Tag: Chan Sung Jung

Calvin Kattar offers replacement services vs. Chan Sung Jung at UFC on ESPN+ 23

Calvin Kattar is ready to fight Chan Sung Jung on a little more than two weeks’ notice if the UFC will give him the opportunity.

WASHINGTON – [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] is ready to fight [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] on a little more than two weeks’ notice if the UFC will give him the opportunity.

Once news broke Brian Ortega was forced to withdraw from the UFC on ESPN+ 23 main event against Jung (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) later this month due to an ACL injury, the search for a replacement opponent started for the featherweight headliner.

Reports have pegged former UFC champ Frankie Edgar as the frontrunner to land the contest, but nothing has been announced, and Kattar (20-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has offered up his services.

“As soon as we heard (Ortega’s injury), we threw out name in the hat and we’re waiting to hear what they said,” Kattar told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “It looks like Frankie is the frontrunner right now. We’ll see what they decide to do, but I’m always down to fight. Especially after that last one – I’m looking to get back. I’m ready to go.

UFC on ESPN+ 23 takes place Dec. 21 at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. The entire card streams on ESPN+.

Kattar is just weeks removed from a loss to Zabit Magomedsharipov, but is keen to get back in the octagon soon. There’s no better way to get the bad taste out of his mouth from a loss, in his mind, than to fight Jung.

“‘Zombie’ vs. me – you know what you’re going to get in that case,” Kattar said. “It’s going to be a good fight. I really just want to get that last one out of my mouth – that last ‘L.’ I don’t give a (expletive) who it is against.”

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Brian Ortega injured, withdraws from from UFC on ESPN+ 23 headliner vs. ‘Korean Zombie’

The UFC’s final fight card of 2019 is left scrambling for a main event.

The UFC’s final card of 2019 will be left scrambling for a main event.

Former featherweight title challenger [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled headliner with [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN+ 23.

MMA Junkie confirmed an ESPN.com report Wednesday that Ortega is out because of an undisclosed injury, according to a person with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.

With Ortega (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) unable to compete, the UFC is currently searching for a replacement opponent to fight Jung (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) later this month. Ortega’s withdrawal means he will go all of 2019 without competing. His last fight was in December 2018, when he lost a TKO to 145-pound champion Max Holloway.

UFC on ESPN+ 23 takes place Dec. 21 at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. The entire card streams on ESPN+.

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MMA rankings report: How will December’s big fights shake things up?

With a big month of fights on tap to close the year, Gorgeous George and John Morgan project how the rankings might shake out.

Things have been a little slow the past couple weeks in mixed martial arts, but the year will end with a bang, as December features a big slate of important fights.

There are several matchups which will have major implications on both their respective divisions and, in some cases, the pound-for-pound list. Matches such as:

  • [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] at welterweight
  • [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Alexander Volkanosvki[/autotag] and [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] at featherweight
  • [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] and [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Yana Kunitskaya[/autotag] at women’s bantamweight
  • [autotag]Jose Aldo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marlon Moraes[/autotag] at men’s bantamweight

Those are just some of the matchups over the next several weeks which will have a major impact on the future. What might they mean for the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings? Let MMA Junkie’s “Gorgeous” George Garcia and John Morgan walk you through the changes in the video above.

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What could’ve been: 10 of the best booked UFC fights that never happened

Conor McGregor vs. Rafael dos Anjos, Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirer, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson, and more make the list.

There have been numerous highly anticipated UFC matchups that have fallen through over the years because of unfortunate circumstances, and they easily could’ve produced fireworks.

From championship fights, to rivalries, to intriguing stylistic pairings, here are 10 of the best scheduled matchups that never ended up happening.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson

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While it appears that another [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] fight booking is imminent at the time of this writing, let’s just hope the fifth time is the charm.

These two were scheduled to fight on four other occasions, but a series of unfortunate circumstances and injuries has resulted in it never happening. The first booking was during The Ultimate Fighter Finale card on Dec. 11, 2015, when Nurmagomedov was forced out due to injury and replaced by Edson Barboza. Ferguson submitted Barboza in the second round via D’Arce choke, earning both “Performance” and “Fight of the Night” bonuses.

They were then scheduled to fight at UFC on FOX 19 on April 16, 2016, but this time it was Ferguson who pulled out. Ferguson was replaced by newcomer Darrell Horcher, whom Nurmagomedov battered before earning a second-round TKO win.

Then, an interim lightweight championship fight was scheduled to take place at UFC 209 on March 4, 2017, but the fight was canceled due to Nurmagomedov falling ill from a bad weight cut.

Finally, the two were set to meet a fourth time. At UFC 223 in April 2018, Nurmagomedov and then-interim champ Ferguson were going to fight for the undisputed lightweight title. But in a freak accident, Ferguson tripped over a wire and blew out his knee. Max Holloway stepped in briefly, but the New York State Athletic Commission deemed Holloway unfit to compete due to a severe weight cut. Al Iaquinta, who was scheduled to face Paul Felder on the same night, stepped in for the massive opportunity but was dominated by Nurmagomedov in a five-round battle.

Nurmagomedov finally realized his dream of becoming the UFC lightweight champ, and here’s hoping the fight with Ferguson will finally come to fruition in early 2020 as expected.

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UFC on ESPN+ 23 official poster released: Ortega, ‘The Korean Zombie’ clash in final card of the year

See the official poster for UFC Busan, which features a pivotal featherweight clash in the main event.

A pivotal featherweight clash will round the year off on the UFC schedule.

Former title challenger [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] heads to enemy territory to take on “The Korean Zombie,” [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 23, set to take place in Busan, South Korea.

Ortega will look to rebound from his first career loss, a December 2018 TKO at the hands of Max Holloway at UFC 231 in a failed attempt to capture the featherweight title. Prior to the loss, Ortega had finished all his UFC opponents, and he now looks to climb his way back to title contention.

Since returning from his long military service hiatus, Jung has won two of his last three bouts, both coming by the way of first-round stoppage. His lone loss in that stretch came at the hands of Yair Rodriguez, in a Hail Mary elbow knockout, a fight he was en route to winning on the judges’ scorecards.

Check out the official poster for UFC on ESPN+ 23:

The UFC on ESPN+ 23 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 5 a.m. ET)

  • Brian Ortega vs. Chan Sung Jung
  • Volkan Oezdemir vs. Aleksandar Rakic
  • Dooho Choi vs. Charles Jourdain
  • Da Un Jung vs. Mike Rodriguez
  • Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Jun Yong Park
  • Kyung Ho Kang vs. Liu Pingyuan

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 2 a.m. ET)

  • Tanner Boser vs. Ciryl Gane
  • Suman Mokhtarian vs. Seungwoo Choi
  • Dong Hyun Ma vs. Omar Morales
  • Alexandre Pantoja vs. Matt Schnell
  • Raoni Barcelos vs. Said Nurmagomedov
  • Amanda Lemos vs. Veronica Macedo
  • Heili Alateng vs. Ryan Benoit
  • Sabina Mazo vs. opponent TBA

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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