Breaking: Frankie Edgar out of UFC Fight Night on Nov. 10 in Denver against Korean Zombie … Yair Rodriguez in, on short notice, per Dana White. Full story coming to ESPN shortly.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 27, 2018
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has pulled out of his highly-anticipated featherweight showdown with Chan Sung Jung due to an injury, ESPN reported late Friday.
The consolation prize for fight fans is Yair Rodriguez stepping in to face “Korean Zombie” instead in the main event of UFC Fight Night 139 in Denver next month.
Rodriguez (10-2) will finally return to action following a TKO loss to Edgar back at UFC 211 last year. Contract issues with UFC brass nearly caused “El Pantera” to leave the promotion entirely before the two sides were able to negotiate a new contract.
Meanwhile, fan-favorite “Korean Zombie” (14-4) hasn’t fought since a first-round knockout over Dennis Bermudez back in February 2017. Prior to that, the 31-year-old South Korean native hadn’t fought since 2013 due to mandatory military service in his homeland.
Edgar (23-6-1) rebounded from his first-ever knockout loss to Brian Ortega in March of this year with another win over Cub Swanson a month later in April.
Soon thereafter, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that the injury was to one of Edgar’s biceps, was not expected to require surgery to repair and left the two-division legend optimistic he could fight again as soon as January.
UFC Fight Night 139 takes place on Nov. 10 in Denver, Colorado, as part of the UFC’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of its inaugural event.