Frankie Edgar replaces Ortega against Chan Sung Jung
With Brian Ortega out, Frankie Edgar is in
Earlier today it was announced that Brian Ortega would be unable to compete against “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung on December 21 at the Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea.
Ortega sustained a partial tear of his ACL in training, but the injury will not require surgery.
With the event being headlined by the Korean Zombie in South Korea, UFC officials scrambled to find a replacement. Very early this morning Edgar’s manager Ali Abdelaziz gave clues away that the fight might be headed in Edgar’s direction.
I can’t sleep without giving someone fight news is 4 AM right now 👳🏾♂️
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) December 5, 2019
Please answer the phone https://t.co/s0CjlPVmsu
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) December 5, 2019
“Due to a knee injury, Brian Ortega has been forced to withdraw from his December 21 bout with ‘The Korean Zombie,’ Chan Sung Jung. Stepping in for Ortega in the UFC Fight Night main event in Busan, South Korea, is former world champion Frankie Edgar,” UFC officials stated.
“Edgar is currently preparing for his bantamweight debut against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Raleigh on January, but wanted the opportunity to face Jung first.”
Edgar was booked against Cory Sandhagen at UFC on ESPN+ 24 on Jan. 25 which was scheduled to be at 135-pounds, Edgar’s first UFC cut to bantamweight. Instead, he now faces Jung at 145-pounds. No replacement has been announced to fill the slot against Sandhagen.
UFC on ESPN+ 23 fight card:
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 5 a.m. ET)
Frankie Edgar vs. Chan Sung Jung
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Dooho Choi vs. Charles Jourdain
Da Un Jung vs. Mike Rodriguez
Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Jun Yong Park
Kyung Ho Kang vs. Liu Pingyuan
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 2 a.m. ET)
Tanner Boser vs. Ciryl Gane
Suman Mokhtarian vs. Seungwoo Choi
Dong Hyun Ma vs. Omar Morales
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Matt Schnell
Raoni Barcelos vs. Said Nurmagomedov
Miranda Granger vs. Amanda Lemos
Heili Alateng vs. Ryan Benoit
