Brian Ortega and Rener Gracie Publicly Apologize to Korean Zombie After UFC Crowd Incident
Brian Ortega and his camp took a brash stance in his ongoing beef with the Korean Zombie. Both Zombie and Ortega have become a major part of the news cycle after Brian was caught slapping Zombie’s friend while in attendance for UFC 248. At first, both T-City and his coach Rener Gracie doubled down on their stance of being “bullyproof.” However, now it looks like they are walking back their statements and Ortega and Gracie are apologizing for the slap during the event.
Beef Between Korean Zombie and Brian Ortega
Chang Sung Jung, AKA Korean Zombie, and Ortega were both in the audience at UFC 248. Jung’s friend and musician Jay Park ended up being slapped by “T-City” when Korean Zombie went to the restroom. Because of that action, Zombie has lost all respect for Ortega and has vowed to knock him out cold when the pair officially fight in the octagon, whenever that may be.
Afterward, Ortega explained the incident in an Instagram post that he later deleted. Prior to deletion, his coach Rener Gracie commented on the post and wrote, “Slapping a translator makes you a bully. Slapping an instigator makes you BULLYPROOF.”
Once that happened, TKZ wrote another post expressing his disappointment with Rener Gracie. Honestly, a lot of fans of mixed martial arts sided with Zombie and were dissatisfied with Gracie.
Ortega and Gracie Apologize via Social Media
Shortly after, Ortega took to Twitter to issue an apology about the incident. Which, was a total 180 from his original stance.
I want to officially apologize to JPark for Saturday night, when Zombie is ready we can fight.
I want to officially apologize to JPark for Saturday night, when Zombie is ready we can fight.
— Brian Ortega (@BrianTcity) March 11, 2020
Shortly after, Rener Gracie took to Instagram to share an apology of his own.
To @KoreanZombieMMA
I took Brian under my wing at 13 years old, and since then he’s become of one of my best friends. He’s one of the most loyal and talented people I’ve ever met, but sometimes his emotions get the best of him. On Saturday night, his emotions got the best of him, and as his older brother, I will make sure he learns from this. Furthermore, when I made a comment on Brian’s post, it was clear that I took some of the trash talking directed at him personally, and my emotions got the best of me as well.
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The sequence of events is an unfortunate reminder that MMA is an entertainment sport, and regardless of what trash talking takes place outside of the ring, any and all fighting or physicality should only take place between the fighters and should always take place in the octagon.
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I too remember when you attended my seminar in Korea over three years ago. It was one of the highlights of my Asia tour. You were humble, respectful, and very technical. To this day, the training session I had with you remains one of my all-time favorites.
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I apologize for my comment, and I’m sorry your friend Jay Park had to experience the events that unfolded.
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Rener G.
Questioning the Authenticity
Both men have apologized but were they doing it for the right reasons? Some will believe that both apologies are genuine. However, others will under the impression that they did it due to the public’s disappointment in both of them for their words and actions.
Why do you think Ortega and Gracie apologized?
