5 burning questions heading into UFC on ESPN 8

MMA Junkie’s Dave Doyle walks you through the five biggest storylines going into the UFC’s third show in eight nights.

Should we just pencil in Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera for ‘Fight of the Night’?

Song Yadong. (USA TODAY Sports)

Sometimes you look over the schedule during a busy stretch and do a double take when you realize you hadn’t even noticed a hell of a scrap has been scheduled.

Such was the case, this writer will admit, with the UFC on ESPN 8 main card opener, a featherweight fight between [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] and [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]. 

How has this fight not gotten more attention? Yadong (15-4-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC), a 22-year old Team Alpha Male competitor by way of China, is undefeated in the UFC at 4-0-1, with a point deduction in a draw against Cody Stamann last time out the only thing keeping the fiery competitor from 5-0. Vera (17-5-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC), for his part, has won five in a row, and took “Performance of the Night” last time out, when he finished Andre Ewell on Oct. 12 at UFC Tampa.

Not only is this fight a contender for someone, or both, to take home an extra $50,000, it has the makings of one in which a new contender is made.