UFC Fight Night in Singapore Ends With Emotional Retirement

Jung Chan-Sung, better known as “The Korean Zombie,” decided to go out swinging. Unfortunately for the long-time UFC veteran, Max Holloway is the wrong opponent to take risks against. Holloway dropped The Korean Zombie at this week’s UFC Fight Night 23 seconds into the third round with a counter right to pick up his 20th win in the featherweight division.

Holloway, who is the No. 1 contender in the weight division, has already lost to champion Alexander Volkanovski three times. The main event capped off an exciting night of fights in Singapore. There were a lot of notable news items that came from the event, including a potential future contender in the women’s bantamweight division. 

Here’s a look at the most important news from UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. The Korean Zombie.

Holloway With Eyes on Hawaii

Holloway, a former UFC champion, is proud of his Hawaiian heritage. After scoring another big victory in his UFC career, Holloway didn’t use his time on the microphone to call out his next opponent. Instead, he used the time to highlight his support for his fellow Hawaiians, who have been struggling to handle raging wildfires.

There are currently more than 100 confirmed victims, while over 100 people are missing. All UFC fighters who came out to the cage did so with shirts that said UFC ♥️ Hawaii. 

Zombie Earns His Respect

Following three losses in his last four fights, The Korean Zombie decided the knockout loss to Holloway at this week’s UFC Fight Night would be the final moments of his career. The Zombie was aggressive at the start of the third round and was pushing for a knockout after being beaten up in the striking exchanges in the first two rounds.

Following his retirement announcement, he was serenaded by the crowd who sang the chorus of his walk-out song “Zombie” by The Cranberries. The Korean Zombie finished his career with a 17-8 record. He never quite climbed the UFC mountain.

Both of Zombie’s title challenges — an April 2022 bout with Volkanovski and an August 2013 battle with Jose Aldo — ended with knockout defeats. Despite that, Zombie remained a popular figure during his time with the UFC. Unlike some other fighters who have held on for too long, the Zombie didn’t want to continue going on if he didn’t feel he was going to be champion. After losing to Volkanovski and Holloway, the Zombie didn’t see a path back to the championship.

Blanchfield Calls for Her Title Shot

The profile of women’s mixed martial arts has steadily risen since Ronda Rousey burst onto the scene and set the standard. New Jersey native Erin Blanchfield is ready to try and find a way to join Rousey in the championship pantheon. She started to set the process in motion Friday night.

Blanchfield got her nose busted by former title challenger Talia Santos in the first round but rallied with her high-pressure wrestling. Santos was early with her striking and had Blanchfield showing a lot of damage on her nose. In the second round, however, Santos started to tire. A questionable attempt at a takedown ended with Blanchfield in the top position.

After Blanchfield earned the unanimous decision on all three scorecards, she called for the winner of the Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grass for a title shot. After nine consecutive wins, it is hard to say Blanchfield doesn’t deserve a shot.

Co-Main Event Was a Dud

There seemed to be bad blood between Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann following their light heavyweight bout two years ago. Smith won by first-round submission and immediately started talking trash to Spann in the octagon. The rematch at this weeks UFC Fight Night, which many thought would have a sudden finish, would end up going to the scorecards.

Smith would win 29-28 on two judges’ scorecards to pick up the split decision. That victory came despite the serious damage Smith suffered on his face. Spann hit him with a shot in the second round that caused major swelling under Smith’s eye. The bruise on Smith’s face was so large that the cage-side doctor came in to check it out.

Giga Showed He Was Ready to Return

Having 18 months off following his last fight turned out to be a nice break for Giga Chikadze. The Georgian striker had to fight off some ring rust early but was able to bounce back against Alex Caceres, winning a three-round unanimous decision. Chikadze has a 15-3 record as a professional.

Chikadze has won 10 consecutive fights before his loss to Kattar. He’s hoping his win over Caceres will put him back in the running for a championship shot somewhere in the future. While Chikadze has made a living with nine career knockouts, he was able to show against a durable fighter like Caceres that he could be just as effective.

Porter Says No More Tafas

UFC heavyweight Parker Porter had to have an eerie feeling of deja vu. Porter lost his fight to Junior Tafa via first-round knockout in Singapore. Just six months ago, Porter fought Justin Tafa, Junior’s brother, and also lost via first-round knockout.

Justin ended up being a little bit more efficient than Junior. It only took Justin 66 seconds to finish Porter, while Junior took 84. For Junior, grabbing a bounce-back win was important. He is 5-1 in his MMA career but took a disappointing loss to Mohammed Usman during his last bout. Porter fell to 14-9 in his career. 

Preliminary Fights Provided Sparks

The preliminary fights featured five knockouts. While the main card saw the majority of the fights go the distance, the bottom of the event saw a number of fighters do their best to make a name for themselves. Here’s a look at the fights that didn’t need the judges to be involved.

• JJ Aldrich finished Liang Na with punches and elbows in the second round.
• Bill Goff finished Yusaku Kinoshita with punches in the first round.
• Michal Oleksiejczuk stopped Chidi Njokuani with punches in the first round.
• Garrett Armfield stopped Toshiomi Kazama in the first round with punches.
• Waldo Cortes-Acosta stopped Eukaz Brzeski in the first round with brutal punches.