Even though a lot of UFC fighters have retired, they are choosing to come back to fighting in the hopes of a proper ‘retirement’ payday. But it is rare that a fighter inspires someone who has already hung up his gloves, to come back to fighting once again – just to remember how it feels to feel the love of the crowd.
UFC Singapore marked the last time fight fans would get to see Jung Chan-sung, also known as ‘The Korean Zombie.’ He fought the revered Featherweight fighter Max Holloway in the main event of the UFC Fight Night. However, he lost the fight and went out in a blaze of glory with 6,419 fans cheering him on. Now, former lightweight fighter Paul Felder has been inspired by this and is pondering his return to the Octagon, once again.
Paul Felder moved by fans’ reaction to ‘The Korean Zombie’s retirement at UFC Singapore
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 26 August. Featherweight fighter Max Holloway took on The Korean Zombie in a scintillating main event clash. The fight was a really entertaining one where both fighters had their moments. In the end, Holloway sealed the deal as he knocked out Jung Chan-sung.
Fans were seen celebrating Holloway’s victory – a glorious one indeed. However, at the end of the fight, Chan-sung announced that he would be retiring from fighting. He said that he always wanted to be a champion and now he felt he needed to step away from fighting. He lay down his gloves in the ring and faced the crowd one last time as they cheered him and celebrated him, moved by this goodbye. It was a really inspiring moment for all.
@KoreanZombieMMA got me wanting to go once more… damn you zombie. Seeing him face that crowd one last time. Epic moments. Can’t get that main event out of my mind.
— Paul Felder (@felderpaul) August 28, 2023
In fact, it was so motivating and the crowd reaction to Chan-sung’s retirement was so heartwarming that retired Lightweight fighter Paul Felder couldn’t help but think about returning to the UFC once again, just to have the crowd root for him like that again. He took to Twitter to speak his mind.
Read More – Whats Next for Max Holloway in the Featherweight Division? Will He Fight Alexander Volkanovski Again?
Felder retired back in 2021. He announced his retirement from the UFC while working as a commentator during the UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt fight. In his last fight, in 2020, he lost to Rafael Dos Anjos. Now, it seems, he is thinking about ending his UFC career on a possibly better note.
‘Best Boxer in the UFC’ – Max Holloway looking to win big
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Max Holloway is widely considered to be one of the best boxers in the UFC and he is aware of that as well. He has no dearth of confidence when it comes to talking about his boxing prowess. In fact, after he secured the win over The Korean Zombie, in a post-fight press conference, Holloway was asked about possibly taking on a boxing bout and winning big.
The former Featherweight champion seemed really enthused about the idea and said that he is ready to ‘box anybody’. He even proceeded to send a message to the UFC president Dana White trying to convince him to give him the opportunity to enter a boxing ring, with anybody. Former UFC Lightweight champ Conor McGregor is possibly the only UFC fighter who White has allowed to step into the boxing ring so far.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Following the major success of that crossover fight, other fighters like Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou followed suit. Now, it seems Max Holloway is desperate for a piece of that action. And quite frankly, why not?
Watch This Story – Sean O’Malley and Illia Topuria get into a heated exchange on Twitter (X)