The Korean Zombie and What Could Have Been

For some reason the UFC is coming to South Carolina this weekend, with UFC on ESPN+12 bringing us a main event of Chan Sung Jung versus Renato Moicano. That’s right, “The Korean Zombie” is back, and above all else, we’ll get a painful reminder of what could’ve been.

At one point back in 2013, TKZ was one of the most thrilling featherweights in the division. He was crafty, he was durable, and even when he lost, he gained fans. But as a youthful South Korean lad, he a military obligation to meet, so he stepped away from the cage… and didn’t come back for years.

Years!

TKZ made his return in 2017, promptly wrecking Dennis Bermudez. However, when he fought last year, he took on Yair Rodriquez, and in the absolute last second of a five-round battle–a battle he was surely winning–our hero got knocked out cold.

I don’t know about you, but that tells me that maybe, just maybe, the sport has passed ol’ TKZ by.

And that sucks. We were cheated out of the best version of the Korean Zombie.

Anyway, here’s one of the fights that made him a star.