Two different fighting styles with a similar game plan – to slow the other guy down. This fight is about who can stay busy while preserving their energy for the long haul.
Sterling’s Strengths
- Good striking
- Good feints
- Good counters
- Good grappling
Sterling’s Weaknesses
- Drops his hands sometimes
- Susceptible to leg kicks
Yan’s Strengths
- Great defense
- Good striking
- Good feints
- Good grappling
- Cardio
Yan’s Weaknesses
- Susceptible to leg kicks (kind of)
What does Sterling need to do to win?
Offensively, Sterling is a very well-rounded fighter, he does a great job of being unpredictable and mixing strikes (to head, body, and legs) and takedowns. However, Sterling is fighting Yan this Saturday, who does a great job of making his defense (especially his head) his primary priority. With that being said, Yan’s primary defensive style is to cover his head with his two hands and sometimes this style makes Yan vulnerable to his body and legs. Therefore, to win against Yan requires Sterling to primarily attack Yan’s body and legs with some hints of deception. Sterling needs to throw 2-3 mixture of light and hard punches to Yan’s head (putting Yan in his head-defense mode), then go for a heavy strike to the body or legs. This will not only allow Sterling to land solid strikes (the last ones) but will also slow Yan down, making it harder for Yan to come back stronger later in the rounds.
What does Yan need to do to win?
Yan is a well-rounded fighter with a heavy emphasis on his defense. This allows him to absorb less damage (particularly to his head) during the early rounds of the fight and enables him to come back stronger in later rounds. To win against Sterling requires Yan to kick Sterling’s legs very often for two good reasons. Reason one is Sterling’s fighting style, which involves a lot of movements and another reason is because of Sterling’s fighting stance, which is very much open to leg kicks. Kicking Sterling’s legs will significantly slow him down and make him more vulnerable in the later rounds, which is also the time when Yan becomes the most productive in terms of his offense. Once Sterling slows down, Yan needs to throw a jab to the body and overhand, as well as a lot of kicks to the head.
Prediction
This is an interesting fight because in order to win both fighters have to follow a similar game plan. Because they both have good wrestling skills, I expect this fight to stay on their feet most of the time. Therefore, who wins this fight is largely dependent on who can land the most leg and body kicks (especially in the early rounds). Considering how good Yan’s defense is, I think he’ll be the one to pull this off.
Date: Saturday, April 9 // Main Card Start Time: 10 PM EDT // Watch It On: ESPN+ PPV
