MMA Notebook: Korean Zombie Defeats Ige; Silva Earns Split Decision Boxing Victory

Chan Sung Jung kept himself in the mix for a featherweight title shot on Saturday night with a convincing win over Dan Ige in the main event of UFC Fight Night.

Jung won a unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in his favor.

Jung uses grappling to outpoint Ige

While Jung clearly got the best of the fight, Ige remained competitive throughout, and several rounds were closely contested. Ige landed 138 strikes, nearly identical to Jung’s 140. Jung’s takedowns proved to be the difference. The Korean Zombie found success in grappling throughout the fight, taking Ige to the ground on several occasions, and looking for submissions via chokes in both the third and fifth rounds.

“I wanted to show all my skills and the capabilities of becoming a champion, Jung said in his post-fight interview, via an interpreter. “In the fifth round, I wanted to do some kind of submission, so I do feel a little bit upset about that.”

Ige took the loss in stride, praising his opponent and saying he still sees a path to an eventual title.

“I went out there and fought my best,” Ige said afterward. “Zombie is an absolute legend. I’ve been watching this guy since I graduated high school. He’s still one of the best in the world, and that’s all I want. I want to test myself against the absolute best in the world. I truly believe I can still be a champion. I just have little small things to work on.”

After a dominant performance, @KoreanZombieMMA received his BJJ black belt 👏 #UFCVegas29 pic.twitter.com/RcRLdVBBN0

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 20, 2021

Jung also earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with the win. Santino Defranco, Jung’s jiu-jitsu coach, awarded him the honor after the fight.

“I’m super happy with the win, but I’m really happy with receiving my black belt,” Jung told MMA Junkie.

Silva stuns Chavez Jr. in impressive boxing performance

The 46-year-old Anderson Silva outboxed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. over eight rounds of action on Saturday night in Guadalajara, Mexico to earn a split decision win over the former WBC middleweight champion.

Silva (2-1, 1 KO) won 77-75 on two cards, with Chavez taking a 77-75 decision on the other.

“I love fighting,” Silva said after the fight. “Boxing was my dream for many years. I needed to show my respect for boxing. I need to come here and do my best.”

Silva (34-11 in MMA) held the UFC middleweight title for seven years, but had won just one MMA fight since 2012. He asked for his release from the UFC last November after losing seven of his last eight decisive fights. He out-landed Chavez Jr. 99-53 overall in the fight.

Chavez Jr. (52-5-1, 34 KOs) has now lost four of his last six fights. Those include high-profile defeats to the likes of Daniel Jacobs and Canelo Alvarez, though he also lost to little-known Mario Abel Cazares last year. “I think it could have been a draw,” Chavez said afterward. “I failed to throw more punches. He didn’t do much damage. There were a few rounds that went back and forth.”