Featherweights
Jeong Yeong Lee (10-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Blake Bilder (8-1-1, 1-1 UFC)Two entertaining prospects each look to prove something here. South Korea’s Lee won the “Road to UFC” featherweight tournament just short of a year ago, mostly on the back of a style that saw him consistently step forward and hunt for the knockout. However, Lee’s results during the tournament ran the gamut. He scored an armbar submission and a knockout each in less than a minute, then won the final in an ugly decision that saw him get outwrestled but manage to land the only real offense of the fight. It is a group of showings that make it hard to know exactly what to expect from “The Korean Tiger” when he hits the big time, and Bilder is a solid first test towards that end, even as “El Animal” tries to make his own game work.
A late comer to mixed martial arts, Bilder has an approach held together almost completely by his elite athleticism. Bilder is typically aimless over the course of his fights but manages to land big offensive moments and has an excellent finishing instinct, blitzing his opponents as soon as they appear to be on the ropes. Bilder managed to string together enough offense to win his UFC debut over Shane Young via decision, but his sophomore effort against Kyle Nelson—a fight with much more athletic parity—was a bit of a rude awakening, as he never worked his way into a strong position and mostly just coasted to a loss. Anything is on the table here, particularly since each man has some questions that the other is likely to test. Lee is more willing to throw down than any of Bilder’s previous opponents; Bilder’s mobile striking game serves to be more frustrating than Lee’s other competition. The narrow lean is that Lee can make enough chaos happen to land the more effective offense of the fight, particularly in terms of volume. However, even that is dependent on his ability to keep up a pace for 15 minutes. The pick is Lee via decision.
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