In front of his countrymen Chan Sung Jung stopped former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the first round at UFC Busan.
The 32-year-old gave the raucous crowd inside the Sajik Arena something to cheer about as he battered Edgar from the get-go before eventually taking the American out at the 3:18 mark of the opening round.
Edgar, who replaced compatriot Brian Ortega in the featherweight headliner on two weeks’ notice, came out of the gates looking to dictate the pace of the contest as he hurled a crisp leg kick and pumped out jabs.
As Edgar changed levels in an attempt to score a takedown, Jung impeccably stuffed the shot and delivered a left hook that put his opponent on wobbly legs.
Solid blow
While Edgar had difficulty maintaining his balance due to the solid blow from the South Korean, the latter remained patient in his approach until he saw another good opening to land a left hook that sent the former champion crashing to the canvas.
‘The Korean Zombie’ rained down a series of ground-and-pound before taking Edgar’s back. He then flattened his foe, giving him the leeway to unload punches to the side of the head.
With Edgar bleeding badly referee Marc Goddard urged him to fight back but Jung maintained a dominant position and the punishment continued.
Quick combination
Edgar managed to somehow make it back on his feet, but he was met with another counter and quick combination that sat him straight back down.
With Edgar looking defenseless as the flurry of blows from Jung continued Goddard finally decided that he had seen enough and stepped in to call a halt to the match.
Speaking after the fight Jung said,
“When I first came out, I was ready to fight all five (rounds), 25 minutes. But my coaches and team said to me, ‘That’s not going to happen’,” Jung said in his post-fight interview.
It was another first-round finish for Jung, who improved his record to 16-5 and proceeded to call out newly-minted UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for a title shot. His victory also garnered him a $50,000 ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
On the other hand, Edgar dropped to a 23-8-1 slate. The damage he sustained puts his January 25th bantamweight bout with Cory Sandhagen in serious jeapardy.
Best of the rest
In one of the marquee matchups of the evening, Canadian standout Charles Jourdain (10-2) arrested his losing spell in the UFC by defeating hometown favorite Doo Ho Choi (14-4).
Choi appeared to have Jourdain reeling early in the opening stanza, but the Canadian fighter rallied to drop ‘The Korean Superboy’ at the end of the period.
Jourdain put a final stamp on the showdown in the second stanza when he dropped his foe with a straight left to the chin and then hammered a right hook to the side of the head.
He sealed his win with a couple more follow-up blows on the mat at the 4:32 mark.
UFC on ESPN+ 23, Busan, December 21st
Chan Sung Jung def. Frankie Edgar via TKO (Punches) at 3:18 of Round 1
Volkan Oezdemir def. Aleksandar Rakic via Decision (Split)
Charles Jourdain def. Doo Ho Choi via TKO (Punches) at 4:32 of Round 2,
Da Un Jung def. Mike Rodriguez via KO (Punches) at 1:04 of Round 1
Jun Yong Park def. Marc-Andre Barriault via Decision (Unanimous)
Kyung Ho Kang def. Liu Pingyuan via Decision (Split)
Ciryl Gane def. Tanner Boser via Decision (Unanimous)
Seung Woo Choi def. Suman Mokhtarian via Decision (Unanimous)
Omar Morales def. Dong Hyun Ma via Decision (Unanimous)
Alexandre Pantoja def. Matt Schnell via KO (Punches) at 4:17 of Round 1
Raoni Barcelos def. Said Nurmagomedov via Decision (Unanimous)
Amanda Lemos def. Miranda Granger via Technical Submission (Rear-naked choke) at 3:43 of Round 1
Heili Alateng def. Ryan Benoit via Decision (Split)
