Jose Aldo will defend his featherweight crown against Chan Sung Jung, better known to many as The Korean Zombie, this coming Saturday in Brazil at UFC 163.
Aldo (22-1) is currently undefeated in his last 15 bouts. This will be his eighth straight title…
Jose Aldo will defend his featherweight crown against Chan Sung Jung, better known to many as The Korean Zombie, this coming Saturday in Brazil at UFC 163.
Aldo (22-1) is currently undefeated in his last 15 bouts. This will be his eighth straight title fight, and his fifth defense of the UFC Featherweight Championship.
The Korean Zombie (13-3) gets the title shot by virtue of an injury to Anthony Pettis. Jung has won three straight fights in the Octagon, and all have been finishes. That includes a 2011 Submission of the Year contender and a 2012 Fight of the Year contender with Dustin Poirier.
The featherweight tilt will headline the card, and there will be several interested parties watching. The dominant No. 3-ranked pound-for-pound great will seek to make a statement that he owns the division, while the challenger will try to stun the hostile crowd with a win.
This is your UFC 163 head-to-toe preview of the featherweight championship bout.
The UFC will head to Brazil for its next pay-per-view card, UFC 163. That event will take place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Headlining the card will be a bout between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and challenger Chan Sung Jung.
In the eve…
The UFC will head to Brazil for its next pay-per-view card, UFC 163. That event will take place at HSBC Arena in Rio deJaneiro. Headlining the card will be a bout between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and challenger Chan Sung Jung.
In the evening’s co-main event top-ranked light heavyweight LyotoMachida will face Phil Davis.
The main pay-per-view portion of the card will feature a total of five fights, read on to find out the odds and predictions for the upcoming event.
Jose Aldo (22-1) vs. Chan Sung Jung (13-3)
A glance at the odds for UFC 163’s main event would lead one to believe that Chan Sung Jung has very little chance of beating Jose Aldo. I would say that the odds are correct.
Jung has gained a reputation as an exciting fighter, and there’s little doubt that his reputation is the main reason that he leapfrogged Ricardo Lamas when the UFC was looking for a fighter to replace Aldo’s injured original opponent Anthony Pettis. That reputation will get fans interested in this fight, but it’s not going to alter the outcome of the matchup.
Jung will move forward throughout the fight, but he won’t be able to close the distance because of the speed and accuracy of Aldo’s strikes. I expect Aldo’s main focus will be to get Jung to drop his hands. He’ll do this by throwing a mixed bag of strikes his way, with the focus being on his brutally effective kicks.
Those kicks are going to be the only chance that Jung has in this fight. More specifically, catching one of those kicks and taking the fight to the ground where he can work toward a submission. Alas, I don’t see that happening.
Jung’s ability to take abuse will serve him well in this fight, and it may even allow him to go the distance, but it won’t get him the win.
I’m torn on how this one will end. My heart tells me that Jung will be able to take everything that Aldo throws his way, but my head tells me that he’s a little too confident in his ability to take abuse. I’m going with my head on this one; Aldo takes it via third-round TKO.
Odds: Aldo favorite (-800) over Chan Sung Jung (+500).
LyotoMachida (19-3) vs. Phil Davis (11-1-0-1)
We know what each of these guys does well, Machida is the patient counter-striker that forces his impatient opponents to make mistakes. Once they take the bait, Machida then unleashes unorthodox strikes before moving back out of their range. Davis is a strong wrestler with a still developing striking game.
Davis’ best chance in this fight is hoping that the prospect of earning a title shot will force Machida out of his comfort zone, turning him into a more aggressive fighter. That change in style could make Machida susceptible to a takedown. Once on the ground, Davis will then look to use his submission skills to earn the victory.
That’s not going to happen.
Machida will be his normal patient self when he faces Davis. He’ll wait for Davis to charge him and when he does Machida will make Davis pay. If Davis remains patient and does not make that charge, Machida will do just enough to keep him at distance and score points with his strikes, beating Davis in much the same manner he defeated Dan Henderson.
My money tells me that Davis will slip up at some point in the third round when the prospect of losing a decision begins to loom. When that occurs it will be lights out. Machida via third-round TKO.
Odds: Machida (-350) favorite over Davis (+265).
CezarFerreira (5-2) vs. Thiago Santos (8-1)
CezarFerreira may have walked away from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil with a UFC contract, but doubts remain about him. The favorite to win TUF, Daniel Sarafian was unable to fight in the finale of the show, and was replaced by a man he knocked out Sergio Moraes.
Ferreira was able to earn a unanimous decision over Moraes, but he put himself in danger in that bout when he went from looking for the win to looking for the highlight-reel knockout. A move to the Blackzilian camp may help Ferreira gain some focus heading into UFC 163.
Ferreira’s opponent, Thiago Santos comes in as a late replacement for the injured Clint Hester. Santos has a decent striking game, but his ground game is lacking. He’s an athletic fighter, but I don’t think he’s on Ferreira’s level.
