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Song Yadong and Marlon Vera tangle in a featherweight bout on the main card at UFC on ESPN 8 – also known as ESPN Fight Night 172 – at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The card kicks off Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.
Yadong (15-4-1) enters with a slight disadvantage in the reach department, three and a half inches to be exact. He’ll likely try to take down Vera early and often, although a ground game with his opponent can be dangerous. Vera has a 1.41 submission average to just 0.65 for Yadong. Nicknamed “The Terminator,” Yadong enters 7-0-1 across his past eight professional bouts, and is 4-0-1 at the UFC level. He is coming off a majority draw against Cody Stamann Dec. 7, 2019. Three of Yadong’s 19 professional fights have ended via submission, including 1-0 at the UFC level.
Vera (15-5-1) is on a five-bout win streak, taking care of Andre Ewell last time out in a third-round KO/TKO Oct. 12, 2019. Each of his five wins have finished inside the distance, with three via KO/TKO and two on submission victories. In fact, each of his past seven wins have been inside the distance, with only a pair of unanimous decision losses from Oct. 28, 2017-Feb. 3, 2018 to ruin that run. Both of these fighters are strong on the mat, but Vera has the ability to finish in a toe-to-toe brawl. This might be one of the more interesting and even fights on the main card.
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Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera betting odds
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday, May 15 at 11 a.m. ET.
VERA (+140) is worth a roll of the dice, as both fighters are very evenly matched. They have similar fighting styles, and the significant strikes landed per minute and takedown numbers are nearly identical. Vera enters on a roll, having finished inside the distance in each of his past five. Therefore it is a good idea to also take a look at NO (-125): WILL THE FIGHT GO THE DISTANCE? prop. Going with UNDER 2.5 (+110) TOTAL NUMBER OF ROUNDS is also worth a small-unit bet, too.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on Vera (+140) to win returns a $14 profit. A $10 bet on the fight going less than 2.5 rounds returns an $11 profit, and a bet of No (-125) on the fight going the distance pays a $8 return.
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