Back from the dead after Yair Rodriguez seemingly stole his soul last year, Zombie is now vaulted into title implications and is arguably the most worthy behind Volkanovski and Ortega. Holloway has his hands full with Edgar in July (please happen I am sick and tired of waiting for this fight), Ortega is MIA still healing up after getting dismantled in his title try, and Volkanovski is sitting pretty waiting for his turn at the title (rightfully so, no reason to risk losing when that shot is yours). So where does this leave the undead fan favorite in all of this?
Chan Sung Jung was a title hopeful half a decade ago filling in for Anthony Pettis against Jose Aldo, until he was stopped in his tracks in a 4th round TKO. He had a fight planned a year later, but was yanked due to injury and got replaced by some no name Max Holloway. TKZ then announced he would be leaving the UFC to fulfill his mandatory military service back in South Korea with a return not mentioned. Fast forward to 2017 he’s back, and lays his hammer on the octagon knocking out Dennis Bermudez. His next bout in 2018 as mentioned previously did not go as planned, getting knocked out with seconds left after picking Rodriguez apart for 4 rounds, 4 minutes and 50 seconds. Now he stands, fresh off a brutal knockout of Renato Moicano in just 1 minute of action ready to make his jump featherweight pool of killers in the top 5.
To me, there are only 3 fights to make for Jung right now, all of which should make for must watch television:
1. Jose Aldo – After getting out pointed by Volkanovski in his last fight, we expected Aldo to maybe have one fight left before retiring and calling it an amazing career with one of the longest title runs in UFC history. Then he signs a new contract with the UFC, and crushes most peoples’ expectations. This is my top matchup to make for Zombie, being able to rectify one of his worst losses in the first chapter of his UFC career would only further cement his legacy and leave him prime for a title shot with a win.
2. Brian Ortega – Probably the most clear fight to make for Dana and Shelby would be matching up these two fellas. Ortega only has one loss in his professional career and its to the current champion who seems nie unbeatable at this weight (can’t say the same for 155). Zombie has had an extremely underrated grappling game his whole career due to how good of a striker he is, I would love this fight for him to be able to make a statement and show the world just how good he is everywhere.
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov (I did not copy and past this, props to me) – This is definitely the biggest reach for a matchup, but has the highest potential for fireworks. Zabit has been steadily climbing the ranks over the last few years and after earning a big win over Jeremy Stephens in his last bout, he has earned himself a top contender fight. It would be a major risk for Zombie to take this matchup as Zabit is a specimen in this weight class with crazy length, and frustratingly unorthodox striking. This is how legends are made, you take the guys out that everyone else is scared of, and from what I’ve gathered from watching countless horror movies, Zombies ain’t afraid of much.
I’ll leave it as far as that for potential matchups for TKZ and just hope the UFC does right by the man, and after seeing him getting a standing ovation in Greenville, I don’t think the UFC is too worried if he’ll be a draw or not. This weight class has been ruled by Holloway and Aldo for seeming it’s whole history (there was some Irish dude involved at some point but no one really remembers that) it would be a please to see some fresh blood challenge for UFC gold and keep arguably 145 as the most talented division in the sport.