Photo courtesy of ESPN
By Ken Andrew
kenakikenyi@gmail.com
Alexander Volkanovski is set to defend his UFC Featherweight title against Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273. Chan, popularly known as the Korean Zombie got his chance after Max Holloway dropped out due to injury. The fight will headline UFC 273 which has a stacked card with two title fights.
Volkanovski is coming off a superb performance and win against Brian Ortega. Chan is also coming off a great win and performance over Dan Ige. The Zombie has been hanging with the top featherweights for the best part of his UFC career but this will be his first title fight. For Volk, The Zombie will only be his third different opponent since he gained the title, after Holloway and Ortega.
In the co-main event, Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan will settle their differences and battle for the Bantamweight gold. Their first meeting ended controversially with Yan kneeing a downed Aljamain which is illegal according to the UFC rules. Yan lost his title to Aljo then, but can regain it with a win at UFC 273. He also enters this fight as the Interim Bantamweight Champion after producing a praised masterclass against Cory Sandhagen.
Gilbert Burns will meet Khamzat Chimaev in the fight before the co-main event. The winner of the fight will most likely be next in line for the Welterweight Championship. The two fighters have clashed on social media before and helped set up a tasty fight for the fans. Burns will seek to win and gain another crack at the title whereas Chimaev faces his biggest test ever in the UFC. Khamzat has been a fast rising name in the UFC and that explains why he fights the number 2 ranked welterwight in only his fifth UFC fight.
All unfolds on April 9th 2022.