a talent who could finish the fight on the feet or on the ground while delivering a delectable buffet of wild violence.
Check out his five fights prior to that bout with Aldo: a fight of the year against Dustin Poirier; a seven-second knockout of Mark Hominick, who was just coming off a five-round war with Aldo for the title; a twister submission of Leonard Garcia in their rematch, the first in UFC history; a crazy head-kick knockout loss to George Roop; and one of the most epic brawls in MMA history against Garcia in their first meeting.
Jung had more than earned his reputation, and that’s why we should all be excited to have him back now.
While there are still some names that Jung will recognize, like Aldo, Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson, the landscape of the featherweight division has changed drastically in the three years since Jung’s last fight.
Conor McGregor had just debuted in the UFC, and his whole rise to prominence was still in the future. Fighters like Clay Guida, Dennis Siver, Hatsu Hioki and Nik Lentz have since exited the elite, replaced by young guns like Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez and Jung’s opponent on Saturday, Dennis Bermudez.
How does Jung, who’s still only 29 years old, stack up in this new division? Does he even have the skills to be an elite fighter these days?
We haven’t seen Jung in the cage for 42 months, two years of which he spent in the military and much of the rest of the time out with injuries. It’s impossible to say whether or how his skills have developed in that time, and whether ring rust will affect him or not. Dominick Cruz returned from multiple long layoffs, one of nearly three years, and looked great; many other fighters haven’t been so lucky even with shorter periods away.
Still, before the layoff, Jung’s skills were evolving. He began his career in the WEC as a wild brawler in that first fight with Garcia, winging wild haymakers and flying knees like there was no tomorrow. He lost a split decision in that fight, but he gained a reputation as an action fighter on the rise.
Jung’s next fight, against Roop, showed the limitations of that brawling style: He ate a faceful of shin and went down by knockout, plodding ineffectively after the skilled striker and eating shot after shot before the finish.
After that devastating loss, Jung reevaluated his game and began to transform himself into something more measured. He exchanged a bit in the second fight with Garcia, but he mostly pressured and looked to grapple whenever possible. That led to his stunning twister finish in the second round, and it became clear to those who hadn’t been aware just how slick Jung was as a takedown artist and grappler.
It’s hard to take much from a seven-second knockout, but finishing the tough Hominick with a picture-perfect right-hand counter is a serious accomplishment.
The May 2012 fight of the year against Poirier showcased Jung’s full transformation. He hit takedown after takedown, a mixture of slick trips and throws, and he threatened constantly with submissions before finishing with a D’Arce choke in the fourth round. The counter he hit against Hominick was just the tip of the iceberg, and he countered Poirier effectively over and over. The flash and willingness to bang were still there, too.
While the fight with Aldo was disappointing, that too encapsulated how much Jung had changed from the chin-first brawler of his early career in the United States. He countered effectively and pressured as well as anyone against the ultra-technical Aldo, even finding moments of success before the unfortunate end.
If Jung’s development has continued along these lines, we can expect to see a few things from him in his matchup with Bermudez.
First, the counters will continue to develop. It’s not uncommon for fighters with a brawling nature to turn into excellent counterpunchers with a little refinement—Robbie Lawler and John Lineker come to mind—since focusing on counters takes advantage of the brawler’s chin, timing and willingness to hang in there and throw leather. Jung is a great example of this.
Second, Jung will probably be willing and able to grapple. He does his best work from the top position and in scrambles, and if he can force the transition, the opportunities will be there to finish with a submission.
Whatever he decides to do, no matter how his skills look, we know Jung will come to fight. We’re fortunate to have him back in the Octagon.
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