By Devin Hall
UFC return this weekend with a great featherweight bout between “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung and Dan “50 K” Ige. Last week, UFC fans got to enjoy UFC 263 as we saw Israel Adesanya easily defend his middleweight belt against Marvin Vettori, Brandon Moreno upset Deiveson Figueiredo to become the first Mexican champion ever in the UFC, and Leon Edwards defeated the legend Nate Diaz in an all-out brawl where Diaz almost got the upset knockout in the final minute of the bout. We will have to wait until July 10th for our next pay-per-view fights, but this week will bring some fire power for a free fight night.
Besides the main event, there are a couple fights that I would watch this weekend for the potential of an all-out brawl. The first fight that caught my attention is between two guys that have been in the UFC for awhile and has made a name for themselves over the years, Matt “The Immortal” Brown (24-18) and the Brazilian Dhiego Lima (15-8). Brown is a 40-year-old with 27 fights in the UFC throughout his career. Brown has never been able to reach the top, but he is known for giving his all in each of his fights. He is a brawler who seems to bring it every fight, even if he does lose. Lima is another UFC vet who is coming off a defeat at the hands of Belal Muhammad, as he looks to bounce back with a win over Brown. Lima’s brother is another well known fighter for Bellator, Douglas Lima, who was the welterweight champion at one point for the promotion. Do not let the old guys fool you, they are bound to leave it all in the octagon as both look to gain momentum with a win.
Keeping with the theme of age, the co-main event will feature Aleksei “The Boa Constrictor” Oleinik who is 43 years old with 75 total mixed martial arts fights throughout his 25-year career. Oleinik has an incredible resume for his career with 59 total wins and 15 losses. 46 of his 59 wins have came from a submission from Oleinik, which is absolutely ridiculous! He will be facing off with the 12-2 Moldovan-Ukrainian Sergey “Polar Bear” Spivak. Spivak will be in his sixth UFC bout and is riding a 2-fight win streak in the heavyweight division over Jared Vanderaa and Carlos Felipe. Heavyweight fights are known for their power, but this fight may be more about beautiful ground and submission work.
Last, but not least we have the main event with the fan favorite Chan Sung Jung as he faces with the performance bonus specialist Dan Ige. Ige comes in as the #8 contender in the featherweight division with a 15-3 record. Ige’s last fight ended in a matter of 20 seconds as he knocked out the undefeated Gavin Tucker with an impressive right cross. Jung comes into the fight coming off a decision loss to Brian Ortega, who is about to fight for the featherweight championship. Jung is another fighter who is known for amazing fights and finishes, as he is about to headline for the8th straight time in his career. With a 16-6 record, Jung looks to get back on track to become the next featherweight contender to get a shot for gold. Jung v. Ige will no doubt be an amazing fight from start to finish. We may get an all-out brawl until the finish, or we could see one of the fighters finish each other. The fight has ‘fight of the night’ written all over it.
The UFC continues to give the fans amazing fights to headline their fight nights between pay-per-views. This weekend will be nothing short of a fantastic fight card that you can catch on ESPN 2 at 7 PM. Next week, we get a heavyweight matchup between the massive Alexander Volkov from Russia and the light-footed Frenchman Ciryl Gane. The UFC looks to close out the month of June with some outstanding fight cards, leading into the trilogy fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.