UFC Fight Night 223 Aftermath: How Song Broke Simon Down with Reads

Yadong Song offed another would-be contender in Ricky Simon at “UFC Vegas 72.” Song put on an absolute clinic, dropped Simon twice and fended off most of his opponent’s takedown attempts. The win made Song a clear-cut Top 5 contender and leaves the UFC no other choice but to match him up accordingly. Marlon Vera rematch? Petr Yan? Rob Font? Yes, to all of these.

Today, we will look at the fight between Song and Simon. We will break it down to the nuts and bolts and see just what Song was working with. Today we’re rocking with some Aftermath and this one’s a doozy.

Song: Smash the Legs and the Body

If you read Beforemath before this fight, you would have known that smashing the legs and beating the body were two of the keys to victory for Song (read Beforemath every Thursday, wink wink, nudge nudge). This wasn’t the sole reason Song won the day and put Simon away, but it was a major factor that swung the entire fight his way.

Song is not a heavy leg kicker, as we discussed in that Beforemath article, but in this fight, he ratcheted up the volume to the legs with a steady flow down low to slow down Simon. This hurt Simon, who is so keen on moving around and utilizing takedowns. With the legs compromised, it is harder to move around and harder to complete a takedown through sheer strength and speed. In modern MMA, every fighter should be kicking the legs to find success in every fight.

Another sure-fire way to keep your opponent from taking you down is to punch them really hard. Every time Simon got into the pocket with Song, Song would smash Simon with hooks and uppercuts to punish him for even daring to get close. This kept Simon from that relentless pursuit during the later stages of the fight. Instead of getting in on Song, Simon was hesitant because he had felt Song’s power and was trying to not get hit. His usual head movement wasn’t working and Song made sure to let Simon know it early.

Song also showed that he’s incredibly capable of making adjustments on the fly. In our first figure, we see Song making such a read. (1) Starting out, Song is smashing the body with a right hook as Simon tries to come over the top with a left. (2) He sees that Simon lowers his hand and opens up the left for Song. Notice here how Simon is in a Philly shell here. Unfortunately, he’s utilizing it incorrectly. His lead shoulder is out front and is what he’s tucking behind for protection. With the left hook coming, he should be turning the other way, blocking the left with his right hand instead of being behind the shoulder. This leaves the left hook open and (3) Song throws it and misses wide.

While this wasn’t the smashing success Song was looking for with the left hook, he had made the read that Simon has his hand low and dips to his right when the left is coming. He would exploit this for the remainder of the fight.

Making the Reads

Now that he’s made his reads, Song would start to come forward and poke and prod at Simon to get him to drop that right hand and open up the left. In fact, the two knockdowns both came from the left hook later in the fight. Only 30 seconds later, Song would use his read from the missed left hook from earlier. He tested out his hypothesis, saw that it worked and put it into play in the very next exchange.

In our next figure, we see (1) Song in complete control pressing Simon to the fence. He will (2) change levels and throw the right to the body that lands. While this does help Song by sapping the cardio of Simon, he will also use this as a setup for the next exchange. (3) Song enters the pocket again and lowers his level getting Simon to drop his right hand. Seeing that his ruse worked, (4) Song pops up and sticks Simon with a left hook that sends him stumbling back.

Now that Song has this figured out, he would spend the next three rounds setting the left up in a variety of ways. He didn’t change much aside from going to the legs a bit more and fending off a couple takedowns, but why would he? If Simon is not going to keep his right hand up, Song should keep punching at it. And that he did.

Song has also been working on his takedown defense. Simon is a tough customer when it comes to defending against the takedown and Song left him a paltry 2-for-9 on his attempts and getting up one of the times making it essentially all for nothing. When Simon wanted a takedown, Song threw his hips back and sprawled, even doing so when Simon made a second and third effort to get to the legs.

Fast-forward to Round 4 and we see Song almost put Simon away, only to have his foe saved by the bell. (1) Simon pressed forward and Song lured him into a trap. (2) As Simon comes forward, Song would plant his feet and Simon, once again, dropped that right hand. This time the change in level was even more subtle but Song, having landed heavy shots, had Simon reacting to everything he threw. (3) Song would land another left hook and (4) Simon would wind up folded over with two seconds to survive. This was the beginning of the end. Song would waste no time putting Simon away in Round 5. At 1:10 in the final round, Song knocked down Simon for the final time and ground him out for the finish.

In our last figure, Song is looking for the kill. (1) He is pressing forward and throws a right. (2) We can see that Simon does a good job bringing his elbow up to parry the strike. But Song Yadong would capitalize off of Simon’s want to get the strike back. (3) Simon would throw the right and Song would get his guard up in time and dip on the inside. Making Simon miss opens up the left again and (4) Song would land it clean, (5) buckling Simon for the second time. He would ground and pound and eventually get the referee to call the fight off putting an exclamation point on this fight after the Sandhagen hiccup.

This finish made a huge statement for Song. Simon is well regarded as one of the better up-and-comers in the UFC bantamweight division. After his loss to Cory Sandhagen, many thought Song was pretty much done as a contender for now, but those people also forget that he is also very young and improving every fight. He brought Sandhagen a tough fight and while he wasn’t enough, despite the stoppage due to a cut, he showed that he’s getting better, and the top of the division need to be wary.

All in all, Song showed himself to be one of the most fun fighters in the most fun division in the UFC. But with the bantamweight division being so stacked, Yadong will have to keep his winning ways going and avoid another loss like the Sandhagen fight where he was just cut open and snapped his streak. But at only 25, there’s still time for Song to rise through those rankings and become a better fighter. Someone help the bantamweights if he does keep improving. He’s already a tough out for anyone. “Chito” Vera, Yan and Font better watch out: “The Kung Fu Kid” wants his due.