UFC Fight Night 141: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 - Predictions and Picks

#3 Song Yadong vs. Vince Morales

Song Yadong has two wins in the UFC thus far

Chinese fighters have found success hard to come by in the UFC – remember how badly the two winners of 2014’s The Ultimate Fighter: China ended up doing? But slowly, some of the Chinese talent the UFC has brought in recently have begun to do a little better, and one of those fighters is ‘The Terminator’ Song Yadong.

Yadong currently stands at 2-0 in the UFC, and he’s finished both of his fights in violent fashion. Last November’s event in Beijing saw him drop Indian debutant Bharat Khandare before submitting him with a front choke, and then in June, he took out the far more experienced Brazilian Felipe Arantes with a vicious elbow strike in the waning seconds of the second round.

Now training with Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Yadong is a strong physical specimen at 135lbs and has shown some excellent boxing skills in his UFC career thus far, as he tagged both Khandare and Arantes with quick counterpunches throughout both fights. His grappling also looked on point against Arantes, as he stuffed the Brazilian’s takedowns and secured top control, where he did a fair amount of damage, too.

Interestingly enough, he was initially pegged to take on a former top ten contender in Frankie Saenz here, but when Saenz dropped with an injury, the UFC brought in Morales as a late replacement. ‘Vandetta’ is taking this fight on around 3 weeks’ notice; not exactly a great amount of time to prepare for a UFC debut on enemy turf.

Morales – currently at 8-2 – was first unearthed by the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier this year, but after losing his fight on the show he picked up a win in Bellator before returning for this match. His fight on the Contender Series saw him fight passively early on, but he was able to drop opponent Domingo Pilarte late in the first round and almost put him away. The second round, however, saw him fight more aggressively, and this allowed Pilarte to secure a takedown and from there, choke Morales completely unconscious.

This is a tough fight to call given both men are still largely unproven at the UFC level, but I’m leaning slightly towards Yadong; he’s had more preparation time, will be fighting at home, and his strong counterpunches could work well for him if Morales comes out aggressively, which could be expected. I’m envisioning an exciting fight with Yadong probably coming out on top as Morales tires down the final stretch.

The Pick: Yadong via unanimous decision