Song Ya-dong (宋亚东). He is a player with a hot name for conquering the ‘East’ of the world, that is, Asia.
Song Ya-dong (25, China), ranked 8th in the UFC bantamweight rankings, will meet Ricky Simon (30, USA), 10th in the UFC Fight Night: Song vs. clash with
Song Ya-dong, the only UFC bantamweight ranker in Asia, is showing off a performance as hot as his name. He is a traditional Chinese martial art kung fu base fighter who KOs opponents in various ways such as punches and elbows.
He has already won 5 awards.
He fought 11 UFC fights (8 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses) and won 4 Performance of the Night bonuses and 1 Fight of the Night bonus. The Performance of the Night is a prize money of about 60 million won (50,000 dollars) given to a player who has a great finish, and the Fight of the Night is given to a player who has a great match.
In particular, the young age of 25 is the best weapon. Song Ya-dong is showing improvement in each fight in the UFC. Although he lost by TKO to Corey Sand Hagan (31, USA) due to an eye injury in the previous fight, he is still considered one of the best prospects in the UFC.
At Media Day held on the 27th, Song Ya-dong reflected on his loss in the last game, saying, “I learned that you shouldn’t take one shot in the first round. You should use more elbows.” He continued, “I’m going to beat Simon this time and fight a top 5 player.”
In order for Song Ya-dong to grow beyond a promising star and become a top 5 fighter in the UFC, he must also know how to attack his opponent.
Song Ya-dong, whose wrestling part is considered a weak point, allowed five takedowns to Cody Staman (31, USA) in 2019 and recorded a draw. At the time, he was practically defeated, but he was evaluated as being lucky in the decision. 메이저놀이터
Simon, who is on a five-fight winning streak, is the best opponent to prove Song Ya-dong’s wrestling skills. He landed 37 takedowns in the UFC bantamweight division. He holds the 2nd-highest number of takedowns in UFC bantamweight history.
Yadong Song said he was better than Simon in everything, including wrestling. He expressed his confidence, “Simon is a tough fighter and a powerful wrestler, but technically, he is mediocre in all areas. My hitting is better than him, and my ground game is better than him. If you want to wrestle, let’s stick together with wrestling.”
Simon, on the other hand, evaluated Songya-dong as less complete. He said, “Song Ya-dong is an explosive fighter, but I don’t think he balances hitting and grounding as well as I do. In the bantamweight class, I don’t think there is a better balance between hitting and grounding than me, so I’m confident in this fight.”
In the co-main event, Kaiu Bohalyu (30, Brazil), a rookie with 12 consecutive victories (UFC 3-0), and Mihau Oleksheychuk (28, Poland) face off.
The UFC Fight Night: Song vs Simon main card will be broadcast live on TVING and tvN SPORTS from 8:00 am on the 30th (Sun).