Video: The Korean Zombie receives heartwarming gift of Max Holloway's gloves from retirement fight

20/09/2023 15:00

The Korean Zombie is feeling the love in retirement.

Zombie — a.k.a. Chan Sung Jung — recently hung up the gloves following a knockout loss to fellow featherweight legend Max Holloway at UFC Singapore. The two have had nothing but respect and praise for one another from the moment they were booked to compete and that has carried over in the aftermath with Holloway sending his gloves to Zombie as a gift.

Watch video of Zombie discussing the meaningful gesture below.

"If you're a fighter, you'd probably know how much retirement gloves mean to a retired fighter, especially for me, who's never got around to getting that belt," Zombie said according to an English translation provided on his YouTube channel. "So Max knows exactly how much it means for me to keep the glove that was used in the fight. So Max reached out to me and [manager] Jay Park and offered to send me his gloves from the fight. When I saw his message, I was like, 'How on Earth could he be so nice?' I mean, there's absolutely no need for him to do this, and it's difficult for a fighter to just give away his or her gloves, let alone reaching out and offering them first.

"And as you might know, right after the fight, I mean, Max completely knocked me out, so he would have wanted to get all that attention, do a little bit of mic work, show off his skills and what not. But during post-fight interviews, he barely mentioned his own performance in the fight. Seeing Max show love and respect after the fight literally made me feel kind of blessed that Max was my last opponent. I mean, up until the very last moment he's making me emotional. It made me deeply realize the character Max has. I'm definitely inviting him over to Korea one day."

During his 12-year UFC career, Zombie twice fought for the featherweight championship, falling short against all-time greats José Aldo and Alexander Volkanovski. He'd often said that he would love to fight Holloway, who held the undisputed featherweight title from June June 2017 to December 2019, and when he got his wish this past August he didn't hold back. An aggressive rush from Zombie in the third round of their fight ended with Holloway putting the South Korean star down for the count.

It's all love between Zombie and Holloway still, with Zombie paying back Holloway's post-fight gesture by making a donation to Maui Food Bank to support the Hawaiian island that was recently devastated by wildfires.

"During my fight camp, I heard about the wildfires in Maui, so my original plan was to make a donation to Maui after the fight," Zombie said. "As soon as I received these gloves, I really wanted to give something back to Max. I got to know a charity organization that works with Max and decided to make a donation to that organization. I donated $20,000. Jay Park also donated the same amount."

During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Zombie expressed his dismay over losing the gloves from his retirement fight as he made his exit from the octagon. One was grabbed by a fan as he walked out, the other he threw into the crowd afterward.

While the stolen one remains missing, the other that he carelessly threw away is already on its way back to its rightful owner.

"Luckily, the glove that I threw into the crowd was picked up by a Korean fan," Zombie said. "The Korean fan reached out to me, he actually lives overseas so when he comes back, he promised to drop by at my gym and return the glove. I am deeply grateful and will give a gift in return."