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On a fight card that doesn’t necessarily provide enough intrigue for the casual MMA fan to wake up at 6am on the East Coast, fanatics and casuals alike should set their alarms for around 8:30 am to watch what will be a fantastic scrap in what is being viewed as a title eliminator bout in the 135lb division.
Yan remains one of my favorite fighters to watch. His boxing is some of the best I have seen in the UFC and while by no means a submission specialist, he is more than competent if the fight gets to the ground.
Figuieredo is also very well rounded and probably holds the edge in grappling and submission abilities. He has been on a tear since stepping up to the bantamweight division and has dismantled some very capable opponents in Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Chito Vera.
Yan is on another level than the aforementioned and while it appeared that Yan was potentially being slept on, I believe the oddsmakers have this line set pretty accurately with No Mercy coming in as a 3 to 1 favorite. If you look closely at the odds, you will also see that Vegas likes this fight to get into the later rounds offering the Over 4.5 rounds prop at -180 odds which I also believe is an accurate price.
This fight should remain very close and while Figueiredo does have a few paths to victory, I think Yan’s relentless pressure and cardio will give him the edge.
One of the holes in Yan’s game is that he can sometimes lose his cool and walk into unnecessary fire. When I spoke to Yan this week (full interview on Sports Illustrated YouTube) he appeared to be very calm and focused and has been very respectful when speaking about his opponent and I hope that carries over into the fight so ‘No Mercy’ can get one step closer to reclaiming the …
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