The Korean Zombie returned to winning ways last night despite suffering a familiar injury.
Zombie more or less dominated Dan Ige in all facets of mixed martial arts in their featherweight contest that headlined UFC Vegas 29.
In the end, it was a comfortable unanimous decision win for the Korean who can now set his sights on title contention once again.
That was despite suffering a cut due to a clash of heads which saw him bleed during portions of the fight. More impressive was the fact that he fought at least three rounds with a shoulder injury.
Cha: Zombie Injured Shoulder In Second Round
That’s according to his head coach Eddie Cha who was translating for his pupil after the event. It was notably the same shoulder Zombie injured in his 2013 featherweight title fight with Jose Aldo.
“So out of all of the UFC main events he’s had, this is the first one that he’s had a decision,” Cha said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “He’s kind of disappointed in it, but at the same time, he did pop his shoulder in and out.
“The same shoulder that he messed up in the Aldo fight. He won’t ever say that kind of stuff, that’s why I kind of just put it in there.”
The injury occurred in the second round when he was grappling with Ige which led to the shoulder popping in and out.
“In the second round when he went for the takedown and took his back, that’s when it kind of popped in and out a little bit,” Cha added. “We were constantly telling him to raise his hands. Then, after the fight, he was like, ‘That’s why I couldn’t raise my hand.’ I was like, ‘Oh, ok.’”
Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be too serious as the shoulder seemingly popped back into place.
You can watch the full interview below:
