Author: Dan Hiergesell

Add Chan Sung Jung to the list of fighters looking to fill in for the injured Max Holloway at UFC 272 this coming March. The only difference between “Korean Zombie” and the rest of the featherweights looking to score an early 2022 title shot is the fact that current champion Alexander Volkanovski has accepted his offer.

Following Friday’s news of Holloway withdrawing from his trilogy bout with Volkanovski a slew of 145-pound contenders threw their hat into the cage for a chance to square off with the champ. Guys like Henry Cejudo, Yair Rodriguez, Josh Emmett, and Giga Chikadze made their pleads for the vacant spot left by “Blessed.” A case could be made for each contender, but none seemed to spark Volkanovski’s interest more than Korean Zombie.

In a statement made to MMA Junkie, Jung’s manager, Jason House, confirmed that the featherweight veteran is eager to step in on short notice and fight Volkanovski at UFC 272. The callout wasn’t as aggressive as some of the others, but the request was still made.

“KZ is more than willing to step in and fight for the title at UFC 272,” said House. “Looking at the rankings, he is the next highest-ranked fighter coming off a win and this is a fight many have talked about for quite a while now. Given the opportunity, he will show that he’s the best in the world.”

Volkanovski, who seemed more than ready to field all offers following Holloway’s fallout, quickly responded to Korean Zombie’s request with a simple “Let’s do this!” message on Twitter.

According to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Korean Zombie is a sizeable favorite to slip into Holloway’s spot and fight Volkanovski at UFC 272.

“Chan Sung Jung is currently the frontrunner, by a margin, to replace Holloway versus Alex Volkanovski, per sources.”

Jung, who lost his only UFC title shot to Jose Aldo back in 2013, is one of the more popular fighters on the roster today. Since his return from mandatory military service the knockout artist has racked off a 4-2 record in the featherweight division. His only losses came against Brian Ortega in a main event and a last-second Hail Mary knockout defeat to Rodriguez back in 2018. Korean Zombie is coming off a masterful performance against Dan Ige in June of last year and seems like the logical choice to fill in for Holloway given his No. 4 ranking.

What do you think, fight fans? Does a Volkanovski vs. Korean Zombie title fight make the most sense?

Sound off!

Sean O’Malley has been planning on a grudge match with former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt for quite some time, but now “Suga” wants no part of “No Love.”

The two fighters have been on a collision course ever since O’Malley burst onto the scene four years ago. After losing his title to T.J. Dillashaw and a few more fights after that it seemed as if Garbrandt’s fall and O’Malley’s rise in the bantamweight division would result in a meeting between the top-level strikers. O’Malley did his best to goad Garbrandt into a war of words to spice up the rivalry and “No Love” took the bait like a starving fish.

After losing four out of his last five contests at 135 pounds Garbrandt decided to move down to flyweight in 2021 and try to change his luck around. The move offered a fresh start for the former UFC champion, but it essentially nixed any potential meeting with O’Malley, who shook off a loss to Marlon Vera in 2020 to produce a 3-0 record in 2021.

However, after losing his flyweight debut to Kai Kara-France in devastating fashion Garbrandt went back to the well and started to talk about his missed fight with O’Malley. “No Love” was still looking to finally settle the beef, but times have changed. O’Malley no longer sees the value in a matchup with Garbrandt as he hasn’t looked like the same fighter of late.

“Dude, Cody’s not getting that fight,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “When he said it, you could see in his voice. He’s like, ‘Oh, I want.’ But that fight’s not happening. … It doesn’t make sense for him to say that. You wonder if that’s CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). He’s been knocked out five times in the last two years. That fight’s not happening – at least not next. … It just doesn’t make sense, dude. It literally just doesn’t make sense.

“I go out there and knock out Cody, it’s like he’s 1-8. I lose to Cody, I lose to someone who’s looked at as kind of who sucks now.”

