Chan Sung Jung
Former WEC lightweight champ Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis (16-2) has suffered a small meniscus tear and has been forced out of his upcoming UFC featherweight title bout with champ Jose Aldo (22-1).
Replacing Pettis will be South Korean fighter Chan Sung Jung aka ‘The Korean Zombie’ (13-3) in the UFC 163 main event.
UFC President Dana White announced the change on Twitter (@danawhite) Friday afternoon.
– Pettis hurt his knee, Korean Zombie will now face Jose Aldo for the title on the Aug card in Rio Brazil.
While Pettis disclosed the nature of his injury on Twitter (@Showtimepettis) shortly afterwards.
– Injuries are part of the sport, Small tear in my meniscus. I was so ready for this fight, this won’t stop me!Be back soon. @ufc @danawhite
UFC 163 is expected to take place on August 3, 2013 at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
‘The Korean Zombie’ had been scheduled to fight Ricardo Lamas next month at UFC 162. No new opponent has been named for Lamas at this time.
Jung has won three straight matches inside the Octagon, earning four “Fight Night” bonuses for his efforts. In his last fight, the South Korean choked out Dustin Porier in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 3 in the fourth round. The win earned Jung the “Fight” and “Submission of the Night” bonuses.
This bout will mark Aldo’s sixth straight unified title defense as the former WEC champ was last in action in February. At UFC 156 Aldo earned a unanimous decision over former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar in that events “Fight of the Night” matchup. Prior to that, Aldo had not fought since January 2012 when he KO’d Chad Mendes at UFC 142.