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#5 Cody Stamann vs. Song Yadong

Could Song Yadong become the UFC's second Chinese champion?

We’ve already seen the UFC crown its first Chinese champion this year; Weili Zhang claimed the Strawweight title by defeating Jessica Andrade, but prior to Zhang’s rise, Song Yadong was probably a fair pick as a potential champion from China too. The heavy-handed striker is 4-0 in the UFC thus far, and most recently knocked out Alejandro Perez in violent fashion in July.

Curiously enough, his opponent here, Stamann, also defeated Perez in his last fight, although he didn’t finish him as Yadong was able to. A gritty competitor, Stamann has largely made his name by being a hard-nosed fighter who’s very tricky to beat and who can grind down his opponents in all areas.

His most impressive performance? Probably the way in which he dealt with a tremendously athletic, dangerous opponent in Tom Duquesnoy – which is relevant to this fight because Yadong is closer to Duquesnoy than any of Stamann’s other opponents.

An explosive athlete, Yadong has more of a fireplug-type build than Duquesnoy despite being an inch taller, but ‘The Kung Fu Monkey’ is certainly similar when it comes to throwing heavy power in his strikes. His knockout of Perez was stunningly brutal, as was his elbow KO of Felipe Arantes in 2018. He also had Vince Morales hurt on a couple of occasions in their fight, although Morales did enough to stay in the fight throughout.

Stamann has never been KO’d in 20 fights, though, which makes this a tricky one for Yadong. If he’s unable to take Stamann out, can he fend him off across three rounds without being dragged into a more grinding affair as Duquesnoy was?

I’m honestly not too sure. We also haven’t seen all that much of Yadong’s ground game, as outside of a front choke submission of the overmatched Bharat Khandare, he just hasn’t had to use it.

That’s a bit worrying given the wrestling game that ‘The Spartan’ brings to the table; Stamann held his own with Aljamain Sterling until he was submitted, and he also largely got the better of veteran Bryan Caraway when they tied up. Can he take Yadong down? I’m not sure, but if he gets a couple of takedowns and imposes his game, the Chinese fighter could end up getting tired.

I’d like to see Yadong win this one as he’s the more exciting prospect going forward, but I just can’t trust him against someone as battle-hardened as Stamann. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him knock Stamann out early, but I’m going with ‘The Spartan’ to wear him down and take a decision.

The Pick: Stamann via unanimous decision