The 'Korean Zombie' shoots back at Alexander Volkanovski for denying him an immediate title opportunity
Alexander Volkanovski is now the man calling the shots in the 145-pound division. Due to an injured hand, Alexander The Great won't be available for a title defense until the midway point this year.
Even so, he insisted that he isn't fully interested in an immediate rematch with Max Holloway, believing that he beat him decisively. The fact of the matter is that he wants the top contenders to slug it out early in the year so he has a clear-cut contender by the midway point.
The three names in line are Max Holloway, The "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung, and Zabit Magomedsharipov. With Holloway, it's Dana White who wants to book him in a rematch in Australia. The consensus seems to be that the Korean Zombie should be next in line after knocking out Renato Moicano and Frankie Edgar within minutes of the first round.
Volkanovski said in an interview recently that he wants to fight Chan Sung Jung but doesn't believe that he's done enough to warrant a title shot. He indicated that Zombie and Zabit should fight each other to earn the shot, saying:
“Go earn that spot, none of you are the clear number one contender right now, you are all one fight away!”
The Korean Zombie, who called out Volkanovski after beating Frankie Edgar, responded to the Australian on Instagram, asking him if he was afraid of getting knocked out by The Zombie:
It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. The logical next step would likely be to match-up Zombie against Magomedsharipov or Holloway. However, Holloway is most likely going to wait it out till the middle of the year to get a rematch if that's the direction the UFC wants to go.
However, Chan Sung Jung is undoubtedly a win away from earning a title shot. It'll be interesting to see how the Featherweight division lines up next year.