The Korean Zombie experimented with some trash talking but will no longer be partaking in it.
The former featherweight title challenger is finally set to face Brian Ortega when they clash on October 17. It’s a fight that has been nearly a year in the making after they were initially set to collide in December only for Ortega to pull out through injury.
That led to some claims of ducking from Korean Zombie and has since turned into a heated rivalry with Ortega that culminated in the latter slapping Korean Zombie’s friend, translator and singer Jay Park at UFC 248 in March.
Because of that incident — along with being someone who doesn’t generally play into mind games — Korean Zombie will no longer be trash talking and has apologized to both Ortega as well as featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who he has also gone back-and-forth with in recent times.
“I am not a person who enjoys trash talking, but I tried some of them recently because I thought my fans would like them,” Zombie told MMA Junkie. “But the result was not good and my friend was affected, so I won’t be doing trash talking anymore.
“I apologize for all the trash talking I did to Ortega and the champion, so I hope Ortega won’t continue trash talking to me anymore.”
That said, while Korean Zombie hopes the Park issue is behind them, he was skeptical about Ortega’s apology following the incident after a recent interview.
“Everyone makes mistakes, and I accepted his apology because he sounded sincere when he apologized,” Zombie said. “But a recent interview he had with ESPN made me confused if he was sincere for his apology. To be honest, I feel sympathy for him because it seems he still lives in the past as he mentioned ‘the rule’ where he was from.
“I don’t think it is good for Ortega to keep trash talking this way. I believe he does not want me to go back to the issue deeper. The fact is that he hit a singer, not a fighter. The martial arts he trains in has fame in preventing school violence and bullying. I believe he does not want me to go into more detail about it, so I won’t.”
Trash talk aside, Korean Zombie will finally get to fight Ortega in just under two weeks. And he believes he will solidify his claim for the next shot at Volkanovski’s featherweight crown with a big win.
“Definitely!” Zombie added. “When I win over Ortega, I should be next in line for Volkanovski, (but) at this time, I am focusing on fighting Ortega and not for the title shot, yet.”
What do you make of Korean Zombie’s comments?
Brian Ortega questioned the recent callout of Alexander Volkanovski from the Korean Zombie. Volkanovski defended his featherweight title against Max Holloway in a controversial split decision win in the co-main event of UFC 251 this past weekend. Many felt Holloway did enough to regain the strap, including Zombie, who notably stated it was shameful that […]