Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring and play-by-play (for the main card) as UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Korean Zombie takes place in the Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea.
The headliner for this event is Frankie Edgar versus Chan Sung Jung in the featherweight division. Edgar comes into this event as a slightly late replacement, filling in for Brian Ortega — who has suffered a serious knee injury. In the co-main event is a light heavyweight clash between eager title challengers Volkan Oezdemir and Aleksander Rakic.
Today’s event is in South Korea, and that means it will be a very early start for North Americans. The seven-fight undercard will kick off at 2:00am ET/11:00pm PT. The main card starts at 5:00AM ET/2:00AM PT. All the main card action will be on ESPN+ for viewers in the States (and on UFC Fight Pass for most other people), while the prelims start on ESPN TV in the US.
Check out this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the each matchup.
Frankie Edgar vs. Chan Sung Jung
Round 1 – Cautious start from both men, with lots of movement — especially from Edgar. Edgar goes for a takedown, but Jung stops it. He hits Edgar with a short left hook that has Edgar in trouble. Moments later, Jung hits a flurry against Edgar that sends him sprawling to the canvas. Jung chases him to the mat and gets on his back. He goes for a choke, but Edgar still able to fight it off. Sung has him flattened out. Edgar still trying to clear out the cobwebs. Jung landing punches to the side of Edgar’s head. Marc Goddard barking at Edgar to defend himself. Edgar is bloodied. Edgar is taking a lot of punishment and there is a lot of time left in the round. Jung now seems to be pacing himself. Edgar escapes out the back. On the feet, Jung landing at will. Edgar falls. Goddard has finally seen enough.
Chan Sung Jung def. Frankie Edgar via TKO (punches) Round 1 (3:18)
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Aleksander Rakic
Round 1 – Rakic storms in and catches Oezdemir with some punches and a jumping knee. Oezdemir backs up, but Rakic jumps on a guillotine. It looked tight for a moment, but Oezdemir popped out. Rakic controls the clinch, lands some knees and foot stomps. Oezdemir takes control, but then they break. Rakic catches Oezdemir with a kick to the body. Oezdemir looks to respond with punches, but Rakic evades. Both guys looking for that one shot to end it. Both are landing, too. Rakic gets a hold of Oezdemir’s leg and uses it to throw him to the ground. Rakic tries to get onto Oezdemir’s back. Oezdemir stands and makes it to the fence. He hits Rakic with some short elbows. Rakic steps back and throws some bombs. They move back to the center, Oezdemir all reddened up. Rakic steps in and catches Oezdemir with right hook. Rakic mixes things up with an inside leg kick. Oezdemir responds with an outside leg kick. Rakic puts his head down and throws another combo, but doesn’t land cleanly. Wild round. 10-9 Rakic.
Round 2 – Oezdemir tries to get in close, but Rakic’s reach is stifling him. Rakic reels back and hits Oezdemir with a right hand. Oezdemir targets Rakic’s legs with some kicks, couple land heavy on the thigh. Rakic has an huge lump under his right knee as a result of the kicks. It keeps growing as the round continues. It’s kind of all you can look at now. Rakic grabs Oezdemir’s leg and throws him down, but Oezdemir is up quickly. They clinch against the fence. Rakic lands knees and foot stomps. Oezdemir goes for Travis Browne elbows. They separate, Rakic’s leg looks like it has two knees. The weirdness on Rakic’s leg doesn’t seem to be affecting his movement. Oezdemir finds some success on the inside, but Rakic still dangerous from range. The lump is now larger than Rakic’s knee. Oezdemir claps his hands in front of Rakic’s face, that was strange. Closer round, but still 10-9 to Rakic.
