Brian Ortega has gone further than just offering ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung an “official apology” to explain his motivations behind it.
Ortega recently slapped Sung Jung’s translator and friend Jay Park in the audience of UFC 248, drawing angry condemnation from Sung Jung and general surprise at an out-of-character move by Ortega.
But, while the anger between all parties was very real, it seems cooler heads are beginning to prevail.
“My pride is my enemy, and over the last couple days, I’ve been battling it,” Ortega posted to his social media. “I hope you understand that I’m human and I’m flawed, in more ways than one. In the beginning, I justified my actions based on the series of events that led up to Saturday, but I now realize 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 apologize to [Jay Park] for my actions and the shit storm that followed, you deserve to enjoy MMA from outside the octagon just like any other fan. I apologize to [Chan Sung Jung] for dragging your friend into an equation that should start and end with the fighters.”
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