Eddie Cha, the head coach of Korean Zombie, says his pupil is looking primed and has more power than ever ahead of his UFC 273 title fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
Volkanovski was originally supposed to face Max Holloway for a third time but the Hawaiian was forced out of the bout and so the UFC quickly shifted to Zombie. Once he got the fight, Cha says Zombie flew right into Arizona and did his entire camp there.
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“He has been here the entire time, this is the best he has looked, I know everyone says that every camp, but he has been dropping sparring partners,” Cha said about Korean Zombie on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “His cardio looks great, everything looks good.”
Since the training camp began, Korean Zombie and his team have prepared for Alexander Volkanovski to try and wrestle him. They think the Aussie will stand and trade but after he gets hit, he will shoot for takedowns.
Yet, Cha says Zombie’s takedown defense has gotten much better since working with Henry Cejudo. With that, they believe Korean Zombie will be able to keep the fight standing and hurt Volkanovski on the feet.
“For sure, Volkanovski mixes his wrestling in really well but Zombie’s pressure and the style he fights forces you to either throw or wrestle,” Cha said. “I can’t give up much of the game plan but we are ready for wherever this takes place…
“It’s huge, we couldn’t get a better partner than Cejudo. He not only has been doing wrestling but has been doing rounds,” Cha later added about Zombie working with Cejudo. “It’s been fun seeing them going at it. In the beginning, Cejudo was saying Volkanovski is super tough and was saying what we wanted to work on and then three weeks in camp, Henry is like he’s going to knock him out.”
Not only does Eddie Cha think Korean Zombie will be able to hurt Volkanovski, but he believes his pupil will find the KO inside two rounds.
“Zombie is a great finisher, he knows when somebody is hurt and will get the job done. He got rocked by Holloway and now disrespect to Holloway but he’s not a KO artist, either, he’s more of a volume guy,” Cha explained. “Zombie’s timing is what makes his power but he also has pop. He can win a decision but I think he can get him out of there quickly. Volkanovski said he was going to get Zombie out of there within three rounds and it’s funny because I think the exact same thing that Zombie will get him out of there within three rounds if not two.”
Should Zombie get the stoppage win, he would become the first UFC champion from Korea which would be massive.
Meanwhile, for Cha, who has been coaching Zombie for years, he says it would be a massive accomplishment for him to be coaching a UFC champ.
“It would be huge, Korea has never had a UFC world champion, Asia, in general, has never had a male UFC champion. He would be the first and that would be something special, I would love for him to see him win the belt,” Zombie said.
Do you think Korean Zombie will KO Alexander Volkanovski?