Knockdown Daily 1/12/22: Korean Zombie vs. Volkanovski Set For UFC 273

A new featherweight title fight leads the MMA headlines for Wednesday

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s a busy issue, as many big fights have been reported over the past 48 hours.

News

Korean Zombie vs. Volkanovski, Sterling vs. Yan Shifted To UFC 273

A new featherweight title fight and a previously reported bantamweight matchup have been moved to UFC’s April 9th pay-per-view event.

UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski is now scheduled to face Chan Sung Jung, also known as The Korean Zombie, at UFC 273 in three months. The card is also set to include a fight between UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and interim champ Petr Yan.

The matchups join a card that doesn’t have a confirmed location at the moment. The changes were confirmed by reporter Ariel Helwani on Tuesday night.

Volkanovski was originally being targeted to fight Max Holloway in a trilogy bout at UFC 272. However, that fight was later canceled after Holloway pulled out due to an injury.

Zombie, the replacement opponent for Holloway, is getting the matchup after going five rounds against Dan Ige for a unanimous decision win last year.

Zombie will be getting the second title shot of his career. His last championship fight was in 2013 when he was stopped by Jose Aldo.

Volkanovski will be attempting to defend his belt for the second time. His last title fight was in September when he worked to a decision victory over Brian Ortega.

Sterling vs. Yan Moved

The bantamweight unification bout between Sterling and Yan was first set for March but is being moved to this date along with the featherweight fight.

Sterling dethroned Yan in early 2021, as Yan was disqualified in the fourth round of their fight due to an illegal knee.

UFC has struggled to make a rematch between them since then, as numerous bookings have fallen through for various reasons. Yan earned an interim bantamweight last year, putting on a strong performance over Cory Sandhagen.

UFC Targeting Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington For UFC 272 Headliner

Welterweights Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington are being lined up as the new headlining bout for UFC’s March 5th pay-per-view event. The rivalry fight is in the process of being finalized, per a report from Brett Okamoto of ESPN.

Should the fight be made official, it would join UFC 272, which is scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Masvidal and Covington find themselves in a similar position heading into this fight, having both recently lost their rematch fights against UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman.

Covington went five rounds in his recent fight against Usman, losing a unanimous decision by the end.

Masvidal had a more brutal loss last time around, getting knocked out in the second round of a fight last year. The fight was his second consecutive loss to Usman since 2020.

UFC Looking To Book Miesha Tate vs. Lauren Murphy For May 14th Event

Miesha Tate could make her flyweight debut later this year, facing Lauren Murphy at UFC’s May 14th event. News of the potential matchup was first reported by Damon Martin of MMA Fighting on Monday.

The fight has reportedly been verbally agreed upon by both parties, although contracts have not been signed yet. The fight was first targeted for a pay-per-view event in April but was later bumped to a May card.

Tate, a former UFC Bantamweight Champion, made her comeback from retirement last year. After stopping Marion Reneau in July, Tate lost a five-round main event bout against Ketlen Vieira.

Should the booking be finalized, it would mark Tate’s first appearance at the 125-pound weight class.

Murphy’s next bout in the cage will see her try to come back from a title fight loss. She was finished by UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko in September, snapping a five-fight winning streak that she attained on her way to a title fight.

Michel Pereira Given New Opponent, Moved To UFC 270

Michel Pereira is back on the UFC schedule, although he won’t be seen competing this weekend. He is reportedly set to meet promotional newcomer Andre Fialho at UFC’s January 22nd pay-per-view card, per a report from Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.

Pereira was originally scheduled to meet Muslim Salikhov at UFC’s January 15th card. That fight was later thrown out, as Salikhov had to withdraw from the fight.

Pereira and Fialho were first booked for this weekend’s show, although COVID-19 protocols forced the fight to get bumped to UFC 270.

Fialho is joining the UFC roster after a strong 2021 that saw him attain four finish wins. Three of these victories came in the promotion UAE Warriors, with the most recent win being against former UFC fighter Stefan Sekulic.

Now with a new opponent, Pereira will be fighting to move his winning streak to four consecutive bouts. His last win came in July when he went the distance against Niko Price for a unanimous decision win.

