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On Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the last tournament ended before the most anticipated MMA event of the year. In a week, Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight Justin Gage here and try to defend his belt for the second time.
Meanwhile, “Boytsovsky Island” settled on the leading contender for the title in the featherweight division. In the main match of the night, Brian Ortega faced Chen Sung John (aka Korean zombie).
For the first time, they were supposed to fight a year ago, but that fight fell through due to Ortega’s injury. Then Frankie Edgar came out in Brian’s place and safely knocked out 3 minutes after the start of the fight.
The zombies immediately began calling for a title fight, but UFC management decided to take their story with Ortega to its logical conclusion. There was something in between that made the fights sell much better: conflict.
On March 7, 2019, Ortega and Zombies crossed paths in the auditorium at UFC 248 and there was a fight between them. A rather unexpected character suffered in him – Korean rapper Jay Parkwho received a slap from Ortega. The episode appeared on video.
The park got there not entirely by accident. Brian explained this by the fact that it was Park who started several trash stories on behalf of the Zombie towards Ortega.
“Four weeks ago, Korean Zombie and Jay Park came to the Ariel Helwani show and announced that he was avoiding the fight. “Avoid combat” and “trauma” are two different things. And since I knew this script was written by Jay Park, I greeted him at a fighting game and warned him to watch his tongue. On Saturday night, I slapped three people at the same time. I apologize for slapping the “translator,” I apologize for slapping the “Korean pop star,” but I do not regret slapping the “instigator,” Ortega said.
Soon this post was removed and another one appeared in its place, with an apology. In it, Ortega admitted that he was wrong and invited Song to fight when he was ready.
In the end, both were ready on October 17, 2020. Like a year ago, this time the fight between Ortega and the “Korean Zombie” had the status of a featherweight contender. The second and fourth numbers in the standings have already had a bad experience in championship fights, but it has been quite a while since then.
Brian lost his chance to collect the belt two years ago, and Zombie lost seven years before serving in the Korean military. However, none of them have since left the TOP, and today the winner of his partner on paper was cited in the title race even above former champion Max Holloway or the best of the showdown between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodríguez. .
With the Korean zombie competing in the UFC for nearly a decade, his uniform has raised fewer questions ahead of today’s tournament than the young Ortega’s current condition.
Brian two years ago took off very brilliantly and quickly into the title fight with Holloway, but he also fell quickly from the top, losing to Max for ground. Then there was a long recovery, then a serious injury, and then another rehabilitation.
But the updated Brian Ortega entered the Octagon today. First, he got rid of his famous curls and beard. (they went to charity)… And secondly, he was shocked by his actions. Ortega is usually expected to transfer to the ground and try to apply his high-quality Jiu-Jitsu. Instead, Brian spent most of the fight on his feet and looking surprisingly good.
Ortega moved fast, hit hard and only occasionally made takedowns. In five rounds, Brian took down the zombies twice and confidently interrupted every five minutes.
The judges gave him the victory, making Ortega the next contender for the belt, which now belongs to Alex Volkanovski. But Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodríguez now seem to have to wait.
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