The Korean Zombie’s mandatory military service lasted the best part of three and a half years and in the end it took him less than three minutes to register his first win in the Octagon since May 2012 at UFC Fight Night 104 in Houston, Texas, on Saturday evening.

Chan Sung Jung floored his opponent Dennis Bermudez inside the first round with a beautifully placed uppercut through the guard, forcing referee Herb Dean to call a halt the contest.

Speaking after the event, UFC president Dana White couldn’t hide how impressed he was after Jung’s successful return to the cage.

“Obviously there were some great knockouts, great submissions and the return of the Korean Zombie”, White said when asked to sum up the event by Megan Olivi. “I don’t know anyone in fight history who has come back after being off for three years — actually it was like three years and six months — and looking the way that he looked tonight. Not even Muhammad Ali, [he] was a different fighter.”

“The Korean Zombie is back. He makes an exciting division even more exciting now. I look forward to seeing what’s next for him.”

In the co-main event, Felice Herrig scored the upset victory over the previously unbeaten Alexa Grasso in the women’s strawweight division. Grasso, who was undefeated in four bouts for the Invicta promotion, was chasing her second staight victory in the octagon but ran into a Felice Herrig who was unwilling to cede an inch to her heavily favoured opponent.

“Felice is a spoiler, man. In promoting this fight we were talking about how good Grasso is, an up n’ coming star, but she was standing in front of a gritty, tough veteran who’s very well rounded and obviously tonight was super focused on winning this fight. Felice went at it head-on, man.”

After the bout Herrig called for bouts with Michelle Waterson and a rematch with Paige VanZant, two bouts very much in line with her lofty ambitions in the division. Her win over Grasso last night isn’t a bad way to go about that.