News Petr Yan vs Song Yadong in the works to headline UFC China, Dec. 9

[Kaiokenrye24]

Another judging robbery in China?

 

[AmonTobin]

Certified slugfest.

 

[ewww21]

"Yan by murder"

Aka expect a lot of salt when Yan fanboys realize he can't win without getting a few free fouls in first.

 

[kingmob6]

Yan's Manager Sayat Abdurahmanov says that the fight hasn't been offered to them, but they are open to discussion. So this isn't official yet.

 

[StonedLemur]

I think he's got all the skills and physical gifts, just not sure if he's got the fight iq and tactics yet. That said, Petr isn't one who will try to play a point fighting game and out smart song anyways. I slightly favor song

I would say that you're right about the lack of fight IQ and tactics, but Im thinking that all flies out the window the first time Yadong catches Yan.

I think we'll have a street fight at that point lol.

 

[Feniamin]

Also Ilyas Khamzin who is Petr’s friend today said that Yan is concentrated on getting healthy and will not fight until the end of rehabilitation. And that Yan is not training in the gym, he is only there to help Svichev and for lectures for kids.

 

[svmr_db]

 

[svmr_db]

Lol like Adamant posted this fight probably isn't even happening.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Yan's Manager Sayat Abdurahmanov says that the fight hasn't been offered to them, but they are open to discussion. So this isn't official yet.

Classic UFC strong-arm tactics lol.

Leak the match-up in advance so it makes you look like you are ducking if you don't accept - it's just so ridiculous, because its not like Yan is Paolo Costa holding out for more money and cherry-picking opponents, so there is no reason to do this except to force his hand/make him look bad.

Really shows you what being a "company man" gets you these days...

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Also Ilyas Khamzin who is Petr’s friend today said that Yan is concentrated on getting healthy and will not fight until the end of rehabilitation. And that Yan is not training in the gym, he is only there to help Svichev and for lectures for kids.

While some might not like that news I actually find it heartening.

Yan looked the worst I've ever seen him against Merab, and he still defended like 85% of the takedowns, always scrambled up, fought through some terrible stuff (headbutt closing eye, calf kicks hurt him early), but it just didn't look like the Yan I've been watching for years fighting.

He lacked aggression, didn't seem like he understood the style match-up, was always a step behind and seemed unusually slower than normal and not as confident in his set-ups, defenses or attacks.....it was like watching a copy of a copy of Yan, which is still a damn good fighter, but shaded enough in all areas to make guys with elite skills in one area like Merab be able to overwhelm him.

I don't know why he wasn't able to "download the data" because they have tons of tape on Merab and his style and approach are incredibly consistent and predictable, so I was wondering after the fight - did he have a terrible camp? was he injured? did he lose motivation after getting the shit side of the stick against both Aljo and O'Malley?

I know fighters won't disclose their injuries for good reason (opponents will take advantage to attack those), but I would be incredibly curious to learn later what adversities he was dealing with before and during this fight, otherwise I'm kind of at a loss for what happened against Merab.

I mean yes, Merab is very good, but that was the worst I've ever seen Yan look next to the Rivera fight (where he got stung by jellyfish than flew halfway around the world immediately after).

One day at the end of his career hopefully he will feel comfortable to share some insight, because that was honestly just shocking.

 

[Kryptt]

Bah I'm gonna start ignoring announcement threads till actual confirmation.

Bummer as I like this scrap. Ah well....NEXT!

 

[checktheknuckles]

They gonna cut Yan after this loss?

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

Yadong via hometown split

 

[EndlessCritic]

What else is on the card?

Zhang Minyang vs Brendson Riberio -- both guys coming off brutal first round KO's on contender series which were massive upsets.

Sumudaerji vs Nascimento -- Sumudaerji 3-1 in his last 4 coming off one of the most insane fights of all time against Schnell. Nascimento on a 2 fight win streak with extremely crafty grappling.

 

[HHJ]

While some might not like that news I actually find it heartening.

Yan looked the worst I've ever seen him against Merab, and he still defended like 85% of the takedowns, always scrambled up, fought through some terrible stuff (headbutt closing eye, calf kicks hurt him early), but it just didn't look like the Yan I've been watching for years fighting.

He lacked aggression, didn't seem like he understood the style match-up, was always a step behind and seemed unusually slower than normal and not as confident in his set-ups, defenses or attacks.....it was like watching a copy of a copy of Yan, which is still a damn good fighter, but shaded enough in all areas to make guys with elite skills in one area like Merab be able to overwhelm him.

I don't know why he wasn't able to "download the data" because they have tons of tape on Merab and his style and approach are incredibly consistent and predictable, so I was wondering after the fight - did he have a terrible camp? was he injured? did he lose motivation after getting the shit side of the stick against both Aljo and O'Malley?

I know fighters won't disclose their injuries for good reason (opponents will take advantage to attack those), but I would be incredibly curious to learn later what adversities he was dealing with before and during this fight, otherwise I'm kind of at a loss for what happened against Merab.

I mean yes, Merab is very good, but that was the worst I've ever seen Yan look next to the Rivera fight (where he got stung by jellyfish than flew halfway around the world immediately after).

One day at the end of his career hopefully he will feel comfortable to share some insight, because that was honestly just shocking.

Yeah he never quit that fight no matter how grueling it was. If he had something he could do he would have done it. He got lost in there

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

If the fight happens, then Yan needs to win or he will be cut. They said he is not fighting in 2023 though and he is going through a lot of injuries and rehabilitation, and the fight is made up

 

[weaponzero2k2]

finally, a fight Yan can win with his overrated self LOL

 

[HaulParris]

Why are they still giving him killers? they need to feed him a couple of cans before fighting killers again, he will end up like Weidman in no time.

I agree - UFC is intent on giving him the Sexyama treatment, while their pet projects Paddy and McCann get hand-picked opponents (that they still lose to).

I think Yan can beat him. It’s going to be somewhat of a standup brawl which Yan doesn’t mind either.

Dong is a little bigger but he isn’t really a technical fighter anymore. He is somewhat of a TAM basic brawler. It’s my beef with TAM. They have a guy who is an exceptional athlete and can’t really make use of the athlete’s technical skills either.

Agreed, Team Alpha Male is stuck in the past. Their approach to striking hasn't evolved since Faber got dethroned by Mike Brown (except for a brief period when Bang Ludwig was coach). I had high hopes when Kampmann went to coach there (though his own striking defense was not good), but the short time he spent there didn't seem to make a change.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

If Weili vs Yan or any other SW is not the ME. This will be a MASSIVE fail for the UFC.

This CAN’T be the plan for the ME in China? Could it?

 

[Dorkman]

Great match up