UFC Houston takes place at the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas where fan favourite “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung returns after a three-year hiatus to face fellow featherweight Dennis Bermudez in Saturday night’s main event.
There’s plenty of returning fighters and new faces on show at UFC Fight Night 104 this week, and although the card may lack in star power, that doesn’t necessarily mean less entertainment. First, Something Old where we look at those fighters who we may have forgotten in their time away from the Octagon. And then Something New where we look at those making their first UFC appearances.
Something Old at UFC Houston
“The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung (13-4) – Featherweight
After serving his mandatory two years of South Korean military service, Chan Sung Jung returns to the UFC for the first time since losing to featherweight champion Jose Aldo in a title fight at UFC 163 in August 2013. He looks to quickly return to the 145lb rankings with a win over Dennis Bermudez at UFC Houston.
Affectionately known as “The Korean Zombie” due to his ability to take punishment while continuing to move forward and deliver his own, Jung started his professional career in 2007 fighting under the Sengoku and DEEP banners before moving Stateside to fight for WEC where he would come to the attention of fans with ‘Fight of the Night’ performances despite losing his first two bouts.
Arriving in the UFC, he would quickly become a fan favourite with a trio of exciting wins, including a rarely seen Twister submission and a win over Dustin Poirier. This fired the South Korean into the title fight with Aldo where he lost by TKO after dislocating his shoulder.
Still only 29, Jung has plenty of time to prove he is as good as he ever was and put himself back into the title mix where a rematch with Aldo could eventually materialise.
Angela “Overkill” Hill (6-2) – Women’s Strawweight
Invicta FC Strawweight champion Angela Hill will return to the UFC this week for the first time since October 2015 when she separated from the promotion after a defeat to Rose Namajunas at UFC 192.
Despite having only made her professional debut in 2014 after a successful spell in kickboxing and with one fight under her belt, Hill was chosen at The Ultimate Fighter 20 open tryouts to enter the competition to find the first UFC Womens’ Strawweight champion but lost in the preliminary round to eventual winner Carla Esparza.
Entering the new division, Hill quickly went 2-2 in the UFC before joining Invicta where she has enjoyed a career resurgence winning the Invicta FC 115lb belt alongside all four of her 2016 fights.
Now returning to face Felice Herrig at UFC Houston, Hill will look to take advantage of her second chance and show that she’s now developed enough to be a major player in the 115lb division.
Something New at UFC Houston
Volkan “Cousin” Oezdemir (12-1) – Light-Heavyweight
Relatively unknown other than for a short spell in Bellator that saw him go 1-1, Swiss fighter Volkan Oezdemir has landed in the UFC on short notice, replacing the injured Jan Blachowicz and will face Ovince St. Preux at UFC Fight Night 104.
Having a lot of success around the European regional circuit, the light-heavyweight powerhouse has finished nine of his twelve victories by knockout with his sole defeat coming at the hands of Kelly Anundson at Bellator 115 in 2014.
The Blackzillians fighter is a proven knockout artist and certainly stands a chance against OSP who has been out of sorts since his loss to Jon Jones.
Marcel Fortuna (8-1) – Heavyweight
Last seen losing to Cory Hendricks in the preliminary rounds of TUF 23, Marcel Fortuna will look for redemption as he receives his second shot at the big time by moving up to heavyweight and facing Anthony Hamilton at UFC Houston.
The Brazilian has competed for his entire career in the United States and has fought almost exclusively at 205lbs and under the Dragon House banner where he became the LHW champion.
Officially on a five fight win streak with the TUF loss factored out, Fortuna is something of a submission specialist, training under Ralph Gracie and has finished five of his eight victories in that way.
Ricardo “Carcacinha” Ramos (9-1) – Bantamweight
After winning his first eight professional fights, Ricardo Ramos had the opportunity to impress Dana White as the UFC President visited Legacy FC with his YouTube show “Looking for a Fight.” With everyone there to watch him face Manny Vasquez for the vacant Bantamweight title in the main event, it would all go wrong for the young Brazilian as he lost in under two minutes by submission.
Fate would strike for Ramos though as the 21-year-old found himself on a New England Fights card which happened to be the location for the start of Season 2 on White’s show. This time the Bantamweight would impress with a submission of his own in the second round.
Facing tough Michinori Tanaka, Ramos will hope to make the most of his debut after an agonising defeat delayed the start of his UFC career.
