UFC: Korean Zombie accepts Brian Ortega apology over Jay Park slap; says sorry for own trash talk
- Ortega posts expanded apology saying ‘my parents taught me dignity and respect, and I didn’t show that’
- Jung Chan-sung responds ‘I needed your apology … some people thought I was promoting the fight which stressed me out’
“The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-sung has accepted Brian Ortega’s apology for slapping Jay Park at UFC 248 last weekend, and said sorry for his own part in the fighters’ feud.
Ortega approached Korean music artist Park cage-side and slapped him while Jung went to the bathroom during the walkouts for the co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena. The American had been angry over a translation Park provided for an interview with Jung, saying Ortega had “ducked” Jung by withdrawing injured from their UFC Busan fight.
“T-City” said sorry in a short tweet on Tuesday but further expanded his own apology to Park and Jung in an extended Instagram post on Wednesday night.
“My pride is my enemy, and over the last couple days I’ve been battling it. I hope you understand that I’m human and I’m flawed, in more ways than one,” he wrote. “In the beginning, I justified my actions based on the series of events that led up to Saturday, but I now realise that what I did was wrong overall.
“My parents taught me dignity and respect, and I didn’t show that. My coaches have always taught me that martial arts are to empower the weak against the strong. On Saturday, that didn’t happen. When I make a mistake, I own the consequences. But in this case the negativity that I’ve caused has spilled over to the people closest to me, and that’s how I know that what I did was truly wrong. I’m sorry to you guys and my family.
“I apologise to @JParkitrighthere for my actions and the s*** storm that followed, you deserve to enjoy MMA from outside the octagon just like any other fan. I apologise to @KoreanZombieMMA for dragging your friend into an equation that should start and end with the fighters.”