I just can’t pick a winner here, since 1) these are my two favourite fighters at 135 (and bantamweight is my favourite division) and 2) it really is a fantastic matchup and a very tough one to predict.
I suppose that I’d prefer Yan to win, since he probably needs it more, but Yadong is such a dynamic, heavy-hitting and entertaining prospect, this would be a huge win and would probably catapult him to the top 5, where he’d likely be one big win away from a title shot. I’d love to see him rematch Sandhagen, I thought he was doing well until he got cut, to me he looked like the improved fighter in that fight, but things did seem to go downhill once blood started pouring in his eyes.
This is a fantastic matchup!