Photo by Woohae Cho/Zuffa LLC
A highly-anticipated bout between former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight title contenders, Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung, is finally coming to the Octagon near far way from you.
According to MMA Junkie, the two are set to collide in the main event of an upcoming Fight Night event on October 17, 2020. While not yet official, the report states that the event will likely take place on “Fight Island,” which is located on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The two men have created quite a rivalry and were initially set to collide back in 2018 before Ortega suffered a torn ACL. Frankie Edgar stepped in to fill the void and ultimately fell to “The Korean Zombie” via first-round knockout (see it again here). The win marks Jung’s second straight knockout win, previously defeating Renato Moicano in the first round as well.
Ortega, meanwhile, hasn’t competed in 1.5 years with his last fight taking place at UFC 231 in December of 2018 where he lost to former 145-pound champion, Max Holloway, via fourth round technical knockout (doctor’s stoppage). Prior to the loss, “T-City” put together an impressive undefeated streak to start his career, which saw him go 6-0-1 in his first seven fights inside the Octagon.
Tensions boiled over between the two camps earlier this year at UFC 248 after Ortega slapped K-Pop star Jay Park — who serves as Jung’s translator — in the stands. Brian was escorted out of the arena and later apologized for his actions.
All that did was fire up “The Korean Zombie” more, vowing to bust up Ortega’s mug for attacking his friend who is the furthest thing from a fighter.
The winner of this highly-intriguing 145-pound match up is expected to earn a title shot against current division champion, Alexander Volkanovksi, who is coming off back-to-back wins over Max Holloway.