Song Yadong

He says Umar simply has more ways to win and that he thinks Umar handles it, without placing any hedge on the outcome itself.

Song is rated a solid, high-volume boxer who moves well in and out of the pocket, lands power combinations, and works the body with fast hands -- the analyst calls him the better pure boxer of the two. The clear weakness flagged is that he is sometimes open to counters, and the analyst specifically notes a past opponent has exploited that same gap. His grappling is rated well too, with decent takedowns, decent takedown defense, and the analyst singles out his ability to escape bad positions on the ground as genuinely very good.

Lays out multiple paths to victory for Umar (kicking range, grappling) against Song's one clear advantage (boxing range) before naming the pick with no hedge.

Song is called a solid striker with good volume, good movement in and out of the pocket, good power combinations and fast hands -- called the better pure boxer of the two by a clear margin. He is, however, open to counters at times, which a past opponent is said to have exploited. He's also a good grappler with decent takedowns and takedown defense, and is credited with extremely good scrambling. He fights this main event at home, in front of a supportive crowd.

explicitly says he sees a world where either man wins and gives soft reasons for Song (output, travel/geography, a little more left in the tank), while separately naming Figueiredo as the side he sees betting value on

A solid striker who moves well, keeps his output high, hits with real power and fast hands, and works the midsection, offset by being wide open to counters. His grappling is good: takedowns he rarely needs, scrambling the analyst calls elite, and a takedown defense he explicitly settles on as good rather than great or merely decent.

'For me, that means Ali [O'Malley]' after explicitly weighing which man controls the deciding variable (range vs. pocket), with each fighter's path mapped out rather than left as a bare pick.

A solid, durable pressure-pocket boxer -- good volume, movement and power, strong combinations, good body work and fast hands. His identity is getting inside and trading in the pocket, where he thrives and where his durability lets him absorb a shot to land one back; that approach does leave him open to counters. Grappling is good too, with takedowns and takedown defense both described as decent, though scrambles are where he excels most; analyst doesn't expect much grappling in this one. His stated path to winning is explicitly closing the distance and crashing the pocket on O'Malley.

Picks Cejudo on a wrestling edge and fight IQ, but openly concedes the younger man's striking edge, lists age and two losses as red flags, says 'we don't know' where he is, and leans on the plus-money price.

The analyst's better striker of the two: solid striking with good volume, movement and power, combinations, strong body work and fast hands. He is open to counters at times, dropping a guard after a body shot. His wrestling is decent to pretty good, with decent takedowns and takedown defense and good scrambles, but he is not top tier and has been out-wrestled. He is younger, a prospect-type with a feet advantage, who got to the upper part of the division and then stalled.

Explicitly says both men have the skill to win, then picks Song mainly on momentum and current mental state rather than a clean technical edge, while also calling the fight close and more likely to go to decision.

High-output striker credited with crisp footwork, real punching power and a quick pair of hands, stringing together combinations that target the midsection -- a genuine threat against a cautious, slow-starting opponent -- though he is explicitly vulnerable to counters, a real risk against this particular style. Also rated as the stronger wrestler between the two on paper, with passable takedowns, solid takedown defense and good scrambling. Picked mainly on momentum and current form; the analyst says both fighters have the skill to win and leans toward the younger fighter riding momentum.

He states he is picking Song Yadong as the rightful favorite and repeats the pick twice more, but also lays out a full alternate path where Gutierrez's leg kicks could cripple Song and steal rounds four and five, and separately flags that rising odds on Gutierrez would tempt him to bet the other side for value.

A good-volume, good-movement striker who darts in and out, throws good combinations and works the body persistently -- a damage source the analyst likes specifically because it accumulates over five rounds. He is improving every fight, including a wrestling game that used to be his biggest weakness and is now decent, with good recent takedowns and a quick, reliable ability to get back up when taken down. His main flaw is leaving himself open to counters when he over-commits to his own strikes, though his durability helps mitigate that risk.

The commitment verb sits only at the literal end of the chapter, past an earlier, more conclusive-sounding clause: he calls Simon 'definitely the pick' and says he can 'feel pretty good about it', then the next segment restates the same man as a probable decision winner. He names the opponent's camp/wrestling-training context and fan sentiment, then answers both rather than leaving them hanging.

A well-rounded striker -- real volume, good movement, power, combinations, work to the body -- called the plainly better striker of the two, whose own defense on the feet leaves something to be desired; he absorbs a fair amount in exchanges. His takedown defense is generally fine but is singled out as not quite enough specifically against this opponent's volume, and once controlled he is vulnerable to being pinned there. He has been facing a notably higher level of opposition than tonight's opponent. The analyst also credits him with learning and tightening his striking defense since an earlier, well-known knockout loss.

Same bout, same grade, and the clauses that cap it mostly concern THIS corner. He is picked against, yet the chapter leaves him an explicit live route: this corner "could pull off the upset", and the analyst adds that he "wouldn't be surprised" if it landed. The pick on the other side is conditional on a pick being owed — he gets there only by having to "make a pick" — and is then stated as nothing more than a lean. Twice he tells the audience off the bout, "don't bet on this one" and that he himself "would not place a bet". He also hands THIS corner the power edge, calling it "probably" the greater, which argues against his own pick rather than for it. A coinflip is inert in the blend, and that is the honest reading here: a named side with no firm assertion behind it.

Picked against, but read warmly. 138 MMA describes a hands-first fighter — boxing as the core, a token kicking element and little more — and says the boxing is what Song's reputation is built on. He makes a lot of the mileage: a deep professional record for a 24-year-old, which he puts at around 26 fights, and a record he calls solid for that age, with a career still ahead of him. On power he gives Song the nod, locating it in the hands and calling it probably the heavier of the two, against an opponent whose power lives in the legs. He concedes Song can grapple without seeking it. The reason he picks the other way is not a flaw he finds here but a resume gap he credits across the cage — five-round and title-level experience — and he says outright that Song can win and that he would not bet the bout.