The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s final show in 2019 has taken a major blow after one of its main event stars pulled out of the fight card.
Featherweight contender Brian Ortega has reportedly withdrew from his upcoming fight against Chan Sung Jung due to an undisclosed injury.
T-City was scheduled to enter the enemy’s territory at a UFC Fight Night event on December 21 in Busan,South Korea, which also marks his MMA return from a year of fighting hiatus.
In December 2018, Ortega challenged Max Holloway for the featherweight championship but was not able to overcome the Hawaiian’s elite stand up game.
The 28-year old fighter lost by way of doctor stoppage and suffered the first defeat of his professional career.
Following that loss, Ortega needed to spend the whole year on the sidelines as he sustained multiple injuries.
“Brian Ortega is out of the Dec. 21 main event fight against Chan Sung Jung due to an undisclosed injury, according to multiple sources. More coming shortly,” ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported.
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Lost Opportunity
Prior to his defeat to Holloway, Ortega has racked up six straight wins in the UFC, with all those wins coming by way of submission and knockout/ technical knockout.
In a previous interview with BJPenn.com, the featherweight contender said he is very interested in fighting ‘The Korean Zombie’ and has vowed to stain his record with another loss.
“He’s coming off an impressive win against [Renato] Moicano, but if you look at his last five fights, it’s win, loss, win, loss, win.”
“Looks like he’s due for another L.”
The Nevada-based promotion has yet to find a replacement for ‘T-City’ in the main event bout while Sung Jung is likely to be kept on the card, given his popularity in South Korea.
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Title Contender
‘The Korean Zombie’ is currently at #7 in the official featherweight rankings, boasting a 5-2 win-loss record in the UFC and 15-5 overall.
He started his career in the UFC way back 2011, where he immediately made an impact by winning the Submission of the Night honors from win over of Leonard Garcia.
After scoring three straight wins, he fought for the featherweight title against Jose Aldo at UFC 163, losing by way of technical knockout, before going into a four-year hiatus.
He returned to action in February 2017 and knocked out Dennis Bermudez at UFC Houston to take home the Performance of the Night honor.
Starring in one of the best fights of 2018, ‘The Korean Zombie’ was finished by Yair Rodriguez at UFC Denver just before the final bell rang.
The 32-year old fighter bounced back from this loss with a victory over Renato Moicano last June.
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(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung)