Road to UFC Preview: Featherweights

This is the third part of the Road to UFC Preview series, for the first article that explains the whole deal click here

Lee Jeong Yeong vs Yi Zha

Next up is the 145ers, and we have a dynamic match-up between dangerous South-Korean striker Lee Jeong Yeong and Chinese explosive grappler Yi Zha.

Lee Jeong Yeong

The Korean Lee shows up to the final with the shortest amount of time spent in his two fights in the whole tournament, finishing both his opponents in less than a minute and a half, with a submission and a knockout to boot. He’s the more technical and dangerous on the feet of the two, he puts heavy combinations together with his hands and is fast enough that spending time in the pocket with him while being a lesser striker can end quickly. He’s very offensively focused and he can get carried away with that, which could put him in trouble against a strong wrestler, but seems to have grappling chops of his own, shown by his quick armbar win against the Chinese Xie Bin. His other opponent and Chinese compatriot, Lu Kai, was quickly dispatched by fast combinations on the feet.

During his first fight Lee wasted no time getting aggressive, which led to his opponent shooting for a takedown. Lee eventually defended decently and punished with brutal elbows, but got too carried away by these and ended up getting taken down. Once on the ground he was very quick in securing the armbar for the finish.

Once again Lee came out aggressive, this time luring Lu into exchanges and looking to counter in the pocket. He was simply more powerful and better there, getting the knockout after countering an entry and following up with accurate punches

Yi Zha

The Chinese Yi Zha comes into this fight trying to accomplish what his fellow countrymen couldn’t. Yi is an athletic all rounder who has a disjointed game but shines the most when he can turn dynamic moments during grappling into advantageous positions. He made quick work of his first obstacle in Keisuke Sasu with a tight rear naked choke. In his second fight however, he had a hotly contested bout with another Japanese, Koyomi Matsushima, who could match him in athleticism and variety but had better structure. At the end the judges sided with Yi, a decision I don’t really agree with. Either way Yi has the tools to make the most of this opportunity.

Yi, at times shows good concepts on the feet, attacking levels and angling out, thinking about possible counters

Yi’s best asset is his strength and dynamism in wrestling and grappling situations and his ability to keep pushing for them

Yi showed against a guy who can match him athletically and in phases surpass him technically in Matsuhima, that when he stays calm and aware he has a good eye for openings and for pairing strikes together

Takedowns wise, Yi is not only strong and fast but he has variety and a fair amount of tricks to choose from

His ability to mat wrestle and scramble from bad positions were key to make this fight as competitive as it was

Yi’s biggest flaws are the disconnection between phases of his game, and him getting too focused on the range where the exchange is taking place. That’s why he’s usually caught during transitions. Getting punched off level changes, getting kicked when thinking about boxing, and getting taken down when thinking about exchanging.

What to Expect

It is a weird fight, Yi is the younger but far more experienced fighter with 25 fights to his name in contrast to Lee’s only 10. But Lee seems to have a better process to get the fight to his winning condition. Yi is very game and can dig deep but some of his flaws play straight into Lee’s game. At the same time Lee cannot underestimate the potency of Yi as a wrestler and from top position and not defend takedowns correctly. Very hard to predict but I think I trust the more focused and specialized game of Lee more.