The Korean Zombie is a huge ‘dog on tonight’s rare Tuesday UFC card
Published on May 15 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
Mixed martial arts fans have another free UFC card to wager on tonight in an unusual mid-week slot. The 12-fight card will feature six bouts on Fuel TV starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
The main event will feature a pair of featherweights, Dustin Poirier and Jung Chan-Sung, who will be vying for the No. 1 contender slot in 145-pound division.
Most betting shops are listing Poirier (12-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) as a minus-330 favorite, while ‘The Korean Zombie’ is plus-270 on the comeback (risk $100 to win $270).
Poirier has won five consecutive fights since tasting defeat for the only time in his career. That loss came in his World Extreme Cagefighting debut against Danny Castillo, who won a unanimous decision over Poirier at WEC 50.
‘The Diamond’ won Submission of the Night honors with his first-round armbar finish of Max Holloway at UFC 143. Poirier also prevailed by submission with his UFC on Fox 1 win over Pablo Garza by d’arce choke.
Since coming over from the WEC, Chan-Sung (12-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has posted a pair of dynamic victories. In his last outing, Chan-Sung tied a UFC record with his first-round knockout of Mark ‘The Machine’ Hominick in only seven seconds. Chan-Sung hooked up his betting supporters with an incredible payout of at least plus-450 (paid $450 on $100 wagers).
Hominick was heavily favored because he had been so courageous in his previous bout, winning Round 5 in a slugfest with Jose Aldo for the featherweight championship. Aldo ended up winning a unanimous decision but not before Hominick controlled him from top and dealt out ground-and-pound punishment in the final stanza.
But Chan-Sung stymied all of Hominick’s momentum with the early KO. In his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis, ‘The Korean Zombie’ earned Submission of the Night and Submission of the Year honors with his second-round finish of Leonard Garcia with a beautiful twister.
In the co-main event, Amir Sadollah (5-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) will collide with Jorge Lopez in a welterweight clash. Most books are listing as minus-200 ‘chalk’ with Lopez tagged as a plus-160 underdog (risk $100 to win $160).
Sadollah, winner of Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter, is coming off a loss to Duane Ludwig by unanimous decision at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle. He owns notable victories over the likes of Phil Baroni, C.B. Dollaway, Brad Blackburn and DaMarques Johnson.
Lopez (11-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was originally going to face Sadollah at UFC 143 before both fighters sustained injuries. Lopez dropped his Octagon debut against Justin Edwards by unanimous decision in New Orleans. ‘Lil Monster’ had won 10 fights in a row before the loss to Edwards.
Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (17-4-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) will be looking to bounce back from his first UFC loss when he faces Jeremy ‘Lil’ Heathen’ Stephens in the 155-pound loop. This matchup has Fight of the Night honors written all over it.
Most spots have Cerrone installed as a minus-260 favorite, while Stephens is plus-220 on the comeback (risk $100 to win $220).
Cerrone rolled through his first four UFC foes before getting worked by Nate Diaz at UFC 141. Diaz dominated Cerrone with his boxing, bloodying his face up before the end of the opening round. Cerrone took his beating like a man and did have his own moments in the fight with a few powerful leg kicks that floored Diaz, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Over the last three years, Stephens (20-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) has only two losses and both came via split decision against Anthony Pettis (UFC 136) and Melvin Guillard (UFC 119). In between those defeats, the native of Des Moines, Iowa, has wins over Justin Buchholz, Sam Stout, Marcus Davis and Danny Downes.
Stephens has won KO of the Night bonuses on three different occasions and his win over Stout garnered Fight of the Night.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
–My favorite pick on the card is the Korean Zombie for the nice plus-270 return. I also think Stephens is worth a small play for the plus-220 payout.
–Several future fights have been announced over the last few days, including Jon Fitch vs. Aaron Simpson on July 11 at UFC on Fuel TV 4. This is Simpson’s debut in the welterweight division. Also, Phil ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Davis is set for his first fight since losing to Rashad Evans when he takes on Chad Griggs at UFC on Fox 4.
–Speaking of the UFC on Fuel TV 4 card, the main event will be a five-round showdown between middleweights Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman, who is a minus-150 favorite. Munoz is a plus-120 underdog.
–Will Davis-Griggs make the four-fight lineup on Fox? Brian Stann (+120) and Hector Lombard (-150) is expected to be the main event in a middleweight tussle. Plus, a light-heavyweight bout between Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida is a given to be on Fox, as is the heavyweight showdown between Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne. There’s also a lightweight tilt between Joe Lauzon and Terry Etim that’s a Fox candidate. Davis headlined the UFC on Fox 2 card in his lone career loss to Evans. Griggs is moving down to the 205-pound division after getting dominated by Browne.
