A pair of featherweight forces will square off for the weight class? title this weekend, as longtime belt defender Jose Aldo faces challenger Chan-Sung Jung. While early MMA odds point heavily in Aldo?s direction at UFC 163, few are willing to talk in absolutes after watching how UFC 162 wound up last month.
When Chris Weidman put an end to veteran Anderson Silva?s stranglehold on mixed martial arts, fans and oddsmakers alike were reminded that anything can happen in the octagon. This Saturday, however, with -750 UFC odds, Aldo will look to maintain the status quo.
Since 2009, Aldo has taken care of every challenge he?s faced as a featherweight champion. First as the WEC titleholder and eventually the UFC, Aldo has put together an incredibly impressive career, given the fact that he?s only 26 years old.
Expect a fast-moving affair when the two square off in the headlining event of the weekend fight card, because this is featherweight action at its finest.
As a +475 underdog, Chan-Sung, aka the Korean Zombie, will need to channel some of the momentum that?s helped him raise his MMA profile over the course of the past few fights. In addition to the headlines he drew with his seven-second knockout of Mark Hominick at UFC 140, Chan-Sung has been a walking, striking accolade. Back in March of 2011, he not only took Submission of the Night at a Fight Night event, but Submission of the Year, as well.
Following the Knockout of the Night against Hominick at UFC 140, he claimed both Fight and Submission of the Night, as well as Fight of 2012, at a UFC on Fuel TV match in May 2012.
To put it simply, the Korean Zombie has emerged as one of mixed martial arts? most exciting combatants.
Will style be enough to push the 26-year-old South Korean past a champion as accomplished as Aldo? While it would be silly to question a fighter as formidable as Aldo — a man who?s defended his spot atop the featherweight food chain an impressive eight times — the days of predictable fights seem to be behind us.
