Mixed martial arts is at its best when it’s unpredictable and sometimes, we see things that have never happened before.
As a fixture of the UFC for nearly 30 years, Joe Rogan has seen an awful lot of outcomes play out inside the Octagon.
Rogan has seen phenoms rise and fall from the commentary booth and techniques come and go as the sport continues to evolve and change with each passing year.
Chan Sung Jung, more commonly known as ‘The Korean Zombie’, produced his fair share of historic moments during his career but he’s forever in the history books for a first of its kind win.
Having retired in 2023, The Korean Zombie‘s most iconic lasting memory comes from his UFC debut where he finished his opponent with an incredibly rare submission technique that he learned on YouTube.
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The Korean Zombie produces the first twister submission in UFC history in 2011
On this day in 2011, The Korean Zombie made his debut in the UFC after previously fighting for the WEC the year before.
His first outing inside the Octagon would come against a former WEC opponent of his in Leonard Garcia with the two men putting on an incredible war at WEC 48 in April of 2010.
In the first fight on the Spike TV main card at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, Chan Sung Jung made history after pulling off a first of its kind submission in the UFC.
With the second round just moments from coming to an end, the Zombie avenged his prior loss to Garcia by catching him in a twister submission.
The technique consists of both a neck crank and manipulation of the spine, thus twisting the body of the opponent in two different directions, with an incredibly complex setup making it hard to pull off.
It was popularized by Joe Rogan’s close friend, Eddie Bravo, who is the founder of 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu and the Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI).
Zombie went on to win submission of the year at the World MMA Awards for his historic win which he learned via watching videos of Bravo on YouTube.
Rogan’s reaction to the submission says it all with the veteran commentator not being able to believe what he was seeing.
“He’s setting up a twister it looks like… he is! He’s got a twister! Oh! Oh he’s got it! Somewhere, Eddie Bravo is very happy.”
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Two other fighters have since replicated The Korean Zombie’s feat
Since The Korean Zombie made history in 2011, two other fighters have joined him in the exclusive twister submission win club.
Bryce Mitchell would produce the second twister submission eight years later in 2019 where he finished Matt Sayles before Da’Mon Blackshear produced his own against Jose Johnson in August of 2023.
The three men recently posed for a photo together whilst they were in attendance at the Apex in Las Vegas.
Whilst Mitchell and Blackshear deserve huge amounts of credit for pulling this technique off despite everyone knowing about it, no one will ever recapture the surprise of The Korean Zombie submitting an opponent with a never-before-seen method.