5 reasons why UFC 273 could turn out to be an all-time classic event

#2. 'The Korean Zombie' never fails to deliver the goods

Chan Sung Jung never fails to deliver the goods inside the octagon

Alexander Volkanovski is undoubtedly the best featherweight on the planet right now and it’s arguable that he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC, too. The one knock on the Australian, though, might be that his fights rarely end in a finish.

The champ has gone the distance in his last four bouts. While they were all exciting, particularly his most recent one against Brian Ortega, it should be more interesting to see him in action this weekend.

That’s because opponent Chan Sung Jung, better known as ‘The Korean Zombie’, is perhaps the most aggressive fighter in the division. While he isn’t as skilled as Ortega or Max Holloway, he’s likely to look to take the fight to Volkanovski like never before.

Basically, Jung never fails to deliver an exciting fight inside the octagon, with his battles against Yair Rodriguez, Dustin Poirier and Leonard Garcia being widely seen as true classics.

Therefore, if the Korean can take the fight to Volkanovski and force the Aussie into a more violent performance than ever before, we could be in for some real fireworks in this weekend’s headline bout, turning UFC 273 into an instant classic.

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#1. Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns has the aura of a seriously big UFC fight

Khamzat Chimaev's star power has quickly turned his fight with Gilbert Burns into a must-see affair

Over the years, we’ve seen numerous non-title fights in the UFC that were somehow able to completely overshadow the title bouts that they shared an event with, with fights such as Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards immediately coming to mind.

While there’s no guarantee that Khamzat Chimaev’s clash with Gilbert Burns will join those fights, there’s definitely an underlying feeling that this welterweight bout is actually the most intriguing one on offer this weekend.

It’s been years, probably since the rise of McGregor himself, that a prospect garnered quite as much hype as Chimaev is doing right now. If anything, it could be argued that ‘Borz’ is even more of a blue chip, given that he’s only had four fights in the octagon thus far.

This weekend, though, marks his biggest test to date. Burns is not only a former welterweight title challenger, but he’s one of the best 170lbers in the world. He holds victories over Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia, and his last win was a shutout against Stephen Thompson.

It’s still hard to shake off the idea, though, that if one of these fighters produces something special this weekend, it’s going to be Chimaev.

Essentially, we’re going to see ‘Borz’ prove exactly why he’s such a highly-touted fighter, or we’re going to see his hype train come to a crashing end. Either way, this fight is a must-see affair and if it delivers the goods, it could make this weekend’s event into a classic.