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UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs Zombie - Feb 4th


wandshogun09

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Houston, we have a Zombie! Yes, Saturday 4th February sees the return to the Octagon of one of the lighter weight classes more popular fighters - The Korean Zombie is back...

 

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FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD

Dennis Bermudez vs Chan Sung Jung

Alexa Grasso vs Felice Herrig

Abel Trujillo vs James Vick

Ovince Saint Preux vs Volkan Oezdemir

Anthony Hamilton vs Marcel Fortuna

Jessica Andrade vs Angela Hill

 

FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS

Adam Milstead vs Curtis Blaydes

Chas Skelly vs Chris Gruetzemacher

Michinori Tanaka vs Ricardo Ramos

Tecia Torres vs Bec Rawlings

 

FIGHT PASS PRELIMS

Alex Morono vs Niko Price

Khalil Rountree vs Daniel Jolly

 

I don't even think that's the final card and I can't wait for this!

 

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Bermudez vs Zombie is ***WAND'S ONE TO WATCH*** here. Fuck it. I usually try and highlight an undercard fight but when a fight like this is on the card I can't go with anything else. This is going to be something else.

 

Bermudez is coming off two wins over Tatsuya Kawajiri and Rony Jason. He's taken a more cautious and safety first approach to those fights but he's a stupidly exciting fighter when he's in with the right opponent. His fight with Jeremy Stephens at UFC 189 was crazy and his war with Matt Grice from 2013 needs to be seen to be believed. One of my favourite fights ever.

 

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The story is this man though. As the poster says THE KOREAN ZOMBIE RISES AGAIN. He hasn't fought in about three and a half years. His last fight was a featherweight title shot against Jose Aldo in August 2013. He didn't do too badly in that fight but he suffered a shoulder injury and Aldo put him away in the fourth round. He had a bunch of injuries coming out of that fight too - the dislocated shoulder plus a broken orbital bone and a fractured foot.

 

He was scheduled for one or two fights in the year or so following the loss to Aldo but he kept getting struck down by injuries. Then he had to step away from MMA altogether for mandatory military service. That shit's done now and the Zombie is back! He's still only 29 as well so there's still time for him to make some noise again.

 

For anyone who wonders what the fuss was about, I point you to his first 3 UFC fights. From March 2011 to May 2012 he fought three times. First he beat Leonard Garcia in their rematch via twister. It was the first and only time to date anyone has pulled off the twister in a UFC fight, and it might well be the last. Such a rare and tricky submission to pull off in an actual fight. Then he knocked out Mark Hominick in 7 seconds. Hominick was a seasoned striker who'd gone five rounds with Aldo earlier that year and Zombie took him out in 7 bastard seconds! Then he submitted Dustin Poirier in what many felt was the 2012 FOTY. Just a wild little run of wins. And that's what bagged him the shot at Aldo. He came up short but for a while there he was perhaps the most popular guy on the roster.

 

Korean Zombie highlight;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=Fq7aDVmEZls

 

It'll be good to see him back in there, and what better time to throw him back into the mix at featherweight? The division is stronger than it's ever been despite McGregor moving to lightweight. Having the KZ back only bolsters the weight class more. They haven't exactly eased him back in giving him Bermudez after three years on the shelf but I believe in the Zombie.

 

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Grasso vs Herrig should be entertaining. Both are mega aggressive, sometimes to their own detriment, so I can't see it being dull in any shape or form. I've made no secret that I can't stand Herrig so I hope Grasso batters her. Grasso has way more upside and a bright future ahead of her and she's way more likeable. Herrig's a crafty vet though so it mightn't be plain sailing for Grasso.

 

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Dunham vs Trujillo is one of those fights you know is going to be a slugfest. They've tried to do this fight a couple of times now and it's fallen apart through injuries. Hopefully it happens this times because it should be fireworks. Dunham is gnarly as fuck and Trujillo is ridiculously powerful and explosive. High hopes for this one.

 

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Torres vs Rawlings is a decent little fight. Like with Herrig, I've always thought Bec Rawlings seems a bit of a cunt. So I'm pulling for Torres to smash her. I think Torres should win this, hopefully she does it in style. She's a good fighter but she's become a little bit of a decision merchant. She could do with a big finish or something to really push her to that next level.

 

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OSP vs Blachowicz I'm neither here nor there on really. Neither fighter excites me much. Could be good I suppose. 205 has to be one of the least interesting divisions in the sport right now though.

