Just a matter of a week ago, it seemed as if there were no real threats to UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo.

Aldo has seemingly cleaned out the division and is now preparing to face Erik Koch at UFC 149 later this year.

But, on Tuesday, some light may have been shed on the featherweight tunnel.

Chan Sung Jung put on the best performance of his career in a fourth-round submission win over Dustin Poirier.

Long thought of as just a bit of a novelty act, Jung had made a name for himself for being able to take a beating and keep coming forward, hence the name “The Korean Zombie”. Nobody really thought of him as a legit title contender.

But, on Tuesday night in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 3, Jung showed great all-around skills and some of the slickest jiu-jitsu I have seen in a fight in quite sometime.

Jung had tremendous transitions, great execution, and he also mixed up his striking to include leg kicks and knees. It was clear that Jung has improved a great deal since joining the UFC, where he is now 3-0.

While he still needs to keep improving to beat the likes of Aldo, he does present one thing that Aldo’s opponents haven’t seemed to possess, and that is the ability to press the action.

Most of Aldo’s opponents have been very tentative against the champion and have tried to react to what Aldo does as opposed to making him react to what they do.

That won’t be an issue with Jung. He is going to fall on his sword and go with his style, win or lose. I think he could possess a real threat to Aldo because he will be able to eat some punches and kicks and keep coming forward. If the fight goes to the ground, it is hard to see anyone really out-working Jung.

Kenny Florian may have put it best on the broadcast when he said Jung “is always throwing finishing moves at you.” All of his strikes have the intent to end the fight and on the ground, he is always pursuing a submission. He doesn’t give his opponents a chance to relax.

The one area Jung may need to improve is his conditioning, but he will have a while to do that before facing Aldo. I think fans would get behind an Aldo vs. Jung bout as well, at least a lot more than Aldo vs. Koch.

UFC Fight Night 25 takes place on Saturday night from New Orleans with a solid card of four free fights.

Here is a look at which fighters I like on Saturday, and why.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Jake Shields (26-5-1) vs. Jake Ellenberger (25-5) – Shields is coming off the loss of his father, which may affect his performance, but I think this is his fight to lose. Ellenberger is a rising star and clearly the better striker, but he is taking a big step up in competition. I see Shields being able to work in his takedowns and grappling control to earn a tough decision victory.

UFC Middleweight Bout – Court McGee (12-1) vs. Dongi Yang (10-1) – This is a classic striker vs. grappler match up, and I like the grappler to prevail. Yang has big punching power, but I see McGee getting this fight up against the cage where Yang will be neutralized. From there, look for McGee to grind out a few takedowns and eventually secure a choke in the later rounds.

UFC Featherweight Bout – Jonathan Brookins (13-3) vs. Erik Koch (12-1) – Koch is considered the favorite according to the oddsmakers, but my pick goes with Brookins. He needs a lot of work in his striking, but his grappling takes a back seat to nobody in the division. I see Brookins taking a few punches early, but eventually getting inside Koch and using a judo throw or roll to get the fight to the ground. From there, I expect Brookins to work in a choke to get the win.

UFC Middleweight Bout – Alan Belcher (15-5) vs. Jason MacDonald (26-14) – Belcher makes his return after more than a year off and he has a lot to fight for. He was a rising star in the division prior to his eye injury and he should have the skills to get past MacDonald, who is somewhat one dimensional, with a great submission skill set. Look for Belcher to pick apart MacDonald on his feet and avoid the ground game as he gets a decision win.

Weigh ins for UFC Fight Night 25 took place on Friday night and all of the main event fighters made weight for the card.

In the main event, welterweights Jake Shields (171) and Jake Ellenberger (170) came in on weight. The two are both fighting for a top-5 spot in a very stacked 170-pound division. Shields is hoping to bounce back after a loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129, while Jake Ellenberger is taking on the biggest challenge of his MMA career.

In the co-main event, Court McGee (184.5) and Dongi Yang (186) came in on weight for the 186-pound limit. This fight lacks some name power, but the UFC must feel they will put on a good show. Both guys leave it all in the cage, with Yang being an explosive striker and McGee being a relentless grappler that likes to scrap on occasion. McGee would be wise to stick to making this an ugly fight in hopes of avoiding a big knockout punch.

For full weigh-in results for Saturday’s card, check out the jump. Results are courtesy of Sherdog.com.

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The rankings schedule has made it way back to featherweight.

Not too much has changed in the division since I last came out with my 145-pound top 10, but we did have some debuts and a mild upset or too.

Here is a look at my latest top 10 for the featherweight division.

1. Jose Aldo (19-1) – Aldo is the champion and awaits his next opponent. It looks to be Kenny Florian, but a date and location have yet to be set. Aldo showed some signs of vulnerability against Mark Hominick, but still dominated a great deal of their 25-minute fight. Florian will need to be on top of his game to take Aldo’s title.

2. Chad Mendes (10-0) – The wrestling master has been labeled the No. 1 contender for Aldo, but he opted not to wait for the champion to heal up with some injuries and will now take on Rani Yahya at UFC 133, with his title shot on the line. Mendes likely has the grappling edge in this one, but will have to avoid the slick submissions of Yahya.

3. Kenny Florian (14-5) – Florian won his featherweight debut over Diego Nunes and now appears to be in line for a title shot. Florian didn’t look his best, but the first fight at a lower weight class is always the toughest. Florian will have a strong game plan to fight Aldo, the question will be if he can execute it?

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