By MATT MOLGAARD
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

On Tuesday night Chan Sung Jung a.k.a. the Korean Zombie turned an emerging title contender into a nearly helpless victim. Dustin Poirier entered the headlining bout of UFC on Fuel TV 3 as a generally perceived favorite, riding a four fight promotional win streak, having stomped two highly touted prospects in the process: Josh Grispi and Pablo Garza. By all accounts “The Diamond” looked like a man who may be primed to challenge champion Jose Aldo in the not-too distant future. But the Korean Zombie had entirely different plans.

While Poirier fought valiantly, and kept himself in the fight for the majority of its duration, it was obvious early that Jung had spent some time developing as of late. His striking looked far more disciplined than what we’ve seen in the past, and his ground game looked absolutely stellar. For three rounds he stayed a step ahead of Poirier, and eventually locked up a tight Brabo Choke early in the fourth frame. With the victory, KZ sent a resounding message to the champion, and he didn’t need words to do so.

But is Jung truly fit to share cage time with the current champion? He’s proven himself to be one hell of a warrior, and he’s damn near as durable as they come. He boasts a well-rounded game an improving fight IQ. In short the man has truly shown that he is deserving of the publicity and fan embrace that he’s garnered. The question is, does he truly pose a threat to the vicious Jose Aldo?

My money says no.

If any other man in the featherweight division held the 145 pound title, The Korean Zombie would be a surefire threat. But Aldo’s skills have proven unrivaled. The man hasn’t lost a fight since 2005, and he’s disposed of plenty of high quality opposition since, including beatdowns of Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Cub Swanson, Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Mark Hominick, Kenny Florian and Chad Mendes. It’s as though this man functions on a completely different physical plane. He’s quite clearly a one-in-a-million talent that we obviously don’t see often and as good as The Korean Zombie is, I don’t see him as much more than target practice for the lethal Brazilian.

I’m not aiming to take anything away from Jung. He’s looked absolutely outstanding, and shocked me in his last three outings, completely outclassing Leonard Garcia, Mark Hominick and, of course Poirier. I’ve underrated him, and I admit to my folly. I won’t do so again, unless of course he’s tapped to tangle with Aldo… which I just went over.

With Poirier now eliminated from potential immediate title contention, the division is left in a bit of murky state. Erik Koch will have his chance to capture gold at UFC 149, and while that fight has yet to transpire, and you can never count one out of a fight, I’d say that Aldo will remain a heavy favorite, and very rightfully so. Hatsu Hioki remains a top flight 145er, but by his own admission, he needs a few more fights with top flight foes inside the octagon before he’s truly prepared to tangle with the champion. Pat Curran remains under contract with Bellator, and Chad Mendes has some work to do before he’ll position himself to prove his first title bid – which resulted in a first round knockout loss – was a fluke. There isn’t much outcry for an Aldo/Florian rematch, and at this point, Kenny’s career still seems to be up in the air.