UFC Fight Night, Cory Sandhagen vs. Song Yadong — how to watch and stream, plus analysis and betting advice
After a bizarre week featuring some of the UFC’s most unpredictable characters — Nate Diaz, Khamzat Chimaev, Tony Ferguson and their supporting cast — fight promotion (we think) returns to normal on Saturday with a men’s bantamweight main event between contender Cory Sandhagen and Song Yadong.
Fights at UFC Apex in Las Vegas will take place on ESPN+, with the main card at 7pm ET preceded by 4pm prelims
Sandhagen (14-4) will try to recover from two defeats in a row. Losses came to Petr Yan and TJ Dillashaw, both former champions. Just prior to these fights, Sandhagen had beaten another ex-champion, Frankie Edgar. Sandhagen is #7 in the ESPN men’s bantamweight rankings.
Song (19-6-1, 1 NC) has won three fights in a row and suffered just one loss in his last 12 bouts. He was ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s top 25 youngest MMA fighters under the age of 25 voting in December, and was named the top 24-year-old in ESPN’s ranking of the best MMA fighters at any age, 21-42, last month , chosen.
Also on the card is a top 10 women’s bantamweight meet, as ESPN ranked No. 8 Aspen Ladd meets ninth-ranked Sara McMann.
How to see the fights
Stream all fights on ESPN+: Download the ESPN app
Don’t have ESPN+? get it here
There is also FightCenterwhich provides live updates for each 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: At a nearly 2-1 underdog, McMann scored an upset win over Karol Rosa in their final bout. Now she’ll be looking for another angry win. When I saw the line of action here, I was quite shocked. I would have thought McMann would be the favorite or at least closer to even money. I think McMann is the better fighter all around, with a higher fight IQ than Ladd. If Ladd can’t get takedown and control from the top position, she simply has no other route to victory. And in this fight, Ladd is not the better wrestler since McMann was an Olympic silver medalist in the sport.
For Parker’s suggested bet on this undercard fight and his advice on other fights on Saturday’s card, check out the ESPN+ Expert Picks and Best Bets article published Thursday. This story also includes analysis from MMA coach and UFC analyst Din Thomas and fellow ESPN betting expert Reed Kuhn.
top stories
Cory Sandhagen vs. Song Yadong bantamweight headlining UFC Fight Night on September 17th
Ranking of the top 25 best MMA fighters under 25: Which two prospects earned all the first place votes?
The best MMA fighter of all ages, from 21 to 42 years old
MMA Divisional Rankings: A champion again, Demetrious Johnson gets a boost into the flyweight top 10