The UFC’s late-replacement headliner in South Korea is now official.
Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung both made weight ahead of their UFC Busan main event Saturday. Edgar and Jung — best known as “The Korean Zombie” — each weighed 146 pounds, right at the featherweight limit.
Edgar is a fill-in for Brian Ortega, who was Jung’s original opponent. Ortega suffered a partial tear of his ACL about two weeks ago and Edgar was tabbed as Jung’s new foe.
Coming in, ESPN has Jung ranked No. 8 among featherweights in MMA, while Edgar is No. 9.
Edgar (22-7-1) is coming off a loss to Max Holloway in a UFC featherweight title fight at UFC 240 in July. The New Jersey native had planned a move down to bantamweight and already had a fight booked, against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Raleigh on Jan. 25. Edgar, 38, is a surefire Hall of Famer with nine UFC title fights under his belt, including three successful defenses as lightweight champion. “The Answer” has been perennially near the top of both the lightweight and featherweight divisions since 2009.
Jung (15-5) knocked out Renato Moicano in just 58 seconds in his last bout at UFC Greenville in June. The fighter, known for his all-action bouts and durability, returned from a nearly four-year layoff due to Korea’s mandatory military service to knock out Dennis Bermudez in February 2017. In his next bout, Jung put on a Fight of the Year contender against Yair Rodriguez, only to be knocked out with a rare back elbow strike with just one second remaining. In total, the 32-year-old Jung has won five of his last seven.
Volkan Oezdemir and Aleksandar Rakic will meet in the UFC Busan light heavyweight co-main event. They each weighed in at 206 pounds Friday to make the bout official. Every other fighter hit the mark successfully, as well.