5 burning questions heading into UFC on ESPN+ 23
Like that last straggling guest who refuses to pick up on the obvious cues that the party is over, the UFC plows forward with another weekend fight card smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, just one week after they’ve given the public more than they could possibly want with a three-title fight pay-per-view spectacular from Las Vegas.
But oversaturation is not the fault of the fighters on Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 23 card card. And many of them are in bouts worth keeping tabs on, whether or not you’ll actually get up in the middle of the night in North America to watch the card live. Those fights include the makeshift featherweight main event of Frankie Edgar vs. Chan Sung Jung.
UFC on ESPN+ 23 takes place Saturday at Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea. The card streams on ESPN+.
Without further ado, on to five burning questions heading into the event.
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Will Frankie Edgar’s change of plans pay off?
UFC Busan was originally scheduled to feature Jung (15-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) vs. Brian Ortega, but Ortega pulled out due to injury. This led to former UFC lightweight champion Edgar (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) stepping in and taking the bout on just a few weeks’ notice.
This in and of itself isn’t surprising, because Edgar has long been known for his willingness to fight anyone, anywhere. However, in this specific instance, he had been scheduled to meet Cory Sandhagen on Jan. 25 in what was supposed to be his bantamweight debut.
It seemed a curious move at the time, but things have changed. Edgar was moving to bantamweight in part because he lost in a one-sided manner to then-featherweight champion Max Holloway. With Alexander Volkanovski defeating Holloway for the belt at UFC 245, however, the division landscape has shifted.
Edgar vs. “Korean Zombie,” even as a shotgun main-event arrangement, sounded like a fun fight on paper when it was announced. Now, with things a-changin’ at featherweight, a big win halfway around the world against one of the planet’s most spirited fighters could put Edgar square back into the mix at featherweight.