A battle of top featherweight contenders between Ricardo Lamas and “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung, will happen at UFC 162 on July 6 in Las Vegas, according to UFC officials Wednesday night.
Dana White first spoke about wanting to put this fight together more than a month ago as a logical way to determine a top contender in the division. Lamas (13-2), who dominated Erik Koch on Jan. 26 in Chicago on FOX, is ranked behind Chad Mendes as the No. 2 contender in the division.
Lamas expected that the win would give him a title shot at Jose Aldo, but Anthony Pettis, who had earned a lightweight title shot with a decisive win over Donald Cerrone that same night, texted White on Feb. 2 and asked for a shot at Aldo. Feeling the fight would have more interest, the UFC opted to go in that direction, and was immediately interested in putting Lamas against Jung as a top contender fight.
Jung (13-3), ranked as the No. 4 contender in the UFC rankings, may be the most popular fighter in the division, because almost every fight he’s had since his arrival on the U.S. scene in 2010 has been memorable.
He came into the Dustin Poirier fight, which took place on May 15 in Fairfax, Va., with a shoulder injury, and underwent surgery in July. Because of the uncertainty about his recovery time, it took time before a date was confirmed for the fight with Lamas.
Lamas has won four fights in a row with wins over Matt Grice, Cub Swanson, Hatsu Hioki and Koch.