It is a matchup that has been nearly a year in the making and has caused one public confrontation and a furious war of words. But reports suggest that the Korean Zombie and Brian Ortega are finally set to settle their differences in the octagon.
According to a Mexican newspaper Chan Sun Jung and Ortega have been booked to fight at UFC Fight Night 181 on October 17th. As is often the case in the post Covid-19 era the promotion has yet to confirm a destination for this card.
Jung and Ortega were originally booked to fight at UFC Busan last December. The American withdrew with an injury and the Korean Zombie made short work of replacement opponent Frankie Edgar.
Since then there has been a public falling out between the two featherweights. Ortega got into a physical altercation with Jung’s translator at UFC 248 although the American did subsequently issue an apology.
The American subsequently accused Jung of ducking him by refusing to sign a fight agreement. The Korean claimed that he was unable to leave the country due to travel restrictions but attracted more ire from Ortega after publicly criticizing the UFC 251 performance of Alex Volkanovski.
Ortega (14-1) is currently #2 in the UFC featherweight rankings while Jung is #4, making this a potential title eliminator. The former is coming off an unsuccessful title shot in 2018 while the latter won two fights out of two last year.
UFC Fight Night 181, TBA, October 17th
Chan Sun Jung vs. Brian Ortega (Featherweight)
Poliana Botelho vs. Gillian Robertson (Flyweight)
Krzysztof Jotko vs. Makhmud Muradov (Middleweight)
Modestas Bukauskas vs. Jimmy Crute (Light heavyweight)
