UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski delivered the most dominant title defence of his reign with victory over ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung at UFC 273.
Australia’s Volkanovski, 33, looked a class above two-time title challenger Jung as he outboxed and outwrestled his opponent in Jacksonville, Florida.
He stopped him with strikes to earn a fourth-round TKO victory.
Volkanovski started well and earned Jung’s respect with his boxing as he held the upper hand throughout the opening five minutes, then dropped the South Korean in the closing seconds of the round.
The champion wobbled Jung again in round two with a big left hook, then dropped him for second time with a powerful two-punch combination as he took control of the contest through the early rounds.
Jung attempted to battle his way back into contention in round three and enjoyed some success with his counter shots, but Volkanovski’s punches carried too much power for the challenger as he dropped his man for a third time, then came close to finishing him with ground strikes as the horn sounded to end the round.
There was some doubt over whether Jung would be allowed to come out for the fourth round, but after he did, it took just a couple of heavy punches from Volkanovski to force referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the fight just 45 seconds into the round.
It meant that Volkanovski retained his title and extended his remarkable win streak to 21 fights as he improved his record to 24-1.
“I told you before this fight, all week, I said I’m on another level right now,” he said after his win.
“I can’t be stopped, and I just showed you. He actually took a lot more than I wanted him to. I thought they could have stopped it a bit earlier and I started feeling bad in there, but that’s the sport we’re in.”
