UFC on Fox 23 Results: 5 Burning Questions Heading into Fight Night 104

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UFC on Fox 23 is in the books. The results are as follows:

Main Card

• Valentina Shevchenko def. Julianna Pena via second-round submission 
• Jorge Masvidal def. Donald Cerrone via second-round TKO
• Francis Ngannou def. Andrei Arlovski via first-round TKO 
• Jason Knight def. Alex Caceres via second-round submission

Preliminary Card

• Sam Alvey def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Raphael Assuncao def. Aljamain Sterling via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Li Jingliang def. Bobby Nash via second-round TKO
• Jordan Johnson def. Luis Henrique da Silva via unanimous decision
• Eric Spicely def. Alessio Di Chirico via first-round submission
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Jeremy Kimball via first-round TKO
• Alexandre Pantoja def. Eric Shelton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jason Gonzalez def. J.C. Cottrell via first-round submission

Next up? The sneaky-good UFC Fight Night 104 from Houston on Saturday.

The Korean Zombie is back, ladies and gentlemen! Chan-Sung Jung is poised to return to the Octagon and is looking to step right back into the title shot queue at the expense of Dennis Bermudez. That's a tall order for the former contender, but even if he falls short, Jung has a knack for delivering high-octane action for the fans.

That's far from the only fan-friendly bout on this card, though, as Angela Hill returns to the UFC to face apocalypse-bringer Jessica Andrade, Abel Trujillo faces James Vick and much, much more!

So what are the biggest questions heading into the next UFC card? Read on and find out!

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The Fight: Tecia Torres vs. Bec Rawlings
The Real Fight: Tecia Torres vs. Going Unnoticed

The Stakes

Since her days in Invicta FC, Tecia Torres has quietly been one of the best strawweights in MMA. "Quiet," unfortunately, is not an adjective that works well for fighters in terms of her ability to secure high-profile fights. Because of that, Torres finds herself in a tricky situation here.

Coming off a loss to Rose Namajunas, Torres needs a win over the always-tricky Bec Rawlings. If she can't pull it off, her career could suffer an irreparable blow.  

The Question

Can Tecia Torres stay on track?

Analysis

For a little while, many observers looked at Torres as the No. 2 strawweight on the planet. Since joining the UFC, though, she has slowly, steadily slipped into the middle of the pack despite winning the majority of her fights. Skill-wise, she hasn't degraded, but with a less-than-flashy, clinch-heavy style, she has been forgotten in a division where human chainsaws like Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade reign supreme. 

Worse, she owns early wins (in Invicta) over some of the UFC's favored fighters in her division, including Rose Namajunas and Paige VanZant, which makes it easy to wonder if she is in the UFC's doghouse. If that is the case—which it likely is, given how two women she beat (Felice Herrig and Angela Hill) are in the main card, while she is buried in the prelims—she can't afford to lose here.

She faces a tough but manageable opponent in Rawlings. A decisive win will let Torres keep her place in the division. She'll need an emphatic stoppage, however, to regain the momentum she once had in Invicta.

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The Fight: Jessica Andrade vs. Angela Hill
The Real Fight: Jessica Andrade vs. the Quickly Fading Hopes and Dreams of Every 115-Pound Fighter

The Stakes

Jessica Andrade was a solid bantamweight but has looked absolutely terrifying since dropping down to the strawweight division. With wins over Joanne Calderwood and Jessica Penne already in her pocket, she has another opportunity to defeat a top-10 foe in Angela Hill.

The Question

Is anyone capable of stopping Jessica Andrade?

Analysis

When Andrade debuted in the UFC in 2013, it was clear right from the get-go she was undersized at 135 pounds. Even facing less-than-elite competition, Andrade was often outmuscled on the ground and in the clinch en route to ugly losses. While she still accrued a winning record on pure scrappiness (4-3 in the UFC as a bantamweight), she was doomed to middle-of-the-pack status in that division.

She christened her drop to 115 pounds, however, with a face-mangling of former Invicta FC champion Jessica Penne. While that was initially met with some skepticism due to Penne also fighting above her natural weight class, Andrade's thrashing of Calderwood in September left no room for doubt about her status as an elite-level strawweight.

