“Korean zombie” Jung Chan-sung (36) ended his 17-year career as a fighter with the UFC Fight Night 225 main event against former featherweight (-66kg) champion Max Holloway (32, USA) in front of 12,263 spectators at the Singapore Indoor Gymnasium on August 26 (Korea Standard Time).
The world’s biggest mixed martial arts team UFC official rankings target 15 players who can target the champion. Jung Chan-sung, who ranks eighth in the featherweight division, was the only Korean striker. Successful entry into the top 15 was not made until Dec. 20, when the last ranking update was made this year.
In a written interview with MK Sports, UFC vice president and Asia general manager Kevin Jang said, “If a fighter makes a special performance, all Koreans will cheer for him. Korea is a market with such potential.”
According to the “2023 Looking Back on Google Search Words of the Year” content posted by Google, the global No. 1 search engine, “UFC Fight Night: Jung Chan-sung vs. Holloway” ranks 10th in the sports news category. 바카라사이트
Jung made a new domestic sports history by playing the title match of UFC featherweight between 2013 and 2022. The main event of the UFC for 10 consecutive times since 2012 is also an achievement that Korean mixed martial artists cannot reestablish.
“UFC Fight Night: Jung Chan-sung vs. Holloway” is the only competition other than ball games that are included in Google’s Top 10 search term for sports news. This is the reason why Vice President Kevin Jang can claim that mixed martial arts is a popular sport in Korea.
He is Kevin Jang, vice president of Asia for the 13th year. He is professional just by saying that the UFC can become more successful in the domestic market only when Korean fighters perform well after winning the champion’s challenge or getting a good chance to enter the rankings.
“We are ready to create content that not only recognizes our cool performance with bonuses but also promotes our international competitiveness,” Vice President Kevin Jang said. A case in point is Park Hyun-seong (28) who received 50,000 U.S. dollars in prize money for outstanding performance at UFC Fight Night 233 two weeks ago.
Park participated in the Road to UFC Season 1, which was launched to scout talented MMA fighters from Asia, and won the official contract by winning a flyweight (-57 kg) tournament. It is his 12th consecutive MMA debut from 2018 to the first UFC fight.
“Fight Matrix,” the ranking system, evaluates Park as the 24th in the UFC flyweight division. Park has just one win, but the difference from the top 15 is not that big. Dana White, 54, encouraged Park in person at the Enterprise Stadium in Nevada, the U.S., where UFC Fight Night 233 took place.