UFC Fight Night: 'Korean Zombie' retires after losing featherweight main event

SINGAPORE — There were emotional scenes at the end of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday (27 August), as renowned South Korean mixed martial arts fighter Jung Chan-sung announced his retirement after defeat in the main event.

The 36-year-old featherweight, fondly nicknamed "The Korean Zombie", fought back tears as he thanked the strong support among the 10,263 fans and ended his 16-year professional fighting career.

"I’ve always wanted to become champion when I first started the sport. I’m not here to be ranked third, fourth or fifth," Jung told the crowd as he took off his gloves in a symbolic gesture of retirement.

"I tried my absolute best to prepare for Max Holloway. I really, really believed I could beat him, but I ended up failing. I don’t think I have the opportunity anymore, so I think I’m going to stop right now.”

Holloway, 31, was also emotional as the Hawaiian native dedicated his third-round knockout win to the victims of the Maui fires.

The former UFC interim featherweight champion and top-ranked American knocked Jung to the floor and put in a chokehold in the second round, and finally put the Korean away with a right punch 23 seconds into the third round of a ferocious bout.

"Lahaina, Maui, this one’s for you. The last two weeks, I had a lot of emotion. The spirit of it was with me here tonight," Holloway said after his win.

"(Jung's) a crazy 'zombie' for a reason. The man’s a myth, the man’s a legend. I’m just glad my right hand landed before his did."

Anthony Smith prevails in bruising co-main event

The co-main event was a rematch between light-heavyweight fighters Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann, who battled to a split-decision win for Smith, despite the American suffering a bruised eye in the second round.

There were three victories for Asian fighters at the Fight Night. China's Song Kenan battled Peru's Ronaldo Bedoya to a unanimous-decision win in their welterweight prelim bout, while South Korean featherweight Choi Seung-woo opened the event with a similar victory over Dutch fighter Jarno Errens.

Japan's undefeated bantamweight fighter Rinya Nakamura also shone among the main-card bouts, defeating American Fernie Garcia via a unanimous decision after a dominant performance of kicks and grappling.

According to the UFC, Saturday’s event was the highest-grossing Fight Night in Singapore history with $1,288,777 in revenue. The city-state had previously hosted four UFC Fight Nights from 2014 to 2019.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

Main event: Max Holloway defeats Chan Sung Jung (third-round KO).

Co-main event: Anthony Smith defeats Ryan Spann (split decision)

Main card: Giga Chikadze defeats Alex Caceres (unanimous decision), Rinya Nakamura defeats Fernie Garcia (unanimous decision), Erin Blanchfield defeats Taila Santos by (unanimous decision), Junior Tafa defeats Parker Porter (first-round KO).

Prelims: Waldo Cortes-Acosta defeats Lukasz Brzeski (first-round KO), Garrett Armfield defeats Toshiomi Kazama (first-round TKO), Michal Oleksiejczuk defeats Chidi Njokuani (first-round TKO), Song Kenan defeats Rolando Bedoya (unanimous decision), Billy Goff defeats Yusaku Kinoshita (first-round TKO), JJ Aldrich defeats Liang Na (second-round TKO), Choi Seung-woo defeats Jarno Errens (unanimous decision).

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