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UFC 273 will take place this Saturday live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The highly anticipated event features a featherweight championship bout between reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Chan Sung Jung. Volkanovski was originally scheduled to defend against former champion Max Holloway, but Holloway was forced to withdraw due to injury.
In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will make his first title defense against interim champion Petr Yan. This will be a rematch of last year’s title bout which ended in controversial fashion. The title unification bout is an intriguing matchup that will surely provide clarity for the bantamweight division going forward.
Another highly anticipated bout is Khamzat "Borz" Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns. "Borz" has become increasingly popular and has many fans speculating that a win over Burns could earn him a title shot. This list will look at five questions that could be answered at UFC 273.
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#5) Will Jairzinho Rozenstruik get back into the top five of the UFC heavyweight division?
Jairzinho Rozenstruik is in an interesting position in the UFC’s heavyweight division. He is currently the No. 8 ranked heavyweight in the promotion and is looking to get back into the top five. The former kickboxer began his MMA career with an unbeaten 10-0 record. But his unbeaten streak came to an end in 2020, when he was knocked out by current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
"Bigi Boy" has since split wins and losses in his past five fights and has slightly dropped in the rankings. He is coming off a unanimous decision loss to No. 4 ranked heavyweight Curtis Blaydes. If Rozenstruik was to get back into the top five, he will need an impressive performance against Marcin Tybura this Saturday.
Despite the unanimous decision loss in his most recent fight with Blaydes, Rozenstruik isn’t a fighter to take lightly. He has serious knockout power that has carried over from his kickboxing career and has won 11 of his 12 MMA fights via KO/TKO.
#4) Will Mackenzie Dern get back into the title picture in the UFC strawweight division?
Mackenzie Dern will look to get back in the win column at UFC 273 when she takes on Tecia Torres. She is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Marina Rodriguez, which snapped her Four-fight winning streak. It was an entertaining bout that earned both competitors bonuses for Fight of the Night.
Since Dern’s octagon debut in 2018, she has been viewed as a fighter who could eventually become strawweight champion. She is a decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner with an impeccable resume. However, it won’t be an easy task for Dern as Torres is riding a three-fight winning streak.
What makes this matchup unique is that Torres has never been knocked out or submitted in her career. While speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Dern mentioned that she’d like to change that.
“She’s fought so many girls and no-one’s been able to finish her. If I could get that I think that’s definitely a big statement.” - Mackenzie Dern to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
#3) Is Khamzat Chimaev the next UFC welterweight title contender?
Khamzat Chimaev has taken the UFC by storm since debuting in 2020. He submitted John Phillips with a D’Arce choke in the second round to pick up his first win in the octagon. The bout was contested at middleweight and he returned 10 days later at welterweight and finished Rhys McKee in the first round.
"Borz" remained unbeaten as he followed up with quick and decisive victories over Gerald Meerschaert and Li Jingliang. He will face his toughest test to date on Saturday night as he takes on former title challenger Gilbert "Durinho" Burns. Burns is the No. two ranked welterweight and will be looking to derail Chimaev's hype.
This will be a massive opportunity for Chimaev because another decisive win, especially against Burns, could earn him a title shot. Reigning welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is expected to defend against Leon Edwards next. Chimaev could set himself up to fight the winner, or fight in a title eliminator.
#2) Who is the real undisputed UFC bantamweight champion?
UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain "Funk Master" Sterling vs. interim champion Petr "No Mercy" Yan is one of the most intriguing on the card. The two top-ranked bantamweights will look to earn bragging rights as they compete in a title unification bout.
The bout is a rematch of their 2021 meeting, which took place at the UFC Apex last March. It ended in controversial fashion as "No Mercy" was disqualified in the fourth round after an illegal knee to a downed Sterling. "Funk Master" was unable to continue following the knee and the fight was called off and Sterling became the new champion. It was the first and only title to change hands due to disqualification. The loss for Yan as he had been up on the scorecards going into the fourth round.
Sterling hasn’t competed since the DQ win. Yan on the other hand, successfully bounced back from his title loss. He defeated Cory Sandhagen to capture the interim bantamweight championship. Before to his title loss, Yan had wins over John Dodson, Urijah Faber, and Jose Aldo.
#1) Can ‘The Korean Zombie’ pull off the upset and become UFC featherweight champion?
Chan Sung Jung has a great opportunity to pull off an upset when he challenges UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The featherweight champion was originally scheduled to defend the title against Max Holloway in a trilogy bout. But, Holloway was forced to withdraw from the event due to an injury.
"The Korean Zombie" stepped in following Holloway’s injury. Saturday's main event will be Jung's second title shot. His last title shot came in 2013 when he fought then champion Jose Aldo. He was unsuccessful that night as Aldo retained the title after finishing Jung with strikes in the fourth round.
"The Korean Zombie" has made changes this time around, training with former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. Perhaps Jung saw a weakness from Volkanovski's last bout that he could exploit. Training with "Triple C" could help "The Korean Zombie" improve his wrestling and make it more difficult to take him down.