Kevin Holland To Meet Alex Oliveira In Welterweight Bout At UFC 272

Kevin Holland will drop down to welterweight for his next appearance, facing Alex Oliveira at UFC’s March 5th pay-per-view event. The recent matchup has joined the UFC 272 lineup, per a report from Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.

Holland has been a regular at middleweight since joining the UFC roster in 2018. He enters the bout searching for his first win in a year. He had an unsuccessful 2021, resulting in two losses and one no contest.

Holland’s last fight was a controversial no-contest result against Kyle Daukaus in October. UFC attempted to re-book the fight later in the year, although an injury to Holland stopped the fight from happening.

Earlier in 2021, Holland lost main event bouts to Marvin Vettori and Derek Brunson. He was one of the hotter names heading into that year, as he attained five consecutive victories in 2020.

The upcoming fight is an important matchup for Oliveira, as he enters it on a three-fight losing streak. He lost twice in 2021, getting submitted by Randy Brown and dropping a decision to Niko Price.

Oliveira has broken a three-fight skid earlier in his career, bouncing back in 2020 after struggling in two previous years.

Bellator Signs RIZIN Standout Tofiq Musayev

Lightweight Tofiq Musayev is heading to Bellator. The former RIZIN tournament winner’s recent signing with the promotion was first reported Monday by Ariel Helwani.

Musayev is joining Bellator with a strong record of 18 wins through 22 bouts. He gained notoriety in recent years due to a strong run in Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN, putting together five consecutive wins between 2018 and 2019.

Musayev most notably won the RIZIN Lightweight Grand Prix in 2019. The bracket saw him defeat two people in one night on New Year’s Eve, stopping UFC alum Johnny Case then beating Bellator fighter Patricky Pitbull later on in the grand final.

Musayev has only been able to compete once since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in part due to travel restrictions placed on Japan, greatly limiting the number of people who can enter the country.

Musayev took a loss in his last fight, getting submitted by RIZIN Lightweight Champion Roberto Satoshi Souza in June.

Bellator Roundup: Three Fights Join Late January Card

The Bellator Roundup has returned to Knockdown News this year. This week, we look at a series of fights that have joined Bellator’s lineup for the first quarter of 2022.

Details on each bout can be read here.

Here are the new matchups and their corresponding dates:

Bellator 273 – 1/29/22 – Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Bout 3: Nikita Mikhailov (8-1) vs. Blaine Shutt (8-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Weber Almeida (5-1) vs. Josh Wright (6-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Lucas Brennan (5-0) vs. Ben Lugo (5-4) (Featherweight)

Bellator 275 – 2/25/22 – 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Bout 7: Brian Moore (14-8) vs. Jornel Lugo (7-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Brett Johns (17-3) vs. Khurshed Kakhorov (8-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Ciaran Clarke (4-0) vs. Abou Tounkara (7-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Fabian Edwards (9-2) vs. Marian Dimitrov (10-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 3: Stefano Paterno (13-4) vs. Luca Poclit (6-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Danni McCormack (5-0) vs. Stephanie Page (5-3) (Strawweight)
Bout 1: Scott Pedersen (1-2) vs. Nathan Kelly (0-0) (Featherweight)

Preview

Invicta FC 45: Zappitella vs. Delboni 2

The rarely showcased atomweight division will take center stage on Wednesday night, as all-women’s MMA promotion Invicta FC will host their first event of the new year. In the main event, a rivalry title fight between Alesha Zappitella and Jessica Delboni will take place. It headlines a free-to-view card that is set to take place in Kansas City, Kansas, USA on Wednesday night.

A preview of all the bouts can be read here.

Here is the lineup:

Main Card (8:00PM EST / 7:00PM CST) (Youtube)
Bout 1: Helen Peralta (4-2) vs. Elise Pone (1-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 2: Katie Saull (3-5) vs. Tamika Jones (1-0) (Atomweight)
Bout 3: Maria Favela (2-1) vs. Sarah Kleczka (2-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Monica Franco (2-0) vs. Hailey Cowan (5-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Ramona Pascual (5-2) vs. Shamir Peshewa (2-0) (Catchweight 150 lbs)
Bout 6: Alesha Zappitella (9-2) vs. Jessica Delboni (11-3) (Invicta FC Atomweight Championship)

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