Frankie Edgar Out Of UFC Denver Main Event Against Chan Sung Jung Due To An Injury
UFC Fight Night 139 is set to take place on Nov. 10, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado and this will be the UFC’s 25th Anniversary show. The main headliner originally slated between former UFC champion Frankie Edgar and Chan Sung Jung, aka “The Korean Zombie.”
However, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Edgar forced to pull out of his main headliner bout after injuring his left bicep, good thing he doesn’t require surgery. Edgar is hoping to make a come back in a few months and would like to fight as early in January of 2019. UFC was quick to find a replacement as featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez will step in on short notice to face Jung.
Breaking: Frankie Edgar out of UFC Fight Night on Nov. 10 in Denver against Korean Zombie … Yair Rodriguez in, on short notice, per Dana White. Full story coming to ESPN shortly.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 27, 2018
As @arielhelwani added to Edgar/KZ/Yair story, Edgar is not expected to require surgery on bicep injury. I’m told he’s even optimistic he could fight on a card as soon as Jan. 19.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 27, 2018
Rodriguez (10-2) didn’t set foot inside the Octagon since losing the bout to Edgar back in May 2017. “El Pantera” was initially slated to face Zabit Magomedsharipov at UFC 228 in September but had to pull out due to injury.
Rodriguez was almost on the verge of being cut by promotion due to of turning down fights. Ultimately, the UFC and Yair handshake and make up things, and he’s now doing promotion a huge favor by agreeing to face a tough opponent on short notice.
Jung who last fought back in February of 2017, when he knocked out Dennis Bermudez. Before this bout, ‘Korean Zombie’ had almost four years of lay off, then needed a knee surgery which he injured during Bermudez fight that sidelined him for nearly a year. Now he’s looking to make his way back to featherweight rankings to an eventual second career title shot.
UFC Denver co-main event features a welterweight showdown between Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and Mike Perry.