An old injury briefly made an appearance during Chan Sung
Jung’s victory over Dan Ige at
UFC on ESPN 25 on Saturday night.
According to his coach, Eddie Cha, Jung had some issues with his
shoulder during the five-round featherweight headliner. The injury
ultimately didn’t affect the “Korean Zombie’s” performance, as he
relied on his grappling to take a five-round verdict against Ige at
the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“Out of all of the UFC main events he’s had, this is the first one
he’s had a decision. He’s kind of disappointed in it, but at the
same time, he did pop his shoulder in and out,” Cha said on the
ESPN+ post-fight show.
“(It’s the) same shoulder that he messed up in the Aldo fight,” Cha
added. “He won’t ever say that kind of stuff, that’s why I kind of
just put it in there. … In the second round when he went for the
takedown and took his back, that’s when it kind of popped in and
out a little bit. We were constantly telling him to raise his
hands. Then, after the fight, he was like, ‘That’s why I couldn’t
raise my hand.’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’”
The Korean Zombie’s shoulder “popped in and
out” during a takedown in the second round at
#UFCVegas29It’s the same shoulder that was injured against Jose Aldo. pic.twitter.com/sOYPyKaqIo
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
June 20, 2021
Jung previously suffered a similar injury in a championship bout
against Jose Aldo at
UFC 163, when he separated his shoulder throwing a punch. Aldo
finished Jung off shortly thereafter, winning via TKO at the 2:00
mark of Round 4.
In the aftermath of his latest triumph, Jung admitted that it can
be more difficult to get the type of finishes that he’s known for
at the highest level of the division.
“As I move up the ranks, it’s getting harder and harder to get the
KO or a decision, and I apologize for that,” Jung said. “I’m happy
with my performance, it’s just I’m realizing it’s getting harder
and harder as I climb that ladder.”
A more intelligent game plan allowed Jung to use his grappling to
ground Ige and take his opponent’s back on multiple occasions. It
was a far cry from his memorable slugfest against Leonard
Garcia under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner back in
2010.
“I was willing to brawl in there, but it was the coaches gameplan
to mix it up and take him down,” Jung said. “After the first and
second round, I realized I didn’t have to do that. The gameplan was
working, so I continued to do so.”
On top of that, Jung received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt
after the victory, an achievement that appeared to please him
nearly as much as his win over Ige.
“More than winning this fight, I love getting my black belt,” Jung
said. “This means so much to me.”