ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 18: In this handout image provided by UFC, (R-L) The Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung battles Brian Ortega in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event inside Flash Forum on UFC Fight Island on October 18, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
We hark back to the time when The Korean Zombie and Brian Ortega quarrelled and who won their much-anticipated clash
UFC 248 at the T Mobile arena involved a scuffle between Brian Ortega and Korean rapper Jay Park, who had earlier served as the interpreter of The Korean Zombie. Ortega allegedly slapped Park who was seated in the front row at UFC 248, and both of them were immediately separated.
The feud originated when Ortega pulled out of their scheduled bout due to an ACL injury, and Park responded to that news by saying that the American is ducking Zombie. This did not sit well with Ortega, who took matters into his own hand, quite literally.
TKZ replied to this incident by saying,
“Last night, you sat 10 meters away from me and Jay Park,” Jung wrote on Instagram. “For two hours nothing happened, so I thought everything was fine. But you fucking attacked Jay Park while I went to the bathroom. Jay Park is not a professional fighter but a musician. You slapped a civilian who merely helped translate.
“Even worse, you were sitting there waiting until I would be absent and attacked Jay Park. It was not a fight like real men would do. What you have done is same as a grown up to beat a child. You should have attacked me. If so, I would have not been upset. You are such a coward for slapping a musician not a fighter.”
And thus began the gratuitous rivalry between Ortega and Zombie. However Ortega was quick to apologize for his actions, and he said, ‘‘When I make a mistake, I own the consequences. But in this case the negativity that I’ve caused has spilled over to the people closest to me, and that’s how I know that what I did was truly wrong. I’m sorry to you guys and my family.”
TKZ who’s known for being an honorable and respectful fighter immediately accepted the apology. “I am not a person who enjoys trash talking,” Jung recently told MMA Junkie, “but I tried some of them recently because I thought my fans would like them. But the result was not good and my friend was affected, so I won’t be doing trash talking anymore. I apologize for all the trash talking I did to Ortega and the champion, so I hope Ortega won’t continue trash talking to me anymore.”
Brian Ortega and The Korean Zombie met at UFC Fight Night back in October 2020, after being scheduled to fight once before. Zombie was riding on some good momentum after beating Frankie Edgar and Renato Maicano, and a win over Ortega would have guaranteed him a title shot.
Ortega on the other hand was coming off a TKO loss to then-champion Max Holloway, and looked to bounce back against The Zombie. And he did exactly that, by putting on a striking clinic against the Korean. The two-year lay-off served well for ‘T-city’ who showed up with some new tools, and a faultless striking display. Ortega even caught Zombie with a beautiful spinning elbow, after making a read off his forward movement.
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