Alexander Volkanovski and the Korean Zombie face off for the featherweight title at UFC 273 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Volkanovski is currently the champion while the Korean Zombie is ranked 4th in the division.
Alexander Volkanovski comes into this fight with a 23-1 record overall and since coming into the UFC he has won ten fights in a row. Volkanovski has won three straight belts including the last one against Brian Ortega in September of 2021. Volkanovski outstruck Ortega 214-88 and won by unanimous decision. Volkanovski is averaging 6.42 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.34 significant strikes per minute. Volkanovski is averaging 1.77 takedowns every 15 minutes but he is only successful on 34 percent of his attempts. He does stop 70 percent of his takedown attempts though. Volkanovski is a high volume thrower, and he is going to no doubt put a ton of pressure on the Korean Zombie.
On the other side of this matchup is the Korean Zombie who comes into this fight with a 17-6 record and he has won three of his last four fights. His last fight came against Dan Ige in June of 2021 and he had three takedowns which made the difference. Chan Sung Jung also outstruck Ige 92-80 and won by unanimous decision. Two fights ago against Brian Ortega the Korean Zombie was outstruck 127-62 and that led to the loss. The Korean Zombie is averaging 4.07 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.87 significant strikes per minute. He is averaging 0.82 takedowns every 15 minutes and is successful on 47 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 77 percent of his takedown attempts.
The Korean Zombie might find some success early in this fight, but he just doesn’t throw enough significant strikes to keep this fight close. Volkanovski is averaging 6.42 significant strikes per minute and as the fight goes on, Chan Sung Jung is going to be worn down. I expect Volkanovski is going to land some huge strikes as this goes on, and this fight will end by knockout. Back Volkanovski to win this fight by knockout.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
Mitch's Take...
