The 'Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung On Why Army Service Hasn't Hurt His Chances Of A UFC Comeback
Chan Sung Jun may not complete his two years of mandatory military service in the South Korean service until Oct. 19, but that doesn't mean the former professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist known as "The Korean Zombie" for his tremendous ability to take a punch, isn't preparing every day for his comeback in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
"I don't see this public service having a negative impact on my career," Chan told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency on Thursday.
"People worry that I will lose my sense of the game, but I won't. It actually serves as a good opportunity to think more about the MMA fighting."
The 29-year-old, whose career record as a MMA tournament fighter stands at 13 wins and four losses, currently works a 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. schedule at a government sports facility as a maintenance worker during the day and spends the rest of his time working on rehabilitating from an injury to his right shoulder and taking care of his children, who are still infants.
"I will finish my right shoulder rehab within a month and have some sparring sessions," he said. "Of course, my right shoulder will not be the same as it was before, but I will be able to compete."
Though he doesn't appear to dislike his time in the South Korean army, The Korean Zombie is that once he is out of the service, his quest for UFC supremacy will be all-consuming.
"I'm a guy who only knew about MMA fighting, and I was actually afraid of getting to know a lot of people while doing my social service," he said. "I'm sorry to them, but I will not answer their calls once I return to fighting."
Eager to fight any "high-ranked guys," Chan admitted to howling at the screen back in December when Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo Jr. 13 seconds into the opening round of their UFC featherweight championship fight.
"I screamed for about 20 seconds after watching McGregor knocking out Aldo," he said. "He never backs off and that's why I want to fight him."
