UFC 163: Jose Aldo vs. Korean Zombie – A Closer Look

The first of 2 pay per view events scheduled for the month of August sends the UFC traveling back to the motherland of MMA as Rio De Janeiro, Brazil plays host to UFC 163 this Saturday. The headliner of the show pits top 3 ranked pound for pound fighter, Jose Aldo, against fan favorite, Chan Sung Jung in a title tilt for Aldo’s coveted 145-pound belt. Neither of them has ever lost inside the UFC cage and this bout between battle tested featherweights has been brewing for a couple of years only adding to the hype and bill. The highly anticipated collision has finally arrived so here is a closer look at what to expect in the UFC 163 main event between featherweight belt holder, Jose Also and challenger, Chan Sung Jung.
UFC champion, Jose Aldo (22-1), has not lost a pro bout since November of 2005. The pride of Amazonas, Brazil shook off that early career loss going on to win a few battles in the local MMA circuit before making his highly anticipated debut for the World Extreme Cage fighting organization in 2008. The brilliant Brazilian strung together 5 consecutive victories, all by way of KO, before challenging for the WEC 145-pound strap in November of 2009 at WEC 44 versus then title holder, Mike Thomas Brown. Another Aldo finish came, this one in the 2nd round and the Nova Uniao team member wrapped his hands around featherweight gold, a grip that he has yet to loosen up. Two successful 2010 defenses followed as he dominated Urijah Faber on points then KO’d Manny Gambuyran. The following year it was on to the Octagon to defend his newly minted belt once the UFC absorbed the WEC brand. Aldo again defended his crown twice, easily outpointing elite strikers; Mark Hominick at UFC 129 and Kenny Florian at UFC 136 for unanimous decision triumphs. In 2012 Jose only fought once, annihilating previously undefeated, Chad Mendes, with a vicious knee to the face at UFC 142. Most recently, the 26-year old prodigy bested Frankie Edgar at UFC 156 in February of this year by way of unanimous decision.

In 2010, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung (13-3) made his WEC debut taking on Leonard Garcia in a stand-up war that earned them “Fight of The Year” honors. Controversial in its outcome, only because many believed that the split decision verdict should have gone Jung’s way. A loss to George Roop later that year gently marred the Korean’s ascend towards the top of the 145-pound mountain but his determination only grew as shown by his resiliency during his next outings. Jung debuted in the Octagon in 2011 against archrival, Leonard Garcia, at UFC: Fight Night 24. This time however, Jung wouldn’t need the judges input as he tapped out Garcia via twister submission in the 2nd round, a finish that earned him “Submission Of The Year” honors. Later that year, he KO’d Mark Hominick in the 1st round of their UFC 140 bout, a fight were Hominick was a 6-1 favorite. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Chan headlined his first ever event the following May, clashing with the ruthless Dustin Poirier for their UFC on Fuel TV 3 main event. Yet again he gave the judge’s a break by submitting Poirier in the 4th round of an action-packed brawl using a picture perfect brabo choke. Dustin lay unconscious once Chan released the hold but a new legion of fans had awoken to take notice of the Asian sensation’s deadly skill set as he again baffled odds makers who had calculated Jung as a 4-1 underdog for the bout.

Going into this match Chan Sung Jung will be an 8-1 underdog and the number ironically coincides with the fact that Jose Aldo hasn’t been defeated in 8 years. Nevertheless, Sung Jung has shown a knack for making fools of the odds assigned to him as he has the opportunity to change the course of history with one memorable “W” in Brazil. Never in the history of the UFC has a Korean fighter held a championship belt. However, this match is in Aldo’s backyard but traveling half way across the globe for his opponent might be hindering to Jung’s conditioning, strength and timing seeing as how he already enters this match following a 14-month layoff. If ever a fighter needed to live up to his appealing moniker it is going to be “The Korean Zombie” this weekend as his visit to enemy territory should prompt him to compete with an almost supernatural aggression in order to capture victory. One Brazilian former UFC champion just lost a month in a monumental upset. Are fight fans ready for another come Saturday night at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro when champion Jose Aldo plans on defending his UFC title for the 5th time against Chan Sung Jung? We will find out live this weekend as Brazil hosts UFC 163 live on PPV.