UFC Fight Night 25 Preview: The Main Card

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Middleweights
Dongi Yang (10-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Court McGee (13-1, 2-0 UFC)

The Matchup: McGee is one of the more promising winners to come off “The Ultimate Fighter” in recent seasons, with a blend of intensity and consistency that suggest a long career at the top level is a real possibility. His grinding attack relies on conditioning and creating the kind of fight that best serves his style: a match with tons of clinching, wrestling and beating on people from every available angle and opening.

Yang, meanwhile, is looking to up his 1-1 UFC record with the most significant win of his career. The aggressive Korean slugger dropped a split decision to Chris Camozzi in his big-show debut and then rebounded to stop Rob Kimmons in his next outing. On paper, this is a tailor-made match created to present McGee with some interesting questions and an element of danger, as Yang can bang and has shown the willingness to do so. An encouraging trait about McGee is that he does not let his ego get in the way of what kind of fight he wages. He will just stick to his game plan and work toward getting his opponent on the ground; that is when the fun begins, at least for him.

McGee has a promising upside, and it will be interesting to see how he looks after his gritty stoppage of veteran Ryan Jensen, who is a stout measuring stick for middleweight talents. He will pick his spots and his eventual shots, getting Yang to the ground and forcing him to exert energy, even if it is not necessarily effective ground-and-pound. McGee can also take shot and has good recuperative powers, so that could make for some exciting moments on the feet. Moreover, he is adept at tossing a solid right hand and closing the gap with it, using that to force a tie-up and takedown.

The Pick: McGee will look like a world-beater in this one, wearing down Yang and scoring increasingly big shots on his way to a third-round knockout.

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