Frankie Edgar reacts after booking short-notice fight with The Korean Zombie – BJPenn.com

Frankie Edgar released a statement after it was confirmed he will replace Brian Ortega and fight Chan Sung Jung on Saturday December 21 at UFC Fight Night 165.

Ortega was scheduled to face The Korean Zombie in the main event of UFC Busan. ESPNs Ariel Helwani reported that the Californian was out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury.

It has since been revealed that Ortega suffered a partially torn ACL.

I tore my ACL in training and I wont be fighting in Korea, Ortega said (via TMZ).

Thankfully it was only a partial tear so Im already rehabbing it and the plan is to be back to 100% in 2-3 months.

Ortega said he was willing to fight through the pain as he didnt want to let fans down. However, his doctor had the final say.

I didnt want to let down the fans, the Zombie and the UFC so I strongly considered pushing through it and fighting anyways, but according to the doctors, the risk of a full rupture in the fight was high and that would put me out for up to a year.

Sorry guys I gotta take care of this right now, but Ill make it up to all of you 2020 I promise.

As soon as potential replacements began circulating, Frankie Edgar was named as the frontrunner. Despite preparing for a bantamweight bout against Cory Sandhagen, UFC officials announced hed get the opportunity.

Edgar is currently preparing for his bantamweight debut against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Raleigh on January, but wanted the opportunity to face Jung first. Now, the former UFC champion will postpone his weight cut to fight The Korean Zombie in a featherweight bout.

Heres how Edgar responded to the last-minute news.

If the plan doesnt work, change the plan but never the goal!

His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, also responded to the news:

Ive been managing this guy for 10 years and every time the phone rings he answers. I want to thank ufc, sean Shelby and Dana for the opportunity. And also the Korean Zombie & his team.

This article first appeared onBJPENN.comon 12/6/2019.

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Frankie Edgar reacts after booking short-notice fight with The Korean Zombie - BJPenn.com

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