Frankie Edgar named as frontrunner to replace Ortega against ‘Korean Zombie’

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar could be looking at a busy few weeks.

Last night, we were hit with the unfortunate news that recent featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega has been forced out of his fan-friendly showdown with “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, which was tapped to headline the UFC’s debut in Busan, South Korea on December 21.

According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Edgar is currently the frontrunner to replace Ortega against the Korean Zombie.

Edgar, of course, was expected to make his debut in the bantamweight division at UFC Raleigh on January 25 of the new year. According to Helwani’s report, the hope is that Edgar can step in and save the day against the Korean Zombie, then drop down to bantamweight to fight Sandhagen just over a month later as planned.

It seems extremely unlikely that that happens, but here we are.

Frankie Edgar is the frontrunner to replace Brian Ortega versus Chan Sung Jung on Dec. 21, sources say. Looking good. Yes, he’s scheduled to fight Cory Sandhagen next month, but UFC is hoping to keep the fight in tact, too. They would have to assess after the South Korea fight.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 5, 2019

“Frankie Edgar is the frontrunner to replace Brian Ortega versus Chan Sung Jung on Dec. 21, sources say. Looking good. Yes, he’s scheduled to fight Cory Sandhagen next month, but UFC is hoping to keep the fight in tact, too. They would have to assess after the South Korea fight.” – Ariel Helwani on Twitter.

Frankie Edgar and The Korean Zombie were briefly scheduled to meet in November of 2018. Unfortunately, Edgar was forced out of this fight with bicep injury.

Edgar last fought this summer, when he was defeated by reigning UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway by decision. In his next most recent fights, he defeated Cub Swanson by decision, and lost to Ortega by knockout.

The Korean Zombie, meanwhile, is riding the momentum of a knockout win over Renato Moicano. In his next most recent fight, he was on the receiving end of a 2018 Knockout of the Year contender in a fight with Yair Rodriguez.

Do you think Frankie Edgar is a good replacement for Brian Ortega?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/5/2019.