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BY ERIC STINTON
JUN 25, 2019
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
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Losses are typically more educational experiences than wins. If you win a fight, it may be because you fought well or because your opponent didn’t, though usually it’s some combination of the two. If you win because you fought well, there isn’t a whole lot to learn from that; it’s just a single display of skills and strategy against a single opponent on a single night. With some obvious exceptions, it’s hard to extrapolate much from that other than “keep doing what you’re doing.” Yet if you lose, even if your opponent excelled, there’s always something to learn, some nugget of insight to apply and improve upon for the next time.
Chan Sung Jung’s win against Renato Carneiro at UFC Fight Night 154 on Saturday in South Carolina was especially unenlightening. He didn’t just win; he won in under a minute, absorbing exactly zero strikes in the process. On top of that, it was only his third fight in the last six years, as he was sidelined with injuries and compulsory military service. In an increasingly competitive 145-pound division, it’s hard to figure out where “The Korean Zombie” fits. Blitzing “Moicano” in 58 seconds, impressive as it was, doesn’t make it any easier to know where he stacks up in the Jenga tower of the featherweight hierarchy. Losses, however, hold more secrets, and Jung’s four big-league Ls say a lot.
His first World Extreme Cagefighting fight was his first WEC loss, a 2010 bout against Leonard Garcia which holds the dubious distinction of being shortlisted for both “Fight of the Year” and “Robbery of the Year.” It was a drunken hookup of a fight, wild and sloppy and fun because of it. All three Sherdog judges scored it as a clean sweep for Jung, but two of the judges who actually matter inexplicably awarded the split decision to Garcia. Though Jung did everything he needed to win, the lesson was clear: The nonstop forward movement and power punching that had the Sacramento, California, crowd chanting “KO-RE-A” also muddied the waters enough to let judges mess it up.
Read more at https://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/The-Big-Picture-A-Zombie-Realized-157121#AFCRsRocazUCUIj6.99