I expect a more focused Ferreira to take this one to the ground and finish the fight via second-round TKO.
Odds: Not Available.
Thales Leites (20-4) vs. Tom Watson (16-5)
It’s the moment of truth time for Tom Watson at UFC 163. Watson will enter the Octagon on August 3 with a ton of confidence after earning “Knockout of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” awards at UFC on Fuel 7.
Standing on the opposite side of the cage in Brazil will be Thales Leites, who returns to the UFC after going 6-1 outside the promotion. Leitis last fought for the UFC in 2009, during his first run with the promotion he went 5-3, wrapping up his run with losses to Anderson Silva and AlessioSakara.
This fight will be a good test for Watson. He’ll be facing a high-level submission artist in hostile territory. The problem is that despite his confidence being sky high, I don’t see Watson passing the test; Leitis takes this one via second-round submission.
Odds: Not Available.
John Lineker (21-6) vs. Jose Maria Tome (33-3)
Opening the UFC 163 pay-per-view card will be a flyweight contest between John Lineker and Jose Tome. The fight will be Tome’s first in the UFC, as he comes in on short notice, replacing late scratch Phil Harris. The 31-year-old Brazilian enters the fight with a 33-3 record. He’s currently in the midst of a 16-fight unbeaten streak.
Lineker has a lot to lose in this bout. He’s currently ranked in the top 10 in the flyweight division, and cannot afford to lose to a debuting fighter. I don’t expect that will happen. The short notice and step up in competition will be too much for Tome; Lineker takes this one via unanimous decision.
Odds: Not Avaiable.
*Odds will be added when posted, posted odds via Bovada.
UFC on Fox 8 will take place from Seattle’s Key Arena on Saturday, July 27. Headlining the card will be a flyweight title fight. Champion Demetrious Johnson will put his belt on the line against No. 4-ranked challenger John Moraga. The evening’s co-mai…
UFC on Fox 8 will take place from Seattle’s Key Arena on Saturday, July 27. Headlining the card will be a flyweight title fight. Champion Demetrious Johnson will put his belt on the line against No. 4-ranked challenger John Moraga. The evening’s co-main event will see No. 3-ranked welterweight Rory MacDonald meeting No. 4-ranked Jake Ellenberger.
Fight card results will be updated below as the card progresses.
UFC on Fox 8 Fight Card:
Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga
Jake Ellenberger vs. Rory MacDonald
Robbie Lawler vs. Bobby Voelker
Jessica Andrade vs. Liz Carmouche
Michael Chiesa vs. Jorge Masvidal
Danny Castillo vs. Tim Means
Mac Danzig vs. Melvin Guillard
Daron Cruickshank vs. Yves Edwards
Ed Herman vs. Trevor Smith
Germaine deRandamie vs. Julie Kedzie
Aaron Riley vs. Justin Salas
John Albert vs. YaotzinMeza
After the Seattle card wraps up, the UFC will be off to Brazil’s for next week’s UFC 163 pay-per-view card. That event will be headlined by a featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo and challenger Chan Sung Jung. What follows are questions we have heading into the August 3 event.
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has long flirted with the idea of moving up to lightweight and trying to add another title to his resume.
In the past, he has always deferred to his coaches and trainers, who would advise him on whether or not the m…
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has long flirted with the idea of moving up to lightweight and trying to add another title to his resume.
In the past, he has always deferred to his coaches and trainers, who would advise him on whether or not the move was the right thing for his career.
The trajectory toward a move to 155 pounds seemed to take a sharp turn earlier this year, however, when Aldo was paired up against former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in the main event of UFC 163.
Pettis had never fought at featherweight but accepted the challenge when Aldo was sitting without an opponent following his win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 156. Aldo took a bit of an exception to Pettis‘ request for an immediate title shot, so he decided to make the same demand.
Back in June when Aldo was still facing Pettis (who later dropped out due to injury), he told MMAJunkie.com that part of the provisions he added in to accept the fight against the former WEC fighter was that he should get an immediate title shot at lightweight with a win.
If everyone is cutting in line, I might as well do the same thing. I’d like to move up one division and have an immediate title shot. We took the Pettis fight with this in mind. It’s [set]. Exactly. We put that in (the contract). It’s black and white. When we accepted the Pettis fight, we brought that up right away. Since everyone wants to cut into our line, let’s cut into theirs too.
It seems a lot has changed in just over one month’s time.
Pettis has been replaced by featherweight contender Chan Sung Jung aka “The Korean Zombie,” and it seems Aldo’s demands have diminished as well.
Speaking to Bleacher Report on Thursday via a UFC 163 media conference call, Aldo backed off his earlier demands to move to lightweight after this event. He now says it’s up in the air in terms of what comes next for him.
“It’s hard to say right now. I want to take one step at a time,” Aldo said. “I want to focus on the fight I have on August 3 against The Korean Zombie (Chan Sung Jung) and we’ll see what happens from there. If I’m going to make the move or if I’m going to stay at my weight class. We’ll have to take one step at a time.”
