The Korean Zombie Ready to Devour Aldo

STUDIO MMA, VENICE, CA — “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung called out UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo on Twitter yesterday.  That someone dare challenge “Scarface” openly, in and of itself, is not newsworthy.  Many have set their sites on Aldo’s title — and all of them have failed.  What is newsworthy, however, is that almost no one is poo-pooing Jung’s bravado.  The consensus is that this is a legitimate challenge from, perhaps, Aldo’s most legitimate challenger to date.  And, if you happened to watch the Zombie dismantle his last three opponents, you’d be hard-put not to pile onto that consensus.

Jung [13-3-0 MMA] has looked like an utter superstar over the last 15 months, notching vicious w’s over three of the most notable 145-pounders during that timeframe.  At UFC Fight Night 24 in March 2011, he avenged a previous loss to firebrand Leonard Garcia with a stunning twister (spinal crank) that tops the charts as the submission of the decade to date.  Jung followed that with a 7-second knockout of the formidable Mark Hominick [20-11-0] — a man who, in his previous fight, took Aldo the distance and delivered a beating on the champion in the final frame.  And, to finish the hat trick, Jung sent Dustin Poirier [12-2-0 MMA] to the land of nod with a brilliant Brabo choke in the fourth round.  That submission ended a fight that featured dominant, eyebrow-raising striking and grappling from the Korean Zombie, and that, surely, is the fight-of-the-year some six months in to 2012.

With his Twitter challenge, we see that the Korean Zombie’s bark is fierce — but he has the bite to back it up.  In the last two years we have seen this 25-year-old evolve from a chin-first brawler into the most multi-dimensional fighter in the division.  He can take the fight anywhere and finish it anywhere, just like the charismatic Brazilian who stands at the top of the featherweight heap.  Aldo is currently sidelined with an injury and, according to reports, will nonetheless face Erik Koch [13-1-0 MMA] in his next outing.  However, if he passes that test, Also does not have much respite to look forward to, assuming that The Korean Zombie gets his wish.