In the main event of UFC 273, the featherweight title was on the line. The champion Alexander Volkanovski (23-1) was looking to defend his title for the third time as he took on “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung (17-6).
Entering the matchup, most were heavily favoring Volkanovski, but it’s always hard to rule out The Zombie. Chan Sung Jung has made a career of making fights tough on opponents and we know that he has really powerful hands that can change any fight.
That being said, it was evident from the opening bell at UFC 273 that he was going to have troubles. The Zombie couldn’t get anything going on Saturday night and he was really struggling with the speed of Alexander Volkanovski.
Volkanovski was blasting Jung with powerful strikes from the opening bell and TKZ wasn’t doing a good job of responding. There were a couple of times during some of the more brawl-like exchanges where Jung landed, but those shots were few and far between.
Many thought the fight should have been stopped after the third at UFC 273. Even Herb Dean called the doctor in to take a look at TKZ. Nevertheless, the fight went forward and Volkanovski went back to work. After a few big shots, Dean went ahead and mercifully stopped the fight.
What’s next after UFC 273?
At 35 years old, Jung said that he thought this was going to be his last title opportunity if he had lost. The Zombie had previously fought for the title years ago when he took on Jose Aldo and was ultimately stopped in that fight.
Now that he’s lost this opportunity, what should the UFC do next with TKZ? Well, I think they should give him a top ten opponent and I think that they should give him an entertaining opponent. One that sticks out to me is Giga Chikadze.
I think this would be a fun fight for fans and a really good test for Chikadze. Chikadze was brutalized by Calvin Kattar in there fight and he needs a big win to re-establish himself. Meanwhile, TKZ needs to still show that he’s near the top of the division. It’s a great fight for both men and it would show us exactly where they both are.