Aldo has never been a fighter who talked past his upcoming fight, so this may just be a bit of respectful posturing to hold off the lightweight questions until after UFC 163.
While moving to lightweight may still be on the table, it’s not something Aldo will discuss until at least his fight on August 3 with Jung is in the books.
“I can’t try to take too big of a step and I’ve got to focus on my next opponent to be able to make a decision,” Aldo stated. “I respect my opponent and I can’t overlook him.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Jose Aldo was originally scheduled to defend his UFC featherweight title against Anthony Pettis at UFC 163. However, an injury forced Pettis off the card, and in his place the UFC inserted Chan Sung Jung, a fighter that had not competed since he defeat…
Jose Aldo was originally scheduled to defend his UFC featherweight title against Anthony Pettis at UFC 163. However, an injury forced Pettis off the card, and in his place the UFC inserted Chan Sung Jung, a fighter that had not competed since he defeated Dustin Poirier in a “Fight of the Night/Submission of the Night” winning performance in May 2012.
Many were surprised that the UFC went in that direction. After all, conventional wisdom would have had the No. 2 ranked Ricardo Lamas stepping into Pettis’ vacated spot. Lamas was already booked on the August 3 card. In fact, he was booked as Jung’s opponent. Lamas had also won two fights since Jung had last stepped into the Octagon and was riding a four-fight winning streak since dropping to featherweight.
Among those surprised by the choice of Jung, was Jung himself, “At first I was really in disbelief about it, so until Dana White actually announced that I was going to be in the fight I didn’t really believe that it was true. To be honest with you, I thought that Lamas would have been the first choice as well, but I’m happy to have been chosen,” Jung said through an interpreter during a media call.
Jung feels the reasoning behind his nickname, “The Korean Zombie,” may have had something to do with the UFC’s choice. Jung is known for his ability to take strike after strike and keep moving forward. “I think that what may have been the difference was the stylistic matchup. This is guaranteed to be an exciting fight, and that’s probably one of the big reasons why they chose me over Lamas.”
Some fighters may have balked at stepping right into a title fight after more than a year on the sidelines, but Jung is not one of those fighters. He’s looking at the long time between trips into the Octagon as a positive, “They gave me a lot of time to prepare mentally and physically, to get my injuries all healed up. I think the time off actually helped benefit me,” Jung said.
As for how the title shot is being looked at in his homeland of Korea, Jung said, “In MMA circles, it’s probably one of the biggest things that has happened in Korean MMA. Overall, there has been quite a response from the mass media as well, and the general public seems very interested, not only in the fight, but getting more interested in MMA as well.”
Jung will meet Aldo on August 3 at the HSBC Arena in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title on September 21, when he faces Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC 165.
A glance at the rankings would lead one to believe that if Lyoto Machida defeats Phil Davis on August 3 at …
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will defend his title on September 21, when he faces Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC 165.
A glance at the rankings would lead one to believe that if LyotoMachida defeats Phil Davis on August 3 at UFC 163, he will be the next fighter to compete for the 205 pound division’s crown. After all, Machida is sitting in the number one spot atop the rankings. Right?
Well, those rankings seem to mean very little to some. More specifically, they mean very little to current UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier. UFC Tonight recently reported that should Cormier defeat Roy Nelson at UFC 166, he will be looking to drop to light heavyweight and will request the UFC give him an immediate shot at the title.
Not surprisingly, that news did not sit well with Machida, a former UFC light heavyweight champion himself. Machida said so through an interpreter during a media call:
“I believe there are rankings, and they should be followed. There are a lot of guys in line in this weight class waiting in line to fight for a title. I’ve been waiting in line. There’s Glover Teixeira, there’s Phil Davis. So, there’s a lot of guys in the mix. If he’s (Cormier) going to move down to 205, he’s going to need to put a couple of fights in or at least have a significant win in a big fight. I don’t think it’s right for him to just come in and cut the line. I think he’s going to have to show that he deserves that title shot.”
Machida’s run as light heavyweight champion began when he knocked out Rashad Evans at UFC 98. The knockout was memorable enough that it had UFC commentator Joe Rogan exclaiming during the broadcast that the sport was entering the “Machida era.”
Rogan’s proclamation was a bit hasty. Machida would defend the title successfully once, defeating Mauricio Rua, via a somewhat controversial decision at UFC 104, before being knocked out by Rua in the rematch at UFC 113.
Machida did earn a shot at Jones and his title in December 2011. That fight ended with Jones choking Machida unconscious and dropping his body to the canvas like a bag of dirty laundry.
Since that loss, Machida has gone 2-0, defeating Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson in those contests. Machida will try and make it 3-0 against Davis, keeping his number one ranking in the process, and forcing the UFC to make a tough decision.
UFC 163 will take place on August 3 from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The fight card will be headlined by a main event between UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Chan-Sung Jung.
The UFC will head to Brazil for its next pay-per-view card,