UFC heads to South Korea for Fight Night 165: Edgar vs The Korean Zombie on Saturday, as Sajik Arena in Busan, South Korea, will feature this week’s installment of the Octagon. This is UFC’s first event in South Korea in over four years. Former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar will face Chan Sung Jung, known as The Korean Zombie, in the main event. The co-headliner will pit Volkan Oezdemir against Aleksandar Rakic in a light heavyweight engagement. We have the full fight card for you to review as well as sports betting insights on some of the more intriguing matchups for UFC Fight Night 165.
UFC Fight Night 165 Odds, Preview & Predictions
Saturday is going to be special 👊 #UFCBusan pic.twitter.com/LQHNGQeWkW
— UFC (@ufc) December 18, 2019
- When: Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2:00 am PDT
- Where: Sajik Arena, Dongnae-gu, South Korea
- TV: ESPN+
- Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass
Main Card (ESPN+)
- Frankie Edgar vs Chan Sung Jung (Featherweight)
- Volkan Oezdemir vs Aleksandar Rakic (Light Heavyweight)
- Doo Ho Choi vs Charles Jourdain (Featherweight)
- Da Un Jung vs Mike Rodriguez (Light Heavyweight)
- Jun Yong Park vs Marc-Andre Barriault (Middleweight)
- Kyung Ho Kang vs Liu Pingyuan (Bantamweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
- Ciryl Gane vs Tanner Boser (Heavyweight)
- Seung Woo Choi vs Suman Mokhtarian (Featherweight)
- Dong Hyun Ma vs Omar Antonio Morales Ferrer (Lightweight)
- Alexandre Pantoja vs Matt Schnell (Flyweight)
- Raoni Barcelos vs Said Nurmagomedov (Bantamweight)
- Miranda Granger vs Amanda Lemos (Women’s Strawweight)
- Alateng Heili vs Ryan Benoit (Bantamweight)
Frankie Edgar vs Chan Sung Jung
- UFC Fight Night 165 Odds: Edgar +150 / Jung -180
It features a bit of an enigma in the Korean Zombie. He has been with UFC for eight years but has not fought much; from 2013 to 2017, he had mandatory service in the military that kept him out of the promotion altogether. Given that period of inactivity, one might assume that he has some rust built up. However, after a last second knockout loss against Yair Rodriguez near the end of 2018, he delivered a win via TKO against Renato Moicano in less than a minute back in June.
Edgar is a difficult matchup for Jung for several reasons. First is the fact that Jung had to change his preparation for a different opponent. Second is the toughness that Edgar has shown over the years. Finishing him is all but impossible, which means that Jung will have to plug away for five consecutive rounds to get a win. Jung’s swarm of energy against Moicano in June could carry over against Edgar.
With that said, Edgar does not bring much in the way of deception. He is skilled in striking and boxing, and he also does well on the ground. His cardio is impressive. If Jung can deliver a big blow to slow down Edgar’s movement a bit, then things will go Jung’s way considerably. The longer the fight lasts, the longer Jung will have to stack up the points.
UFC Fight Night 165 Prediction: Jung wins via decision
Volkan Oezdemir vs Aleksandar Rakic
- UFC Fight Night 165 Odds: Oezdemir +125 / Rakic -155
This gives us a pair of big bombers from the light heavyweight division. Oezdemir’s last fight resulted in a TKO victory over Ilir Latifi, ending a three-fight losing streak for the former UFC title challenger. Rakic delivered a head-kick in a knockout of Jimi Manuwa back in June, and a win here would make him a title contender.
Rakic has 12 MMA wins as a pro, with stoppages in ten of them — including two in a row. Of those finishes, eight happened in the first round. Oezdemir also likes to finish fights early, as he showed in knockouts of Manuwa and Misha Cirkunov, both in the first minute of their bouts. He lost to Dominick Reyes in a controversial judges’ decision.M
Oezdemir will be the toughest fighter that Rakic has seen in his MMA career. Both of these men developed as kickboxing, but while Rakic likes to bring both kicks and punches, Oezdemir is a puncher, first and foremost. The ways in which Rakic can employ variety in his game should deliver him a win.
UFC Fight Night 165 Prediction: Rakic wins via knockout
