Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Henderson vs. Masvidal’

Featherweights

Yui Chul Nam (18-5-1) vs Mike de la Torre (13-5): Nam is a brawler capable of surprising flashes of technical skill. True to his name, “The Korean Bulldozer’s” typical approach to striking is to charge forward slinging heavy leather with both hands. This tactic does leave him open to takedowns and tends to drain the gas tank pretty quickly. As a result, his fights are often very close and difficult to parse: Nam has divided the judges six times. Nam is actually a capable grappler, especially from top position, but he seems to require an entire round to adjust from striking to grappling. De la Torre is perhaps the perfect example of a fighter who, despite tactical intelligence and skill, struggles as the result of an athletic disadvantage. Nam is not exactly like the explosive fighters to whom the John Crouch protégé has lost, but de la Torre’s recent knockout defeat to Maximo Blanco does cast serious doubts on his ability to absorb punishment. Still, with technical takedown defense and a keen eye for openings, I like de la Torre to put some leather on a rapidly fading Nam after surviving a tough first round. He wins by split decision.

Lightweights

Tae Hyun Bang (17-9) vs Leo Kuntz (17-2-1): Bang and Kuntz are essentially boxers with two very different approaches. Bang is mostly a pressure fighter, though a relatively calculated one. He prefers to move forward and create openings for powerful counters. Kuntz, on the other hand, is more of a boxer-puncher, happy to move around at range and sling heavy punches as his opponent moves toward him. Since neither man is much of a grappler, this one should play out on the feet, and Bang has the advantage of variety in that department. Not only does Bang possess better defense, but he also throws solid combinations, while Kuntz is almost entirely right-hand dependent. Bang wins by TKO in round two.

Middleweights

Dongi Yang (12-3) vs Jake Collier (9-2): Yang is a powerhouse. With heavy kicks and punches, he likes to press forward whenever possible, though he tends to counterpunch even when pressuring. He works nicely off of a straight left and powerful left kick and has a diverse array of takedowns from the clinch to complement his come-forward style. Collier has the frame and the skills to box from the outside, but his mindset just will not let him fight without getting into the occasional brawl. Worse, he is nowhere near as durable as Yang, who has eaten genuine knockout punches like candy in numerous fights. The major difference between their styles -- and the one that I expect to decide this fight -- is Collier’s volume of strikes. Yang has the potential to put away Collier, and this is a very close matchup as a result. Barring a thunderbolt head kick like the one with which Vitor Miranda stopped him, Collier has the more consistent approach. He wins by closely contested unanimous decision.

Women’s Strawweights

Seo Hee Ham (15-6) vs Cortney Casey (4-2): The last two women to lose to Joanne Calderwood square off in a battle of technical skill versus physical strength. Despite the nickname, “Hamderlei Silva” really does not pack much of a punch, likely because she rarely sets her feet and frequently floats from one stance to another mid-attack. She knows how to make her awkward style work, though, mixing up her targets and using the full cage to her advantage. By contrast, Casey is a powerful fighter, no doubt aided by the fact that her frame is built for 115 pounds, while Ham is a former atomweight. However, Casey lacks the ringcraft to make her physical gifts consistently effective. Essentially, Ham will be able to control where the fight takes place, while Casey will have many chances to quickly determine how it ends. Count on the more consistent, experienced fighter to get it done. Ham wins by unanimous decision.

Flyweights

Zhikui Yao (2-2) vs Freddy Serrano (2-0): Serrano won his UFC debut by knockout, while Yao lost to Royston Wee. It feels like that should be the end of the discussion regarding these two opponents, but it is not. Spotty as his record has been -- it includes a wholly undeserved “win” over Nolan Ticman -- Yao has real potential. He is strong, quick and appears to be progressing fairly quickly; and at 24, he has far more time and potential to do so than the 34 year-old Serrano. Serrano has a wrestling background but struggled to employ it against Bentley Syler in March, though he could put Yao in some tough spots by feinting takedowns and going to work with punches. Unfortunately, Serrano is not very quick of foot for a flyweight, and though he packs a punch, he lacks the defensive acumen to go toe-to-toe with a firebrand like Yao. The pick is China Top Team’s Yao by unanimous decision.

Bantamweights

Guangyou Ning (5-2-1) vs Marco Beltran (6-3): Wild action fighters meet in this matchup. Neither Ning nor Beltran are particularly technical in their striking approaches, but both make up for a certain amount of wildness. For Ning, the saving grace is his shot selection. The Chinese swarmer mixes up strikes to the head, body and legs quite well, keeping his opponent from picking up on his patterns even when his output begins to slow. Beltran, on the other hand, is simply unwilling to be outstruck. He throws back with evil intent every time an opponent lays hands on him. With a significant reach advantage and a more cohesive ground game, Beltran should have the edge in this scrap. He wins by unanimous decision.

Welterweights

Dominique Steele (13-6) vs Dong Hyun Kim (13-6-3): Steele struggled with the punching power of Zak Cummings in his Octagon debut, so the UFC naturally decided to book the Cincinnati fighter against quite possibly the hardest puncher in the division. Fortunately for Steele, Hyun Gyu Lim pulled out of the bout with an injury and left him with a much more forgiving opponent. No less determined, Kim is less well-rounded than Lim. On the feet, he is dangerous with both hands but remarkably single-minded in his approach, swinging away until his opponent goes down -- or he does. Steele’s vulnerability to strikes will make this a dangerous test, but he should be able to take Kim to the ground, where the Korean’s badly underdeveloped grappling will give Steele the edge. He wins by unanimous decision.

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