Max Holloway praises ‘legend’ Chan Sung Jung: ‘It was an honor to be his last fight’
Max Holloway can’t say enough good things about ‘The Korean Zombie.’
Despite being brief rivals in the cage this past Saturday, Holloway (25-7 MMA, 21-7 UFC) has nothing but respect for Chan Sung Jung, who closed out a 16-year career as a professional MMA fighter.
Jung (17-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) announced his retirement from the sport after his knockout loss to Holloway in the main event of UFC Fight Night 225, which went down at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. Although he came up short, Holloway has respect for Jung and what he was able to accomplish in MMA.
“Legend, legend,” Holloway told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 225 post-fight press conference. “The dude is a zombie. I hit him in the second and thought I had him out, but he kept coming back. I was like, ‘Oh my God. What is going on? Next thing I know, he’s in the third round. I hit him with that in the third round and I got it, but he got up pretty fast too after that. He’s just a legend. He’s just a legend. To go out there, and he never wanted to die on his shield, he always dies on his sword. That’s why people love ‘The Korean Zombie.’ That’s why I love him, you know?
“It was an honor to be his last fight. I know it didn’t go the way that he wanted or his fans wanted, but that’s what he wanted to do. He wanted to fight me. He wanted to do that, and that’s how you know the man is a legend.”
With this win, Holloway is now 4-1 in his past five bouts and 5-3 in his past eight, with his losses only coming against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanosvki in title fights.
The 31-year-old knows he’s 0-3 against Volkanosvki, but that won’t stop him from wanting to get a fourth fight.
“My next goal is to be undeniable,” Holloway said. “Whenever, whoever, be undeniable. Keep reminding these cats. People keep falling, people keep forgetting I’m only turning 32 in December, 32. I’ve been with you guys since I was a little baby, so that’s why you guys getting sick of me, but I ain’t going nowhere for a long time. Get used to it.”
