Two intriguing fighters in the bantamweight division will be going at it in the main card of UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane this coming Saturday in Houston. Check out our preview of Song Yadong vs, Casey Kenney bantamweight fight along with out prediction for the winner below.
Yadong will be targeting a return to his winning ways after suffering the first loss of his pro MMA career last March at the hands of Kyler Phillips via unanimous decision. Prior to that defeat, Yadong pulled off a unanimous decision victory against Marlon Vera back in May 2020. A striker, Yadong of Team The Terminator can surprise opponents with his skills on the mat. Apart from six knockout victories, Yadong also has a 3-0 submission record, though two of those submission victories happened before he came over to the UFC. He also has a high takedown accuracy of 75 percent, though he is only averaging 0.59 takedowns per 15 minutes. The loss to Phillips hurt Yadong’s goal of climbing up the rankings in the bantamweight division, so he’s putting much more stock on his upcoming fight against Kenney.
Kenney is also looking to have a comeback win after seeing his three-fight win streak get broken by Dominick Cruz back in March. Kenney absorbed a split decision loss at the hands of the former champion. While many people consider 2020 as a miserable, forgettable year, Kenney had some good memories from that time. He went 3-0 in 2020 with wins over Louis Smolka, Helli Alateng, and Nathan wood. Kenney is perhaps more dangerous when the fight is done down on the mat. He has five submission wins against zero losses. That being said, he can also bang standing up. He has two T/KO wins and has not lost a fight via knockout. Expect him to shoot for takedowns early. Kenney is averaging 1.10 takedowns per 15 minutes, albeit on just 39 percent accuracy.
