This was supposed to be Mark Hominick's return to glory.
After a gut-wrenching loss to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, in a performance that nearly saw him steal the strap in the fifth and final frame of their UFC 129 title fight, "The Machine" was looking to get right back into the thick of things in his next appearance.
He was still a top contender at 145 pounds.
Hominick's loss to "Junior" marked the first defeat of his UFC career and snapped a five-fight winning streak that boasted four impressive finishes, including a blistering technical knockout win over George Roop at "Fight for the Troops 2" in Ft. Hood, Texas.
But he wasn't going anywhere until he kept a "Korean Zombie" from coming back to life.
After a dismal 0-2 run under the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) banner, one that ended with a violent head kick knockout to the aforementioned Roop, Chan Sung Jung had completely revamped his fighting style to prepare for his UFC debut.
It paid off in spades.
"Zombie" resurrected his career with one of the most spectacular submission finishes in UFC history (read about it here), forcing featherweight stalwart Leonard Garcia to surrender in the second stanza of their "Fight Night 24" fracas as a result of a "twister."
See the video breakdown here.
Based on their respective performances, it came as no surprise to see Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung billed as a "striker vs. grappler" match, which was scheduled for the UFC 140 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Dec. 10, 2011 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The more experienced (and more accomplished) Hominick waltzed into the Air Canada Centre as a whopping -600 favorite.
He also waltzed face-first into a straight right to kick off the PPV main card. In fact, he was knocked out so quickly that UFC color commentator Mike Goldberg hadn't even finished regurgitating his obligatory sponsorship plug. In addition, most fans were still settling into their seats following the "Prelims" break and were forced to catch the seven-second finish on the big-screen replay.
"The Machine" would go on to lose his next two fights and one year later, unplugged for good.
Jung, meanwhile, followed up his back-to-back wins over Garcia and Hominick with a raucous headliner against Dustin Poirier in UFC on FUEL TV 3 main event, submitting "The Diamond" with a brabo choke and positioning himself for a run at the division title.
One that came much sooner than expected, thanks to Anthony Pettis.
"The Korean Zombie" will challenge Aldo for the 145-pound belt at the upcoming UFC 163 PPV event, which takes place on Saturday night (Aug. 3) at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in what will mark the fifth straight title defense for the Brazilian, following his transition from WEC back in early 2011.
As for Jung?
He'll make a base salary of $20,000 (with $20,000 to win) against a 22-1 champion who many pundits rank as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in all of mixed martial arts (MMA). Not that it has stopped the challenger from being "confident" that he can stand and bang with the best of them.
Just ask Mark Hominick.