WASHINGTON – Song Yadong might be all the hype, but it’s nothing new for [autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag].
In his second UFC fight, Stamann took on one of Europe’s top prospects, Tom Duquesnoy, and was able to put a stop to his 12-fight unbeaten run.
Stamann (18-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) finds himself in a familiar situation in his fight against Yadong (15-4 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 7, since Yadong is another rising prospect.
“Obviously, Song Yadong has a ton of hype behind him, which reminds me so much of the Tom Duquesnoy fight,” Stamann told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “Everything about it: the media, the questions I’m being asked – it’s the same thing. I mean, it’s literally almost like I’m having deja vu and that was the same: 2-1 underdog, fighting a guy who’s supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. But I think people know by now that Americans are the best. We’re the best at MMA. We just are.”
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Stamann is coming off a unanimous decision win over Alejandro Perez at UFC 235 and is off to a 4-1 start in his UFC career. He has only been stopped once in his career – a submission loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 228 – and doesn’t think Yadong will be able to land anything significant on him during the fight.
“Different styles – obviously, Song’s more of a boxer, Tom’s more of a kickboxer, but same thing: both dangerous finishers, both kind of untested when it came to the grappling aspect of MMA,” Stamann said. “I’m a hard guy to hit. I don’t get hit with a lot of big shots. I think in my last fight, I got hit with like three or four significant shots – so good luck landing a right hand on me.”
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