UFC 273 is around the corner and it promises to be one to remember as The UFC is set to return to Jacksonville, Florida, on April 9. The big fight night die-hards have truly been treated to a mouth-watering card filled with amazing bouts. Top of the bill Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski will face off and attempt to defend his title against a former challenger hailing from South Korea; Chan Sung Jung.
Elsewhere bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling will face off against Petr Yan which is sure to be a mouth-watering encounter. The bout will be co-headlining the evening’s festivities in a rematch many are dying to witness after a very dramatic ending the first time around.
In their first outing back at UFC 259 at the UFC Apex Facility Enterprise Nevada, the bout ended 4:29 minutes in round 4 via disqualification with Petr Yan kneeing a downed Aljamain Sterling in the face. The unusual sequence was the way Aljamain reacted to the shot which was no doubt illegal.
However, the theatrical manner in which Aljamain tossed and turned around the cage drew a lot of criticism towards him from fans. Petr Yan has been trolling Aljamain Sterling online for a while which has been great entertainment for the MMA fans and the back and forth online has helped build nice anticipation.
Volkanovski was originally expected to face Max Holloway for the third time, but Holloway was forced to withdraw with an injury. Now, he takes on the “Korean Zombie” as the Aussie looks for his third title defense. Jung bounced back from a loss to Brian Ortega by outpointing Dan Ige in 2021 and has previously fought for the title against Jose Aldo losing in a close fight, only losing because he dislocated his shoulder late in the bout.
That’s not all, as we also have a super intense highly anticipated welterweight showdown between contenders Khamzat Chimaev and UFC veteran Gilbert Burns where 170-pound title implications loom in the dusk.
Chimaev, with four dominant wins to begin his UFC career. Chimaev made his promotional debut in a middleweight bout against John Phillips, on July 16, 2020, at UFC ON ESPN 13. He won the fight via submission in the second round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Since then he has been on a vicious streak ransacking anyone that is put in front of him scoring more quick finishes.
Burns, meanwhile, ripped off six straight wins to earn his shot at friend and training partner Kamaru Usman in 2021 but came up short when he was stopped. He rebounded nicely with a decision win over Stephen Thompson last July.
Below is the complete fight card for UFC 273:
UFC 273 fight card
Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Chan Sung Jung featherweight title
Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling © bantamweight title
Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns, middleweights
Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres, women’s strawweights
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Jared Vanderaa, heavyweights
Raquel Pennington vs. Aspen Ladd, women’s bantamweights
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Marcin Tybura, heavyweights
Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks, welterweights
Mike Malott vs. Mickey Gall, welterweights
Anthony Hernandez vs. Josh Fremd, welterweights
Julio Arce vs. Daniel Santos, bantamweights
Vinc Pichel vs. Mark Madsen, lightweights
Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen, women’s strawweights
How to watch the event in the USA
How to watch the event In the UK