Round 3 – Rakic’s second knee hasn’t gone down a bit, even after being iced during rounds. Both fighters are throwing leather in the center of the cage. Oezdemir is walking Rakic back towards the fence. Rakic recognizes it though and darts around to initiate a clinch. He pushes Oezdemir back to the fence. Oezdemir throws some knees. Rakic responds in kind. Rakic lands a big left hand on the break. Oezdemir hits Rakic on his leg-egg again. Rakic lands an uppercut then tries a takedown, but Oezdemir blocks. Oezdemir lands a clubbing left on Rakic’s neck, but can’t follow up. Rakic rances outside and lands a jab. Oezdemor puts Rakic against the fence, but Rakic turns him around and then hits him with a flurry. Oezdemir goes for a head kick, but Rakic blocks it. Rakic goes for a takedown, but Oezdemir defends with short elbows. Very close round, but 10-9 to Rakic.
Volkan Oezdemir def. Aleksander Rakic via split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28
Doo Ho Choi vs. Charles Jourdain
Round 1 – Jourdain lands the first strike of the contest, a leg kick. Choi wraps him up, but they separate soon after. Jourdain goes for another leg kick. Choi responds with punches. Choi steps in with a knee that catches Jourdain. Jourdain rushes forwards, but Choi evades him. Body kick from Jourdain, then another and then a jumping knee. None of it landed with impact, though. Choi catches Jourdain with a leg kick as he comes in and then clubs him with a punch. Jourdain stumbles, but regains his composure. Choi lands another leg kick and then a punch which send Jourdain down. He’s alert, though. Choi follows and gets into Jourdain’s guard. Jourdain throws up his legs, but Choi is able to navigate around them and drop some hard punches. After a scramble, both fighters end up on the feet. Choi lands another punch and Jourdain looks a little wobbly. Jourdain tries another jumping knee, but misses. Jourdain goes for a spinning backfist and misses that, too. Jourdain spins again and combos it with a flying knee to the body. He catches Choi with a left hand that sends him to the mat. Round ends with Jourdain on top. 10-9 Choi. This might get interesting.
Round 2 – Jourdain lands a body kick. Choi has his hands down and is walking forwards confidently. Jourdain comes close to clipping him, but Choi is able to bob out of range. Choi charges and digs a punch to the body. Jourdain then comes forward with a strike to the body and then the head. Both men are being pretty loose with their punches now. Choi has a small cut by his left eye. Jourdain lands a couple of good shots on Choi, who seems content to eat them in order to throw some of his own. Choi lands a body kick and misses on a spinning backfist. Jourdain out landing Choi. He runs in with a combo, catching Choi with some punches and a knee. Jourdain snaps Choi’s head back with a jab. Choi tries to get in close, Jourdain stuns him with a two punch combo. He’s down. Jourdain follows and the ref calls it off. Stunning win and highly exciting contest.
Charles Jourdain def. Do Hoo Choi via TKO (punches), Round 2 (4:32)
Da Un Jung vs. Mike Rodriguez
Round 1 – Rodriguez starts things off with inside low kicks and push kicks. Jung steps forwards and throws a hard punch. Rodriguez eats it and they reset. Jung walks in and cracks Rodriguez with a huge right hand. Rodriguez folds and falls. Jung follows up with some ground strikes. It’s all over. Rodriguez is out.
Da Un Jung def. Mike Rodriguez via TKO (punches), Round 1 (1:04)
Junyong Park vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Round 1 – Barriault throws a right hook, but Park covers up. Park throws a combo, but Barriault blocks most of it. Park lands a leg kick and then catches Barriault with some counter punches. Barriault throws a kick to the body. Park lands a big body kick of his own. Action is paused for an eye poke on Park. Both men throw heavy shots, which are mostly blocked. Barriault hits a leg kick. Park storms in with a few combos, lands some strikes, but then shifts to a takedown attempt, which he eventually gets. Barriault stands, but Park hangs to his back. They end up on the fence and then separating. Barriault lands a couple of punches on Park, but Park seems unfazed. Park starts teeing off with uppercuts that seem to back Barriault up. Barriault goes for a takedown, but Park is too strong. 10-9 Park.
