Preview: UFC on ESPN 25 ‘Jung vs. Ige’

Featherweights

NR | Seung Woo Choi (9-3, 2-2 UFC) vs. NR | Julian Erosa (25-8, 3-4 UFC)

ODDS: Choi (-150), Erosa (+130)

The third time has certainly been the charm for Erosa. This marks the third time on the UFC roster for “Juicy J,” who has hit the trifecta in terms of paths to get into the promotion, earning contracts via “The Ultimate Fighter” and Dana White’s Contender Series before getting the call as a late-notice replacement roughly a year ago. Erosa’s first two stints inside of the UFC essentially painted him as someone who could succeed on the regional scene but would fall short against better competition. The main issue was that Erosa’s attempts to slickly outmaneuver his opponent defensively just got him knocked out against more athletic and harder-hitting opponents. This most recent UFC run has gone about as well as Erosa could have hoped; the chin held up as he outpaced and wore out Sean Woodson, and he knocked out fellow rugged veteran Nate Landwehr in just 56 seconds with a flying knee. He will go for three straight wins against Korea’s, who has done a good job of turning around his own UFC career.

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“Sting” kicked off his UFC career with two straight losses, though his getting outwrestled by Movsar Evloev and Gavin Tucker resulted in defeats that have aged well in the two years since. In his last two bouts, Choi has gotten the chance to show off his own wares as a tall pressure fighter who can hold his own on the feet and in the clinch, taking clear decision victories against Suman Mokhtarian and Youssef Zalal. This should be an exciting fight, as both men are willing to keep moving forward. Erosa sets the higher pace but eats more offense in return, so it is mostly a matter of whether or not Choi can find a knockout blow before the DWCS alum can wear him out in the later stretches of the fight. Each man’s recent results seem to tip the scale in favor of Erosa’s chin holding up, but this fight is more about the entertainment than the result. The pick is Erosa via decision.

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