Song Yadong meets Chris Gutierrez in the men’s bantamweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex are on ESPN+, with the 10 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 7:30 p.m.
Song (20-7-1, 1 NC) has won three of his last four fights, most recently a fifth-round TKO of Ricky Simon in April.
Gutierrez (20-5-2) has lost just once in his last 10 bouts. He beat Alatengheili by unanimous decision in October.
The event originally was scheduled to take place in Shanghai, China, but was moved to Las Vegas.
How to watch the fights
Watch the fights on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.
There’s also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday’s UFC fight card
ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET
Men’s bantamweight: Song Yadong vs. Chris Gutierrez
Light heavyweight: Anthony Smith vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
Men’s flyweight: Sumudaerji vs. Allan Nascimento
Lightweight: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Middleweight: JunYong Park vs. Andre Muniz
ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. ET
Welterweight: Song Kenan vs. Kevin Jousset
Men’s flyweight: HyunSung Park vs. Shannon Ross
Lightweight: Steve Garcia vs. Melquizael Costa
Women’s bantamweight: Luana Santos vs. Stephanie Egger
Catchweight (140 pounds): Daniel Marcos vs. Carlos Vera
Men’s flyweight: Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Hernandez
Strawweight: Rayanne Amanda vs. Talita Alencar
Reed Kuhn’s betting tip
In what is likely to be an entirely standup duel, Gutierrez shows the edge in pure striking metrics. He has superior offensive and defensive striking accuracy and greater power per punch landed. What’s cementing Song as the favorite is likely his youthfulness combined with a significantly tougher strength of schedule, suggesting he’s still on the up and more deserving of main event status. If we discount some of Gutierrez’s striking metrics as being inflated by cruising past lesser talent, can we justify the steep price on Song?
For Kuhn’s suggested bets on the main event and other fights on Saturday’s card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). It also features analysis by Fortis MMA coach Sayif Saud as well as ESPN’s other betting expert, Ian Parker.
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UFC Fight Night picks and best bets: Are the experts backing Song Yadong?
Sources: Song Yadong-Chris Gutierrez tops UFC Shanghai Dec. 9