UFC 273 comes on the back of trash talking and threats between the competitors. Teams had to ameliorate their inefficiencies and develop new strategies.
On April 9th at VyStar Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, players will have the opportunity to battle it out physically. UFC 272 provides valuable perspective heading into UFC 273. But theirs is a new challenge that may be the winning card for the team that gets it right.
Here we talk strategy, cards, challenges, dates, and the main fights that headline UFC 273. Let’s get into it.
UFC 272 Recap
As usual, trash talk precedes every UFC match. This year was no different, as the event highlights from T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas showed. Colby Covington promised chaos, and boy did he bring it.
The 25 minutes were the toughest to Covington’s friend turned rival, Jorge Masvidal. The former eked out a chaos-dominated performance that elicited a unanimous decision from the judges.
Also on show was Kevin Holland with the performance of the night. Holland was coming into the match winless in his last three fights. It was a lifeline to bag a victory, and what a way to do it. Holland bagged an extra $50,000 for his exploits in Las Vegas.
Heading Into UFC 273
Rivalries are restocked, and confidence runs high in the veins of our UFC fighters. It is UFC 273 on April 9th, and there will be “nowhere to run,” as Aljamain Sterling, the current bantamweight champion, puts it.
The fourth pay-per-view event is the statement match. Other equally action-packed battles put the second title on the line. We are talking the bantamweight and the featherweight title up for grabs in Florida.
What Are The Main Events of UFC 273?
Featherweight Championship
The pay-per-view offering of the year pits Alexander Volkanovski against Chang Sung Jung, alias the Korean Zombie.
Interestingly, the matchup was to be against Max Holloway. However, the 145-pound titleholder will have to square it out with the Korean Zombie. The two fighters almost match pound for pound, with Sung Jung, a pound heavier and having an inch more reach.
The two are not strangers to cold-blooded fights. Alexander Volkanovski boasts a 20 game winning streak and an overall track record of 23 wins, one loss, and zero stalemates in the short term. The Korean Zombie statistics currently have him at 17 wins, six losses, and zero draws.
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Chang Sung Jung will be the headline event for UFC 273. It will be interesting to see how the wits of the Korean Zombie stack up against the tenacity of Volkanovski.
Bantamweight Championship
The bantamweight title contention packs a punch in terms of rivalry. Petr Yan, “Cheat Rat,” and Aljamain Sterling have an infamous history. Sterling won the title at UFC 259 from Petr Yan after the latter was disqualified for dishing out an illegal knee.
The rare event has widened the rift between the two, with either side not afraid to take a dog at each other. Sterling incessantly mocks Petr Yan for taking the easy way out. He further aggravates the situation by stating how he dominated Petr Yan in their fight.
In equal measure, Petr Yan mocks his American opposite number for making a mountain out of an anthill regarding the ‘illegal’ knee. Yan faces some challenges of his own too. Petr Yan’s first choice cornermen were denied Visas. Yan jokingly claimed he reserved the corner spot for Sean O’ Malley while Henry Cejudo has volunteered. “Get me a booster seat, and I’ll work your corner… you need me,” posted Henry Cejudo on Twitter. There has also been speculation about Khabib Nurmagomedov being the cornerman, but there’s nothing official yet.
Welterweight Championship
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns, that’s the tweet. Burns will face the welterweight sensation Kahmzat Chimaev, one of the best UFC fighters.
Seeking to upset the welterweight champion, Burns has incorporated two Russian fighters in his camp. Will the Russians propel him to victory? Only time will tell.
Burns stated, “I had to hire two wrestlers, two very tough Russians who are helping me daily. They asked to keep their names a secret, and I had to because they are showing me a lot of stuff, changing a lot of stuff in my game … You’d think they are super strong, but they aren’t. They are strong, but their technique is great.”
Where to Watch UFC 273?
UFC 273 is available on pay-per-view and ESPN. Curtain-raiser matches begin as early as March 26th with a heavyweight fight night as Blaydes and Daukaus lock horns in the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
The highly anticipated match of UFC 273 as also covered in this Thai news site is the featherweight championship battle, closely followed by Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling, and the welterweight championship closes out the top three enthralling fights.