While O’Malley is probably right about this being the wrong point in time to fight Garbrandt there’s still a chance “No Love” turns things around. Getting knocked out in four of his last six Octagon appearances does offer some cause for concern, but Garbrandt is a former UFC champion who was once undefeated at 11-0 and coming off a title fight win over Dominick Cruz. He’s also just 30 years of age and has a really good camp behind him. The door has not closed on Garbrandt and most people should know that.

That said, it would be wise for O’Malley to keep away from Garbrandt at this time and focus on higher ranked fighters in the bantamweight division who are going to get him closer to a title shot. After scoring an impressive knockout finish over Raulian Paiva at UFC 269 this past December the sky is truly the limit for “Suga,” so he needs matchups that will boost his already soaring UFC stock.

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier share one of the more volatile rivalries in MMA today, but now the two UFC lightweights could be going toe-to-toe in the liquor business.

Poirier, who has become one of the more likable and marketable fighters in the sport today, is coming off back-to-back wins over McGregor in 2021. They first met in a rematch at UFC 257 in January of last year. “Diamond” ended up finishing McGregor via second-round TKO to hand the Irishman the first knockout loss of his career.

The two fighters later met at UFC 264 this past July, which saw McGregor snap his ankle in a devastating injury. McGregor swore his leg was compromised coming into the fight, but Poirier still walked away with another TKO win and “Notorious” has been recovering ever since.

Now Poirier seems to be moving over to the world of liquor, which of course is home to McGregor’s famous Proper No. Twelve whiskey. McGregor has been selling his whiskey for a few years now and made a staggering $600 million after selling the majority of the company back in 2021. Poirier has tried his hand at the hot sauce business and has done pretty well for himself in that regard, but now he’s taking a page out of his biggest rival’s book.

Earlier this week, Poirier released a video confirming that his new ‘Rare Stash’ bourbon is available for purchase. “Diamond” didn’t mention McGregor, Proper No. Twelve, or anything like that, but sometimes you have to read between the lines. This is competition at its finest!

The price tag may be a little higher compared to McGregor’s whiskey, but you can get your own bottle of Poirier’s ‘Rare Stash’ HERE for a cool $100. I feel almost obligated to buy one and let it sit in my office with the three bottles of Proper No. Twelve I’ve been gifted over the years, but they’re not shipping this bad boy to New York. Such a shame.

What say you, fight fans? Will you be purchasing Poirier’s new bourbon?

Let us know! Maybe we can chip in for a bottle or two.

Charles Oliveira is nearly blind when he takes off his glasses, but that hasn’t stopped the reigning UFC lightweight champion from becoming one of the very best fighters in the world today.

You may have noticed throughout each and every fight week involving Oliveira that “Do Bronx” walks around with his patented glasses. Those are not for show and certainly something that Oliveira needs for everyday life. But when he steps inside of the cage those glasses are removed and Oliveira is fighting with impaired vision.

How bad is it? Well, Oliveira explained in a recent interview with Flow podcast that his eyesight is so compromised that he actually sees three fighters at once. Oliveira has been able to adjust in order to land his own offense and defend counter shots in the process, but the entire thing is pretty bizarre.

“I see three [faces]. If I hit the middle one, that’s fine,” said Oliveira. “I think keep this same technique. Three guys for me is perfect. If I hit the one in the middle, it’s good. I’ll tell you the truth, I’m a guy who has a lot of faith in God and it’s no joke. If I take my glasses off, I only see 50 per cent but it never hindered me in a fight.”

This is fascinating to say the least. One of the very best fighters in the world who happens to reign over the deepest division in all of MMA sees three fighters at once when he competes. It’s wild to think what Oliveira would be able to do inside of the cage if his vision was fixed and had one fighter to target. Maybe he’s adapted so much that this way of fighting works better than the normal way with perfect vision.

