UFC Vegas 68 Clash: Jung Vs. Clark!

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight finishers Da Un Jung and Devin Clark will collide this weekend (Sat., Feb. 4, 2023) at UFC Vegas 68 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It’s hard to say exactly how this fairly random, unranked showdown of Light Heavyweights found its way to the co-main event slot. Both men enter following knockout losses, and in the case of Clark specifically, he’s done quite a bit more losing than winning as of late. The silver lining, at least, is that this one seems unlikely to go the full distance. Jung is a allergic to boring fights, and though he’s not above wrestling his way to the win, Clark has real finishing power himself.

Let’s take a closer look at the keys to victory for each man:

Da Un Jung

Record: 15-3-1

Key Wins: Kennedy Nzechukwu (UFC Vegas 42), William Knight (UFC Vegas 23), Mike Rodriguez (UFC Fight Night 165)

Key Losses: Dustin Jacoby (UFC Long Island)

Keys to Victory: Jung is nothing if not fun. A big man for the division, Jung does not hide back at distance behind range strikes. Instead, he walks straight into the fire, giving his opponent a fairly easy target to ensure that he’s also landing at a good clip.

He’s stopped 11 foes via knockout.

The path to victory is wildly clear here. Thus far, Jung’s takedown defense has held up very well inside the Octagon. He seemingly has the wrestling necessary to keep this on the feet, which means he can exploit Clark’s historically shaky defense to remain in the driver’s seat, likely en route to another stoppage.

Clark simply does not like to be hit. The second he’s touched, he starts overreacting or hanging back at distance and throwing hook kicks. If Jung can lower his level a touch, keep an eye out for a massive, running over hand, and walk his man down with combinations, the South Korean talent should be in for a short night.

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Devin Clark

Record: 13-7

Key Wins: Alonzo Menifield (UFC 250), William Knight (UFC Vegas 51), Mike Rodriguez (UFC 223), Jake Collier (UFC on FOX 24), Darko Stosic (UFC Fight Night 153)

Key Losses: Jan Blachowicz (UFC Fight Night 118), Anthony Smith (UFC Vegas 15), Aleksandar Rakic (UFC 231), Ryan Spann (UFC Fight Night 161), Ion Cutelaba (UFC Vegas 37)

Keys to Victory: Clark’s MMA career is baffling. An accomplished wrestler with major power in his hands, there is simply no reason that an extremely athletic longtime training partner of Jon Jones should struggle so badly in a division as weak as Light Heavyweight.

Clark’s struggles can be attributed to a lack of comfort in the pocket and strange approach to fighting. He really spent three rounds getting bullied by Ion Cutelaba, and his response was to keep throwing side and hook kicks! Had he stood his ground and fired back even a bit, his chance at victory would have skyrocketed.

In this fight, Clark has to get his wrestling going, and the path to doing so doesn’t involve fighting at distance from his back foot against a longer man. Rather, Clark has to fire that right hand, getting Jung moving towards the fence, then run him into it with a powerful double leg.

When Clark is able to find just a bit of success with his takedown game, everything else flows so much more nicely for him. If he can wear on Jung a bit and take the sting off his punches, the knockout artist is less intimidating on the feet, and Clark’s success should snowball.

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Bottom Line

It should be a fun Light Heavyweight scrap that could end in a single shot.

I will not, however, pretend there are any divisional consequences here. At 29 years of age, Jung is still young enough to really develop his game further, and he did start his UFC career with a five-fight unbeaten streak. Getting back in the win column is a good start, but he’s still a long way from proving himself a contender rather than action fighter.

On the other hand, Clark may well be fighting for his UFC career. He’s lost three of his last four, which is a problem in its own right, but the greater issue seems to be that Brown is stagnating. He’s still good enough to win some UFC fights, but in the current cost-cutting era, another defeat could see UFC open up his spot on the roster to a new “Contender Series” standout.

At UFC Vegas 68, Da Un Jung and Devin Clark will go to war in the co-main event. Which man will earn the victory?