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#5 Bantamweight: Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera

Marlon Vera is one of the UFC's most exciting fighters

This Bantamweight clash is to me the best fight on the card outside of the main event. Both men are on solid unbeaten streaks, and more to the point, they’re both massively exciting to watch as well. And given this is a battle between the #13 ranked and #14 ranked fighters in the division, the winner could well be considered a genuine contender.

Vera emerged from the first season of TUF: Latin America and like the majority of his castmates, quickly established himself as a high-end action fighter in the UFC proper. Unlike most of his castmates though, ‘Chito’ has been able to display genuine flashes of elite-level potential.

The native of Ecuador was always a venomous grappler, but over his years in the Octagon he’s also developed a very nasty striking game. We’ve seen him take out opponents with head kicks, body shots, standing and on the ground, and while his defense isn’t hugely strong, he survived 3 rounds with both John Lineker and Douglas Silva de Andrade – hardly the easiest thing to do.

Basically, Vera is the kind of fighter who doesn’t really know how to take a backward step in the Octagon – which is why he’s one of my favourites to watch on the current roster.

Yadong doesn’t have as much UFC experience as his opponent here, but he’s definitely a very dangerous man. A tremendous natural athlete, ‘The Kung Fu Monkey’ has shown himself to be an explosive and hard-hitting striker, brutally finishing off Felipe Arantes and Vera’s fellow TUF castmate Alejandro Perez.

His most recent fight was a draw with the highly rated Cody Stamann; it was a fight Song would’ve won had he not received a point deduction for an illegal knee in the first round, but worryingly, it also saw him largely dominated on the ground in the third round after tiring somewhat.

It was the first time we’d seen the Chinese fighter gas out, though – perhaps due to the fact that Stamann was the first opponent to really draw him into extended grappling sequences.

That’s what has me leaning slightly towards Vera in this one. ‘Chito’ doesn’t have as much pure striking power as Song, but he’s far more rangy and holds a 3” reach advantage over ‘The Kung Fu Monkey’. And judging by the Stamann fight, while he doesn’t have the wrestling of Stamann, he may well hold a grappling advantage overall on the Chinese fighter.

Despite the finishing skills of both men I can see this one going the distance purely because of their toughness, but I think Vera’s got just enough due to his range and excellent groundwork to outpoint Song, assuming he doesn’t get badly hurt early on by one of the Chinese fighter’s bombs.

The Pick: Vera via unanimous decision