Preview: UFC Fight Night 165 ‘Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie’

Featherweights

NR | Doo Ho Choi (14-3) vs. NR | Charles Jourdain (9-2)

ODDS: Choi (-280), Jourdain (+240)

Three years ago, “The Korean Superboy” looked like the next rising star at featherweight. He immediately catches the eye due to his combination of an extremely youthful look and an extremely violent fighting style, and after winning his first three UFC fights in a combined four and a half minutes, Choi looked set to become a contender if he beat Cub Swanson at UFC 206. Choi wound up losing the fight, but it still felt like a star-making performance. The two went toe to toe in one of the best fights of the year, and the combination of damage both inflicted and absorbed by Choi established him as must-see viewing the next time he stepped into the Octagon. However, 36 months later, that momentum feels lost. Choi missed all of 2017 due to injury, then lost his lone fight of 2018, as he was broken down and knocked out by the latest iteration of Jeremy Stephens. Choi initially hoped to get in another fight before his mandatory military service kicked in, but that was not in the cards. Thankfully, the UFC heading to Busan gives him a chance to show his wares here against a willing dance partner in Jourdain.

Quebec’s Jourdain was a standout on the Canadian scene before getting the UFC call, and the promotion certainly seems to be setting him up to lose; his debut was a late-notice affair up a weight class against Desmond Green in the latter’s hometown of Rochester, New York, and now he is facing another road game against Choi. Jourdain is an entertaining fighter who, based off his regional work, mostly looks to win wars of attrition. The Canadian is willing to keep moving forward while throwing whatever comes to mind in the hopes that his opponent will eventually tire out or get caught by something unexpected. That did not get much done against Green, but this may be a slightly more forgiving matchup. If nothing else, Choi does not offer the wrestling that has proven to be Jourdain’s kryptonite thus far.

Both of these men are willing to sell out defense in the name of offense, so this should be an absolute banger, but it is difficult not to favor Choi due to his hand speed and power advantages. If the amount of damage taken in the Swanson and Stephens losses has affected Choi’s durability, there is some cause for concern, but this is the Korean’s fight to lose. The pick is Choi via first-round knockout.

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