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Report: Volkanovski-Jung, Sterling-Yan 2 set for UFC 273

Chris Unger / UFC / Getty

Alexander Volkanovski will defend the UFC featherweight title against Chan Sung Jung in the UFC 273 main event on April 9, according to MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.

The rematch between bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and interim champ Petr Yan has been moved to UFC 273 from UFC 272 and will serve as the event's co-feature, Helwani reports.

Volkanovski was originally scheduled to defend his belt in a trilogy bout against Max Holloway at UFC 272 on March 5, but Holloway withdrew last week after aggravating a prior injury.

It's unclear why Sterling-Yan was pushed back to the April pay-per-view card.

Volkanovski is coming off a win over Brian Ortega last September in a "Fight of the Year" candidate, which served as his second title defense. He beat Holloway in 2019 to win the belt and then defended it against Holloway in 2020.

Jung, better known as "The Korean Zombie," defeated Dan Ige in a UFC main event last June to bounce back from a one-sided loss to Ortega in October 2020. He's won three of his last four fights.

Sterling took the 135-pound title from Yan in a controversial March 2021 bout when Yan was disqualified for landing an illegal knee in the fourth round. Sterling, who underwent neck surgery the following month, has been out of action since that win.

The rematch was initially set for UFC 267 in October, but the champ wasn't medically cleared and Yan went on to defeat Cory Sandhagen for the interim belt at the same event.

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