Our Aussie champion is back in action. Alexander Volkanovski will put his featherweight belt on the line against Chan Sung Jung, aka The Korean Zombie.
Volkanovski and Jung were scheduled to clash after a trilogy bout between Volkanovski and former champion Max Holloway fell through due to a Holloway injury. This will be Volkanovski’s second title defence and Jung’s second shot at becoming UFC champion.
By the time Chan Sung Jung takes the stroll to the octagon at UFC 273, it will be 3,171 days since his ill-fated last title shot. Eight-and-a-half years of toil in one of the most talent-stacked divisions in the competition has finally earned him a date. The man from Pohang lost to Jose Aldo back in 2013 during an era when everyone fell to the Brazilian. But at 34, there are more miles on the clock now, a wealth of experience gained and there's no way Volkanovski should overlook his opponent.
Jung's head coach Eddie Cha recently explained that this title shot is a dream for the challenger, who he says has the experience behind him to win.
'He said nine years ago, nobody could beat Jose Aldo. Nobody even thought about beating him, nobody entertained that [idea],' Cha told the MMA Hour.
'And he’s so happy he was fortunate enough to fight him, because he has the experience now to actually step up and win a title shot.
'He always believed that someday he’d get another title shot. It’s always been his dream to get another title shot and become a champion. And so he just stayed persistent.
‘Volkanovski recently made headlines after accusing his previous opponent, Max Holloway, of faking an injury out of frustration. Since beating Holloway in two consecutive title fights, Volkanovski has been asked about a Holloway trilogy non-stop. It’s often rare for a fighter down 2-0 in a series to get a third crack, but since their rematch at UFC 251 was tightly contested, a potential trilogy was always looming.
A third fight between Volkanovski and Holloway was finally scheduled for UFC 272, but just days after the fight was announced, Holloway had to withdraw due to injury.
That prompted Volkanovski to question Holloway’s injury, something he ultimately regrets saying.
“It was frustrating because at the time I really wanted that fight, you know what I mean, and once you heard he got injured, especially when they announced it earlier, it was all a bit confusing and frustrating,” Volkanovski told Submission Radio.
“So you see my frustration obviously. I wanted to tweet and have a little shot at Max and his fans, and that was the only reason, which was pretty silly on my behalf, to be honest. That just shows you where my head was at back then, you know what I mean? That’s something that I’ve really been working on lately.”
Volkanovski said he used to let the negative comments get to him – but he won’t anymore.
“I’m such a people pleaser, right? I always want people on my side and when they’re not, I take whatever they say to heart and all that type of stuff,” Volkanovski said. “So, I’ve always cared what haters said and like what all these people would say. So I always felt like I had something to prove and wanted to get back at him, but now I literally don’t give a F about any of that.”
For activity purposes, Volkanovski has expressed being open to going up to lightweight for whatever challenges may await.
Though it has indeed become a goal for Volkanovski to achieve that ever-elusive double champ status, don’t expect him to leave the ‘45ers hanging if that chance ever becomes a reality.
“I’m planning on staying at featherweight even if I move up, I want to float in both,” he said.
“I’m not saying I want to just move to lightweight and stay at lightweight. When people ever ask me if I think of a move to lightweight, it is double champ status, while I still got both belts. The role of lightweight champ and featherweight champ, that’s my vision. Not just fighting in lightweight. Cause I make featherweight reasonably easy so there’s no reason for me to have to move up.”
Catch the title fight live and free at the Official Home of UFC.