Round 2 – Barriault looking for a way in, but Park is catching him with jabs. Barriault tries some spinning stuff, misses and Park is able to land some strikes before taking Barriault down against the fence. Park tries to get on Barriault’s back. Barriault gets up, but Park has a bodylock on him. Park lands some knees to the body and thigh of Barriault. Park drags Barriault down and again tries to get on his back. Barriault stands and they separate. Barriault lands a couple of good leg kicks. Both men land punches in the closing moments. 10-9 Park.
Round 3 – Barriault comes out strong and lands a good right hand on Park. Park shakes it off and lands some shots of his own, then drives Barriault back to the fence. Barriault walking forwards swinging. Park able to avoid much of it and land some strikes inside of the clinch. Barriault chasing Park, knows he’s behind on the scorecards. Park content to wait for counter shots. Barriault lands a couple of leg kicks, one buckles Park momentarily. Barriault goes for a takedown, but Park catches him in a guillotine. Barriault fights it off and continues walking forwards. Barriault flashes a high kick, but Park easily avoids it. Park is clearly trying to protect his lead. Might have given away the round. 10-9 Barriault.
Junyong Park def. Marc-Andre Barriault by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Kyung Ho Kang vs. Liu Pingyuan
Round 1 – Liu leads, but misses with jabs, to start things off. Kang ducks under and gets the takedown in the center of the cage. Liu pins Kang’s arm and looks to stifle Kang. Kang has trouble landing any decent offense against Liu’s guard. Liu lands some short elbows from the bottom. Kang does manage to land some punches to the body, but they’re not hard. Liu briefly attempts a guillotine, but he’s nowhere close to finishing it. Against the fence, Liu is able to get up but Kang is right back on him and he gets the single leg takedown. More elbows from the bottom from Liu while Kang tries to advance position and get space to throw ground and pound. Kang stands and finally lands a solid punch to the grounded Liu. Close round. 10-9 Kang for the takedowns.
Round 2 – Kang half-lands a big head kick and then gets the takedown. Kang’s ground and pound opens a cut over Liu’s left eye. Kang remains unable to find a way past Liu’s guard as Liu shrimps slowly to the fence. Liu’s offense from the bottom has dropped off significantly. Liu almost bucks Kang off of him, but Kang digs in and keeps the action on the ground. Kang has control of Liu, but he’s landing far less strikes. Both fighters are knelt against the cage, but Liu is unable to shake Kang off of him. He goes for a d’arce as the round ends. 10-9 Kang.
Round 3 – Sporting touch of gloves to start the round. Kang throws some leg kicks. Liu throws combos, that miss, and then some leg kicks of his own. Liu misses on a jumping knee and Kang ties him up against the fence. They separate, though. Liu stops a takedown attempt from Kang. Kang tries again, but Liu sprawls and holds Kang down momentarily. On the feet Kang goes for another takedown and whiffs on a headkick. Liu leans back out the way, but falls down. Kang pounces on top of him. Liu is able to get himself to the fence, but Kang stops him getting up. After a few seconds in half guard, Liu is able to get full guard. Liu opens a big cut on Kang with one of those elbows from the bottom, blood pouring everywhere. Liu racking up the elbows now. Kang can’t land much of anything. 10-9 Liu.
Kyung Ho Kang def Liu Pingyuan by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Preliminary Card (2:00am ET, ESPN)
Ciryl Gane def. Tanner Boser by unanimous decision (30-26 x 3)
Seung Woo Choi def. Suman Mokhtarian by unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-26)
Omar Morales def. Dong Hyun Ma by unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26, 29-28)
Alexandre Pantoja def. Matt Schnell by KO (Punch), Round 1 (4:17)
Raoni Barcelos def. Said Nurmagomedov by unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Amanda Lemos def. Miranda Granger by technical submission (RNC), Round 1 (3:43)
Alateng Heili def. Ryan Benoit by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
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