Frustrated ‘Korean Zombie’ Recently Considered Fighting in UFC’s Lightweight Division

Chan Sung Jung was so desperate to find a fight recently that he contemplated moving up a weight class.

In a video update recently posted to his YouTube channel, “The Korean Zombie” shared some of the difficulties he has had in trying to find an appropriate matchup in the UFC’s featherweight division. Jung hasn’t competed since dropping a five-round decision to Brian Ortega in the UFC Fight Night 180 headliner last October.

“All of the fighters that the UFC has given me to fight are now fighting each other. I’m just kind of stuck in a pickle,” Jung said (translation provided by Jung’s YouTube channel). “The UFC gave me a list of fighters to fight and [matchmaker] Sean Shelby believed that they’d return to the ring in time for me to fight. Even though I was down to fight, our schedules did not match and it didn’t work out. Everyone in the Top 10 are scheduled to fight one another, leaving me with no one.

“The UFC won’t allow me to fight anyone outside of the Top 10. The UFC chose three fighters that I can fight and I chose another three from the Top 10. In a surprising turn of events, all six of those fighters are now fighting each other. This means I’ll have to wait even more to fight.”

As a result, Jung looked into fighting at 155 pounds but his proposal apparently wouldn’t allow him to find an opponent any faster.

“I had recently sat down with coach Eddie and Jason, my manager, and had a discussion about moving from the featherweight division to the lightweight division,” Jung said. “I asked Sean if I could fight any lightweight fighter ranked in the 15th to 20th place (rankings). Nevertheless, I had to give that up after hearing about how long I would have to wait.

“Since I had nothing scheduled as a featherweight fighter, I thought moving to the lightweight division wouldn’t be so bad. At least I would be doing something, but sadly, that didn’t work out either.”

It appears that Jung could have a willing suitor soon, as Dan Ige called him out following his 22-second knockout of Gavin Tucker at UFC Fight Night 187 this past Saturday. In his video, which was filmed before the event, Jung mentioned Ige as a possible opponent.

“For me to fight, I need all of the injured fighters to completely heal, or the opponent of the fighter that I want to fight needs to back out, or I can just fight Dan Ige,” Jung said. “It looks like the UFC is going to make me fight someone in the Top 10. To be honest, I’m fine with anyone, but we’ll see what happens.”