''UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 104'') was a
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
event held by the
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
on February 4, 2017, at the
Toyota Center
Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in Houston. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it was once the home of the Houston ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
Background
A featherweight bout between
Dennis Bermudez
Dennis Ross Bermudez (born December 13, 1986) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the UFC. Bermudez has been a professional MMA competitor since 2009. He has made a name for himself mainly fig ...
and former
UFC Featherweight Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...
challenger
Chan Sung Jung
Jung Chan-sung ( ko, 정찬성; born March 17, 1987), anglicized as Chan Sung Jung and better known by his ring name The Korean Zombie, is a South Korean professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He currently competes in the Featherweig ...
served as the event headliner.
This was Jung's first bout since August 2013, as he returned from
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
.
A lightweight bout between
Evan Dunham
Evan Neil Dunham (born December 18, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the lightweight division. He is perhaps best known for 21-fight tenure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship which spanned over a decade.
Bac ...
and
Abel Trujillo was originally booked for
UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Johnson. However, Trujillo pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. The fight was later rescheduled for this event.
A women's strawweight bout between
Jéssica Andrade
Jéssica Fernanda da Costa Andrade (born September 25, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. Andrade is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she competes in the women's Flyweight division and is a ...
and
Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Angela Hill
Angela Patrice Hill (born January 12, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She was formerly signed with the Invicta Fighting Championships, of which she was the strawweight champion. She is also ...
was briefly linked to
UFC 207
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
. However the fight never materialized for that event because of a rule in the UFC's anti-doping policy with USADA. Subsequently, Andrade was removed from that card with the pairing left intact and rescheduled to take place at this event.
On January 19, the card suffered multiple changes due to injury:
Evan Dunham
Evan Neil Dunham (born December 18, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the lightweight division. He is perhaps best known for 21-fight tenure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship which spanned over a decade.
Bac ...
and
Johnny Case
Johnny Case (born June 28, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Lightweight division of RIZIN. A professional since 2007, he formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Professional Fighters Leagu ...
pulled out of their respective fights against
Abel Trujillo and
James Vick
James William Vick (born February 23, 1987) is a retired American mixed martial artist and boxer who formerly competed in the welterweight and lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Vick was a cast member of '' The U ...
. Subsequently, Trujillo and Vick were booked to face each other. Also,
Sheldon Westcott
Sheldon Westcott (born August 10, 1985) is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is also known for being a contestant and finalist on The Ultimate Fighter for Te ...
was forced to withdraw from his bout against
Alex Morono
Alexander Quincy Morono (born August 16, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights as a welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2010, Morono has also fought for Legacy ...
at the event. He was replaced by
Niko Price
Nicholas Gordon Price (born September 29, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Background
Born and raised in Cape Coral, Florida, Price attended Marine ...
.
Jan Błachowicz
Jan Maciej Błachowicz (; born 24 February 1983) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Cham ...
was expected to face former interim
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships.
Historical notes
At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...
challenger
Ovince Saint Preux
Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, Saint Preux has also formerly competed for Strikef ...
, but pulled out on January 21 due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer
Volkan Oezdemir
Volkan Oezdemir (born 19 September 1989) is a Swiss professional mixed martial artist and former kickboxing practitioner. He currently competes in the Light heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competi ...
.
Justin Ledet
Justin Wayne Ledet (born September 28, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer who competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2010, he has most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...
was expected to face promotional newcomer Dmitry Sosnovskiy at the event. However, Ledet pulled out of the fight on January 26 allegedly due to an undisclosed injury. Promotion officials elected to remove Sosnovskiy from the card and he will be rescheduled for another event.
At the weigh-ins,
Bec Rawlings
Rebecca Anne Rawlings (born 11 February 1989) is an Australian mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer, who currently competes in the flyweight division. She was ranked as a contender strawweight (106-115 lb) fighter according to the ...
came in at 117.5 lb, 1.5 lb over the women's strawweight limit of 116 lb. As a result, Rawlings was fined 20% of her purse, which went to
Tecia Torres
Tecia Lyn Torres Moncaio (born August 16, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently competing in the strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of October 24, 2022, she is #8 in the UFC women's straww ...
and the bout proceeded as scheduled at catchweight.
Results
Bonus awards
The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:
*Fight of the Night: Jéssica Andrade vs. Angela Hill
*Performance of the Night: Chan Sung Jung and Marcel Fortuna
Aftermath
Niko Price, Curtis Blaydes and Abel Trujillo all tested positive for
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
in in-competition drug tests. All three have been suspended 90 days and fined $1,000 by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), sources said. Despite their test failures for marijuana, none are facing any sanctions from USADA, as it only suspends fighters for cannabis if their drug test comes back with more than 150 ng/ml of the substance’s metabolites. Victories by Price and Blaydes have been overturned to no contests.
On April 5, it was announced that Ledet accepted a four-month USADA's sanction for an anti-doping policy violation following an out-of-competition test conducted on January 12. He tested positive for 5α-androst-1-ene-3α-ol-17-one, a metabolite of
1-testosterone
1-Testosterone (abbreviated and nicknamed as 1-Testo, 1-T), also known as δ1-dihydrotestosterone (δ1-DHT), as well as dihydroboldenone, is a synthetic anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) and a 5α-reduced derivative of boldenone (Δ1-testo ...
and
1-androstenedione. He provided USADA with an open container of a dietary supplement product he was using at the time of the relevant sample collection, which he had also declared on his sample collection paperwork and researched before using. The testing conclusively confirmed that the supplement Ledet was using at the time of his positive test was contaminated with 1-androstenedione. The period of ineligibility began on February 1, 2017, the date on which he was provisionally suspended from competition.
See also
*
List of UFC events
*
2017 in UFC
References
{{UFC Events
UFC Fight Night
February 2017 sports events in the United States
Mixed martial arts in Houston
Sports competitions in Houston
2017 in mixed martial arts
2017 in sports in Texas