“It never hindered me in a fight. Sometimes I walk in without the glasses, sometimes I walk in with the glasses. It depends on my vibe. Sometimes I like to walk in with glasses to look harmless and more nerdy than I already am. And when I take my glasses off, it’s normal, I can see my opponent on the other side. God blesses me so much that I can see normal. But on the streets, if I take them off, I’m blind.”

Oliveira, who won the UFC lightweight title with a TKO win over Michael Chandler at UFC 262 in May 2021, is coming off a submission finish and his first title defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 269. While Justin Gaethje seems to be next in line for a 155-pound title shot “Do Bronx” is making a big push to score a massive Red Panty Night payday against Conor McGregor later this year.

It is unknown what will be next for the champion, but Oliveira better keep his eyesight in check if he wants to hold onto his lightweight belt.

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo has offered to come out of retirement and fill in for an injured Max Holloway at UFC 272 this coming March. Cejudo would be facing reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Holloway, who is one of the greatest featherweights in the history of MMA, withdrew from his trilogy bout with Volkanovski early Friday after aggravating a prior injury. The news is considerably unfortunate seeing as fight fans have been waiting for Volkanovski vs. Holloway 3 since the rematch ended, but this now presents a prime opportunity for Cejudo to come back to UFC and attempt to win his third belt.

Cejudo, who stepped away from MMA following his TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 back in May 2020, has been dropping hints ever since that he wants to become the first fighter ever to win three UFC titles. It would be quite amazing to see “Triple C” return and defeat someone as dominant as Volkanovski, but he has to score the fight first. Cejudo wasted little time staking his claim to the vacant spot left by Holloway and even provided his own fight poster opposite Volkanovski.

“Triple C to the rescue,” Cejudo wrote on Twitter. “@danawhite you have my number. #C4 #bendtheknee”

Cejudo, who is just 34, was on top of the MMA world prior to his departure. He had won UFC titles in two separate divisions and held consecutive wins over Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, and the aforementioned Cruz (all title fights by the way). The Olympic gold medalist has been helping to train Jon Jones in his spare time, but is now ready to get back in the mix and fight for another UFC championship.

What say you, Maniacs? Should UFC book Volkanovski vs. Cejudo for UFC 272? Does Cejudo stand a chance against the champ?

Sound off!

Jake Paul is doing his absolute best to take over the world of boxing, but the social media sensation is also eyeing down an eventual move to MMA.

While Paul has really only fought aging MMA fighters on the decline he has shined in each boxing appearance to date. This includes his recent knockout destruction over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. If you haven’t seen it you’re truly missing out.

Paul, 24, has only been fighting professionally for just under two years. The social media star could fight just about anyone he wanted to as long as they’re currently not under contract so it will be interesting to see who “Problem Child” meets his next time out. It could be another booking against Tommy Fury or a massive boxing match with Nate Diaz, who only has one fight left on his UFC contract.

Fortunately for Paul, is future opportunities aren’t limited to just the boxing ring. The former high school wrestling standout has already gained interest from Bellator MMA’s president Scott Coker, who called Jake and big brother, Logan Paul, “real athletes” he’d like to sign. It’s highly unlikely Paul would ever see eye-to-eye with growing rival, UFC president Dana White, so he’s going to have to find a home somewhere else if he wishes to pursue a career in MMA.

Earlier today, Paul released some surprising footage of him training kicks. It’s brief, but Paul seems to have pretty good technique. The kicks were certainly telegraphed, but impressive nonetheless. That’s not to say that Paul is ready for any sort of MMA fight in the near future, but it’s interesting to see him stretch his training beyond just boxing.

Check out the video footage in the above player.

Knowing what Paul has already accomplished during his short boxing career and his high school wrestling background, do you think he can make any waves in a potential MMA fight? He’d have to completely abandon his love for boxing in order to hone his MMA skills on the feet and even more importantly on the ground, but hasn’t he impressed to date?

Let us know what you think. If Paul wins another boxing match or two it’s only going to be a matter of time before Bellator or another promotion not named UFC gives him a shot inside of the cage.