Bantamweights
Yadong Song (12-3) vs. Vince Morales (8-2)ODDS: Song (-335), Morales (+275)
There is some question about his age, but whether he is 20 or a few years older, Song looks to be the blue-chipper out of the UFC’s most recent wave of Chinese prospects. A strong athlete with knockout power and a solid grappling game, Song’s performances have been the highlights of the UFC’s recent jaunts through Asia. First came a quick knockout of Bharat Khandare in Shanghai, which gave way to a brutal second-round knockout of Felipe Arantes in Singapore on June 23. The Arantes win was extremely impressive for someone with such limited high-level experience. Even if Arantes was physically overmatched, Song being able to press those advantages in a way that left a solid veteran so little to offer is a sign that he is someone to watch. The UFC actually seems to have the right idea when it comes to Song’s matchmaking, as he was initially slated to fight Frankie Saenz, another savvy but not physical grappler. However, with Saenz suffering an injury, “The Terminator” now faces a promotional newcomer in Morales.
Oregon’s Morales is an alum of the most recent season of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, and while he did not win his fight on the series, one victory on the Bellator MMA prelims was all it took for the Tony Fryklund protege to earn his way onto the roster. “Vandetta” is a solid striker who is quick on his feet, and that is his core competency. Even when he has an opportunity to go to the ground, Morales is more than content to keep winning a striking contest, and despite going to a decision in his last win, he has also shown enough knockout power to make that strategy pay off.
Morales is a perfectly fine fighter, if a bit lost among the flood of DWTNCS graduates, so he should at least give Song a fun fight. However, he is also another opponent who is going to be at a physical deficit against Song, and assuming this fight stays on the feet, the Chinese prospect figures to hit the much harder punches. Morales might make Song work to hunt down a finish in a way that Khandare and Arantes did not, but over the course of 15 minutes, Song should be able to hit a fight-ending punch. The pick is Song via second-round knockout.
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