After missing the whole of 2020 due to a knee injury, Nzechukwu has used his first two appearances of 2021 to establish himself as a dangerous up-and-coming threat in the light heavyweight division.
In his first start of the year, the Fortis MMA product was viewed by many as “the guy facing impressive newcomer Carlos Ulberg,” but the Contender Series graduate used that opportunity to introduce himself to a wider audience by knocking out the City Kickboxing representative in one of the most action-packed eight-minute fights you’re ever going to see. A little more than three months later, he spent the opening two rounds of his fight with Danilo Marques playing defense and fending off submission attempts, only to march across the cage to start the third and lay out the Brazilian veteran in 20 seconds, securing a second straight bonus and third consecutive victory overall.
Now 3-1 in the UFC and 9-1 overall, Nzechukwu, like surging contender Magomed Ankalaev, is a late third-round submission loss to Paul Craig away from being undefeated, and closing ground on joining each of those men in the Top 15.
Saturday night, the towering light heavyweight with cinder blocks for hands squares off with Da-un Jung in a clash of emerging talents looking to climb the light heavyweight ranks. It’s a fight between a pair of streaking prospects, and the kind of contest we could look back on in a couple years as a pivotal moment for either of them, or maybe even both, depending on how things shake out.
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If Nzechukwu can secure a third win this year and a fourth straight victory overall, he’ll put himself in prime position to head into 2022 with a great deal of momentum.
