“The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung continues to get hit with big waves of emotion in life after fighting.
Seoul, South Korea’s Jung made his final walk to the Octagon at UFC Singapore against former Featherweight champion, Max Holloway, last month (Aug. 26, 2023). Unfortunately for “Zombie,” he suffered a tough third round knockout loss (watch highlights) before having his retirement fight gloves snatched away by the Singapore crowd.
The double dose of misfortune turned in Jung’s favor one month later, however, as the entertaining one-time UFC title challenger has revealed he’s awaiting the return of one of his lost gloves. His final opponent, Holloway, also surprised him with a gift after hearing about the theft.
“Luckily, the glove that I threw into the crowd was picked up by a Korean fan,” Jung said on his YouTube channel. “The Korean fan reached out to me, he actually lives overseas so when he comes back, he promises to drop by at my gym and return the glove. I am deeply grateful and will give a gift in return.
”But the most important thing I want to mention today is before my retirement glove was returned to me, another great gift found its way to my gym,” he continued. “These gloves were sent to my gym. Do you recognize them? Some of you might have already guessed, these gloves are taped red. Max Holloway sent me his gloves as a gift.”
Jung and Holloway’s duel took place shortly after Hawaii was devastated by the Maui wildfires, prompting Jung to want to assist if he could. Coinciding with Holloway’s gift, Jung went ahead and donated $20,000 to the Maui Food Bank and invited “Blessed” to meet him in South Korea one day.
“If you’re a fighter, you’d probably know how much retirement gloves mean to a retired fighter, especially for me, who’s never got around to getting the belt,” Jung said. “So Max knows exactly how much it means for me to keep the glove that was used in the fight.”