Good luck finding a more talent-rich division than bantamweight. Song Yadong and Ricky Simon could be world champions in most promotions, but they meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday to prove they belong alongside the best bantamweights in UFC.
Coach Urijah Faber has touted Song (19-7-1, 1 NC) as the next big thing at bantamweight ever since his Octagon debut in 2017. It's easy to forget that, despite completing 10 UFC fights and holding the No. 8 position in UFC's official rankings, the Chinese fighter is only 25 years old. Song has certainly had an impressive run, going 7-2-1 in the UFC. However, a brutal doctor stoppage loss to Cory Sandhagen in September showed that he still needs to work out kinks before making a run at the elite. Overcoming Simon would go a long way to showing that the potential is still there.
"He's a wrestler and he's pretty strong. He's very explosive," Song told CBS Sports. "I think my striking is better than his. My timing also. Timing is key. I will touch him."
Check out the full interview with Song Yadong below.
Simon (20-3) and his mullet are on their comeback tour. The last time Simon had a fight at this level, he suffered a 46-second TKO loss to a returning Faber. Interestingly, Faber will be in the corner of Song come Fight Night. Following five consecutive wins, including a submission over Jack Shore and a knockout of Raphael Assuncao, it seems that everything is clicking for Simon. A week after the five-year anniversary of Simon's controversial submission win over Merab Dvalishvili, the latter of whom is now on the precipice of a title shot, Simon is brimming with confidence.
"I think it's the best division in the UFC," Simon told CBS Sports. "Not trying to look past Song at all, but with a statement being made on Saturday night I think I have earned it. I know I should be fighting someone in the top five. I've beaten Merab, I've beaten the No. 1 contender. They can't keep having me fight guys backwards [in the rankings]. I need to move up. It's definitely my time and I think I'm the next bantamweight champion."
Check out the full interview with Ricky Simon below.
Song vs. Simon was originally scheduled as the three-round co-main event of UFC Fight Night on April 22. After Arman Tsarukyan vs. Renato Moicano was removed from this Saturday's headline, Song and Simon got the upgrade just days before their originally scheduled fight. It caused complications for both men as they had already started their draining weight cuts. Weight cutting is a very calculated, complicated process in MMA that can have serious health detriments if implemented incorrectly. Fighters usually work toward their target way on a very strict timeline.
"The hard part is cutting weight," Song said. "I was almost done cutting weight, but they said you need one more week. That was hard for me. Everything was cut down. Training, conditioning, boxing, wrestling had all been cut down."
"When you get closer to the fight, you start tapering off of the harder workouts," Simon explained. "You start fuelling your body only for what is really necessary depending on how much weight you need to lose. Adding that extra week means we had to add back in hard workouts when we were already tapering down. We had to bring the calories back up and get some more live workouts. Then bring it back down again. It was a bit of a fluctuation."
The undercard fills out with five more bouts. Caio Borralho is back in a middleweight contest opposite Michael Oleksiejczuk. Rodolfo Viera returns in another middleweight bout against Cody Brundage. Welterweights Julian Erosa and Fernando Padilla are set to scrap it out. Heavyweights Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Waldo Cortes Acosta are sure to bring the heavy artillery. And Josh Quinlan and Trey Waters open up the main card with a welterweight scrap.
Below is the rest of the fight card for Saturday night with the latest odds from Caesars Sportsbook before we get to a prediction and pick on the main event.
UFC Fight Night card, odds
| Favorite | Underdog | Weightclass |
|---|---|---|
| Ricky Simon -125 | Yadong Song +105 | Bantamweight |
| Caio Borralho -370 | Michael Oleksiejczuk +295 | Middleweight |
| Rodolfo Vieira -240 | Cody Brundage +200 | Middleweight |
| Julian Erosa -130 | Fernando Padilla +110 | Welterweight |
| Marcos Rogerio de Lima -180 | Waldo Cortes Acosta +155 | Heavyweight |
| Josh Quinlan -175 | Trey Waters +150 | Welterweight |
UFC Fight Night viewing information
Date: April 27 | Start time: 7 p.m. ET (main card)
Location: UFC Apex - Las Vegas
TV channel: ESPN+
Prediction
Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simon: Simon makes his first UFC main event appearance, but he has the perfect style for five rounds. A gritty wrestler with a seemingly endless gas tank, Simon will push the pace for 25 hard minutes. Simon averages a very impressive 6.55 takedowns per 15 minutes. Song has tremendous wrestling coaches at Team Alpha Male, and he's young enough to make big strides between fights, but he must be completely dialed in. A 71% takedown defense is reasonable, but not reliable enough to fend Simon off.
Simon has also found reliable power in his hands lately, dropping his last two opponents, but Song is a different beast entirely. Song currently sits among the top 10 knockout artists in UFC bantamweight history. Simon has only been dropped twice in the Octagon, but those who delivered the crushing blows -- Faber and Dvalishvili -- are not renowned for their power. Song certainly has areas in this fight where he can win and is young enough to make meaningful improvements from fight to fight, but Simon is in his athletic prime with the wind in his sails. Simon via UD