 

Only things of note on the rest of the card at first glance are the Chas Skelly and Justin Ledet fights. I've always liked Skelly, he's goofy but he's likeable with a bit of that Matt Riddle vibe IMO. And his submission over Maximo Blanco last time out was one of the best submissions of 2016 easy. And Justin Ledet looked really impressive in his UFC debut.

 

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Plenty to like about this one. I don't want to jinx it but that main event has FOTY contender written all over it.

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The return of the Korean Zombie is by far my most anticipated fight booked so far for 2017. Assuming the military service has kept Zombie close to form (his training for that involved martial arts, didn't it?) then Bermudez is a great test for his return. Just below the top of the division, but high profile enough to where a win would be a big statement. That Poirier win was majorly impressive at the time, but in retrospect even more so given the run Poirier's gone on in his absence. I'd love a world where Zombie gets another crack at Aldo.

 

Alexa Grasso... she showed flashes of awesomeness in her debut against a similarly experienced veteran, but overall seemed a bit tentative. Was it the "Octagon jitters"? Watching what's happened with Paige VanZant, I'm a little worried she's getting fast-tracked to a feature spot because she's young, pretty and marketable. She's obviously very talented but I don't like the idea of her going high profile and getting brought back down before she really gets started. Felice Herrig is experienced enough to give Grasso fits if she's not on her A game.

 

If Zombie's fight is my most anticipated of 2017, Dunham vs. Trujillo is a close second. They've tried to do it for a while, as you said, but I love the idea because I think it can be a statement win for Trujillo. His UFC losses are to Khabib and Ferguson, #1 & #2. He's a scary fucker, and if he can put his outside the cage setbacks behind him, he could be a serious contender IMO. Not many at 155 have his power. But Dunham is no gimme fight. Hasn't finished a fight in a long while but he's still looked outstanding lately.

 

Hope Rawlings gets smashed too. Countrywoman or not, I know a cunt when I see one.

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I am a massive fan of TKZ, but I think Bermudez has this one. I know he has been running his gym back home and has basically been doing office work with his military service. I just think the time off is going to hurt him, especially against someone who has been on a tear recently.

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I've updated the OP as there's been a few changes to this card. Trujillo vs Dunham is off again :( James Vick replaces Dunham. And Jan Blachowicz dropped out so OSP is fighting this Volkan Oezdemir chap.

 

On the plus side, I didn't realise they'd added Jessica Andrade vs Angela Hill to this one. Decent fight and Andrade has got to be close to a title shot now, given the lack of fresh challengers for Jedrzejczyk currently. There's really only Andrade and Michelle Waterson who are new contenders for JJ and coming off wins. An impressive showing here could maybe bag Andrade a title shot.

 

Oh and the Zombie is back next week!

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There aren't many fighters who I would root for ahead of Zombie, but this is one of those occasions..

 

Bermudez really is up there with the most entertaining fighters I've seen. He's solid all around wherever the fight goes and he's just incredible to watch. He's honed it in the past couple of fights due to losing a couple, but he's still fantastic to watch.

 

A win for Bermudez here puts him up there for a number 1 contender fight.

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Yeah, Bermudez is awesome. His fight with Matt Grice is one of my all time favourite fights. The Jeremy Stephens fight is up there as well, that one just got overshadowed because Lawler and MacDonald went out and had the Fight Of The Century straight after.

 

I'm rooting for KZ though. It'd be a shame to see him come back and lose on his return. I think that's what is going to happen though. I'm sure Zombie has been staying in shape but there's a huge difference between being an active person in general and being an active in-form fighter. Bermudez has looked pretty sharp of late and forget fights, he's had a bunch of training camps in the time the Zombie's been away playing GI Jung. The rate at which someone like Bermudez will improve and add to their game camp to camp is something you can't just catch up on.

 

I admire Zombie for taking such a difficult fight after a huge layoff. The man has iron balls. But I think we're all going to be saying on Sunday morning that he probably should've taken an easier fight for his first fight back. BJ Penn would've been ideal. Big name so there's still value in fighting him, but he's shot to bits so very winnable. Plus it'd give him time to get a training camp in and get a fight in to knock the cage rust off before jumping in with a top guy. I suppose he thinks fighting Bermudez is a risk worth taking though, and if he wins it moves him up the featherweight ladder faster.

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If I don't have BT Sport, what is my best option to watch this? Will it be on Fight Pass if I get the free trial?

 

From what I can gather, only the prelims are on fight pass for this one. The main card is BT Sport only. 

I think it gets added to fight pass 48hrs after.

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