After a bizarre week involving some of the UFC’s most unpredictable characters — Nate Diaz, Khamzat Chimaev, Tony Ferguson and their supporting cast — the fight promotion gets back to normal (we think) on Saturday with a men’s bantamweight main event between contenders Cory Sandhagen and Song Yadong.
The fights at UFC Apex in Las Vegas are on ESPN+, with the 7 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 4 p.m.
Sandhagen (14-4) will be looking to bounce back from two straight losses. The defeats came against Petr Yan and TJ Dillashaw, both former champions. Just prior to those fights, Sandhagen had beaten another ex-champ, Frankie Edgar. Sandhagen is No. 7 in the ESPN men’s bantamweight rankings.
Song (19-6-1, 1 NC) has won three fights in a row and has had just one loss in his last 12 bouts. He was No. 1 in ESPN’s most recent top 25 MMA fighters under age 25 voting in December, and last month was named the best 24-year-old in ESPN’s ranking of the top MMA fighter at every age, from age 21 to 42.
Also on the card is a meeting of top-10 women’s bantamweights, as Aspen Ladd, No. 8 in the ESPN rankings, faces ninth-ranked Sara McMann.
How to watch the fights
Stream all of the fights on ESPN+: Download the ESPN App
Don’t have ESPN+? Get it here.
There’s also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday’s UFC fight card
ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET
Men’s bantamweight: Cory Sandhagen vs. Song Yadong
Middleweight: Chidi Njokuani vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Men’s featherweight: Andre Fili vs. Bill Algeo
Middleweight: Joe Pyfer vs. Alen Amedovski
Heavyweight: Tanner Boser vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET
Men’s featherweight: Damon Jackson vs. Pat Sabatini
Women’s bantamweight: Aspen Ladd vs. Sara McMann
Welterweight: Trevin Giles vs. Louis Cosce
Strawweight: Denise Gomes vs. Loma Lookboonmee
Lightweight: Trey Ogden vs. Daniel Zellhuber
Women’s flyweight: Mariya Agapova vs. Gillian Robertson
Men’s bantamweight: Tony Gravely vs. Javid Basharat
Lightweight: Nikolas Motta vs. Cameron VanCamp
Ian Parker’s betting tip
Sara McMann vs. Aspen Ladd: I would have thought that McMann would be closer to even money, if not the favorite. McMann is the better fighter with a higher fight IQ than Ladd. As we’ve seen before, if Ladd cannot get the takedown and control from top position, she has no other paths to victory. And in this fight with McMann, she is not the better wrestler.
For Parker’s suggested bet on this undercard bout and his advice on other fights on Saturday’s card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). That story also features analysis by MMA coach and UFC analyst Din Thomas and ESPN’s other betting expert, Reed Kuhn.
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