Korean Zombie on decision to retire from MMA: ‘I felt that I don’t have that chin anymore’

The Korean Zombie is still adjusting to life outside of the cage.

In August, Zombie — real name Chan Sung Jung — officially retired from MMA following his knockout loss to Max Holloway in the main event of UFC Singapore. Still only 36 years old and one of the top featherweights in the world, Zombie could continue fighting, but Zombie says given how the fight went, he knew it was time to walk away.

“The funny thing about this fight is I remember every single second of the fight,” Zombie said recently on The MMA Hour. “From the moment I got dropped, every single punch I threw, every single punch that hit me. In the second round when I got dropped, I saw the punch coming, I thought I dodged it, but I was dropped. I was like, ‘What hit me?’ In the first round I was wobbled a little bit and in the third round everybody saw I got knocked down.

“After experiencing these moments, I felt that I don’t have that chin anymore. I’ve been having brain damage over the years, so I don’t have that chin anymore. I’m not going to say any names but there are fighter who, when they were young, used to have a really good chin, but then as they get older they get brain damage, their chin gets weaker, and they get frequently dropped. If the fighter fails to acknowledge the fact that they got old and their chin got weaker, the end isn’t as lovely. I didn’t want to become that fighter, so I decided to retire at that moment.”

Despite never becoming champion, Zombie is one of the most beloved fighters in MMA history. Known for his exciting, action-packed style and his the durability which earned him the name “Zombie,” Jung left the UFC how he entered the promotion: chaotic and violent. After nearly getting finished in the second round, Zombie came out for the third round against Holloway and started brawling that he says was done as an throwback to his first fight under the Zuffa banner, his war with Leonard Garcia in 2010.

“I definitely wanted to show the crowd the classic Zombie,” Jung said. “If the fans watched my first fight in the WEC, that’s how I fought originally. I kind of wanted to put on a show for the fans and go back to the old version of me and put on a show. I kind of went out the way I came in this organization. I’m happy the fight went as it did.”

Had Zombie won the fight, he said he would have tried to have the UFC return to South Korea for a rematch with Brian Ortega or Yair Rodriguez. Instead, he was left looking back on a career he says he’s extremely grateful for.

“Before I put the gloves down, I didn’t really feel anything, but after I put the gloves down on the canvas and bowed down right besides the gloves, it was an emotion that I’ve never felt before,” Zombie said. “Being at the end of a chapter in your life is something that’s very unexplainable. At the same time, I felt gratitude towards the UFC and the UFC gloves because it gave me one heck of a life, so that’s what I was feeling.”

And while the end may not have been exactly what Zombie wanted, it wasn’t all bad. While he exited the cage for the final time, fans in the Singapore Indoor Stadium sang his walkout song, “Zombie” by The Cranberries, in tribute to him, resulting in on of the most touching retirement scenes in MMA history. That, and everything about the fight other than the outcome, make it Zombie’s personal favorite moment in his career.

“The Max Holloway fight, because everything was perfect, the timing, my opponent being Max Holloway, the audience, the crowd, the love that they showed me,” Zombie said. “I’ve had my share of fights in life but this fight is the only fight that I have zero regret after the fight is finished, even though I lost via knockout. This is the only fight that I have completely zero regrets, so I would choose my last fight as the most memorable one.”

As for what’s next for Zombie, he’s already a successful YouTuber, and said he has plans to stay connected to MMA moving forward, perhaps with a show looking to find and develop emerging Asian MMA talent. And while the MMA door might have closed, Zombie says it’s possible he might not be fully done with combat sports.

“My heart an every part of my body says I could totally go and fight again, but I think it’s time for me to acknowledge that as far as MMA goes, I’ll probably not be able to fight again,” Zombie said. “I think it’s time for me to acknowledge that.

“If I get the opportunity, maybe boxing? A lot of MMA fighters try out boxing so why not me? Boxing would be fun for me.”