John McCarthy believes Alexander Volkanovski will have the edge in his upcoming title fight with 'The Korean Zombie'
John McCarthy has asserted that Alexander Volkanovski will have the advantage heading into his upcoming fight against Chan Sung Jung aka ‘The Korean Zombie'.
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski was scheduled to defend his title against Max Holloway at UFC 272 on March 5th. The fight would’ve marked the third meeting between Volkanovski and Holloway. However, the matchup fell apart after Holloway withdrew due to an injury.
It was subsequently revealed that Volkanovski will defend his title against ‘The Korean Zombie’ instead. The fight will now take place at UFC 273 on April 9th.
Both Volkanovski and his Korean counterpart have been willing to fight one another ever since Holloway was taken out of the equation. Needless to say, with the matchup being expected to transpire at UFC 273, Australia’s Volkanovski and ‘The Korean Zombie’ seem primed to give it their all.
On that note, former MMA referee John McCarthy has suggested that Volkanovski is likelier to emerge victorious in this fight. On the Weighing In podcast, McCarthy and co-host Josh Thomson indicated that the champion’s speed, reach, wrestling, leg kicks, and other attributes would trump ‘The Korean Zombie’s’ toughness.
“Not an easy fight,” John McCarthy said. Josh Thomson chimed in by saying that it is kind of an easy stylistic matchup for Volkanovski. McCarthy responded by stating, “Stylistically, it matches up well for Volkanovski. But it’s not an easy fight.”
Watch John McCarthy and Josh Thomson discuss the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chan Sung Jung matchup and more in the video below:
Alexander Volkanovski on Max Holloway possibly being “scared” of facing him in a trilogy fight
Back in November 2021, Max Holloway picked up a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Yair Rodriguez in what was believed to be a number-one contender’s matchup. The consensus was that by beating Rodriguez, Holloway had earned himself a shot at Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC featherweight belt.
Regardless, ‘Blessed’ went on to insinuate that he'd set aside a shot at the belt and would rather fight MMA megastar Conor McGregor in 2022. This, in turn, elicited a stinging jibe from Volkanovski, who already holds a pair of decision wins over Holloway.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Volkanovski claimed that Holloway is afraid of tarnishing his legacy by losing to him thrice. 'The Great' said:
“Am I saying he’s scared? Maybe,” Volkanovski claimed. “You fight me again, and lose, and go zero and three against me in the featherweight division in your prime – Max in his prime – You talk about legacy? Your name isn’t in GOAT [Greatest Of All Time] conversations anymore.”