Now looking to extend her winning streak to three, she faces a tough test against the current Invicta FC champ, Hill. If Andrade can score another impressive win, a title shot may be just around the corner.

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The Fight: Ovince Saint Preux vs. Volkan Oezdemir
The Real Fight: Ovince Saint Preux vs. Fast Falls

The Stakes

After he had earned his way into the Top 10 of the light heavyweight division and the UFC's main event scene, the wheels seem to have come off of Ovince Saint Preux's career. Going 1-3 in his last four, the former Scott Coker pet project will likely receive a pink slip if he can't beat UFC newcomer Volkan Oezdemir.

The Question

Can Ovince Saint Preux avoid being released?

Analysis

It's been a sharp decline for OSP over the last 18 months. While the Strikeforce alum has never been an elite-level fighter at 205 pounds, his physical tools and nose for finishes have long kept him along the periphery of the top 10 for years. With stoppage losses to Jimi Manuwa and Glover Teixeira sandwiching a defeat to Jon Jones, however, it's easy to wonder if those days are at an end.

That should become clear in his fight with Oezdemir, a 12-1 slugger from the European circuit.

If Saint Preux fails to score a decisive win, that would slam the door on any attempts to climb back up the rankings. If he takes a big win, though? He would undo a fair bit of the damage done in his recent skid.

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The Fight: Felice Herrig vs. Alexa Grasso
The Real Fight: Alexa Grasso vs. the UFC's Incompetent Matchmaking 

The Stakes

The UFC has high hopes for Mexican strawweight Alexa Grasso. So high, in fact, that she is co-main eventing a card in just her second fight with the promotion! Unfortunately, the UFC hasn't learned from the Paige VanZant debacle and is tossing its (actually talented) young up-and-comer into a risky matchup on a big stage.

The Question

Will Alexa Grasso keep on rollin'?

Analysis

The UFC's matchmaking has undermined the company in a big way over the years. When the UFC had a lean roster and ran 20 shows per year, the cream was afforded the time and space to rise to the top. Today, when shows are forgotten within a week, that just doesn't work. 

A softer touch is required with possible breakout stars, and the UFC seems to know it. It gave Jon Jones time to develop across multiple fights with middling veterans before thrusting him into the title picture. Ronda Rousey's UFC debut came against a largely unranked Liz Carmouche rather than a surging prospect or a top-10 mainstay. Conor McGregor was steered away from wrestlers throughout his early UFC career, a fact detractors still dwell on today. 

Those are the exceptions, though, and while the UFC is willing to give fighters preferential placement on cards, few receive any help from the talent relations office. Grasso is among that lot, and despite the fact she is a talented, quickly developing, marketable young fighter, the UFC is setting her up for failure at UFC Fight Night 104 with a fight against Felice Herrig.

Herrig is no world beater, but with 12 years of kickboxing and MMA experience under her belt, she isn't an easy out for anyone in the division. The comparatively green Grasso will need to be sharp in order to prevail.

If she can't? Well, don't expect her to get a softball in her next outing.

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The Fight: Dennis Bermudez vs. Chan-Sung Jung
The Real Fight: Chan-Sung Jung vs. Another Long Layoff

The Stakes

Chan-Sung Jung is returning to the Octagon after a three-year hiatus, and the fan favorite is jumping into the deep end right away. Set to face perennial contender Dennis Bermudez, Jung is in a high-risk, high-reward position. He will either jump right back into the title picture at 145 pounds or slip into the crowded middle tier of the featherweight division.

The Question

How good is Chan-Sung Jung at this point?

Analysis

Jung has always been a tough fighter to pin down analytically.

His striking is technically bad but puzzlingly accurate and effective. His physical and mental tools are beyond question, but he is injury-prone. His biggest wins have been sights to behold, but his losses have been hard to stomach.

On his propensity for delivering exciting contests alone, he's a must-watch, but all those "buts" have kept him out of the pound-for-pound discussion throughout his career. What's more, the featherweight division of 2017 is different from the one Jung left behind in 2014, where fighters like Dennis Siver, Erik Koch and Ross Pearson were all Top 10 names. 

Because of that, it's easy to feel bearish about this second act to the Korean Zombie's career. Still, it's hard not to get excited about the return of one of the most exciting talents in MMA history.