Dennis Bermudez feels fight with Chan Sung Jung was stopped ‘a little bit early’

After a three-and-a-half-year layoff from fighting, Chan Sung Jung did not skip a beat in his return to the Octagon on Saturday.

Unranked after the long layoff with doing his mandatory military service for South Korea, Jung took on Dennis Bermudez, who stepped into the Octagon ranked #9 in the official UFC featherweight rankings. “The Korean Zombie” came out with a vengeance and knocked out Bermudez in the first round but “The Menace” feels that he could have recovered if he was given more time.

“I thought it was a little bit early of a stoppage,” Bermudez said at the post-fight press conference (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “I know I was on Herb’s leg. Like, I knew (Jung) was there trying to hit me, so I was shooting on him. It’s just Herb was – I know Herb was doing his job just to keep us both safe in there.

“But yeah, I had a big platform to make a rise to the top, and it didn’t go our way tonight.”

With Jung being out of competition for so long, Bermudez stated that he did not take the fight lightly with the former UFC featherweight title challenger and was prepared for a war.

“I heard some people saying some things about him and ring rust and stuff like that, but we were ready and prepared for a tough ‘Korean Zombie,’” Bermudez said. “I put myself in his shoes. If I was away from the sport for three years, man, I’d be so thirsty, so hungry to get in there to get after it.”

What do you think is next for Chan Sung Jung and Dennis Bermudez? Play matchmaker and let us know in the comment section what fights you would set up next for “The Korean Zombie” and “The Menace.”

This article first appeared on 2/6/2017.