The UFC is staying international with its Fight Night roadshow. This time, Macau, China, gets its fifth event in the promotion’s history on Saturday, May 30.
Strangely enough, the show marks the second time Brazil’s former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figuiredo has headlined in China. On the opposite end, China’s Song Yadong hasn’t fought in his home country since the UFC’s visit to Beijing in 2018. He looks to rebound from a loss to Sean O’Malley in January and remain a fixture in the bantamweight rankings in his first main event at home.
UFC Macau is unsurprisingly littered with hometown flair and plenty of exciting matchups for the Chinese crowd to get behind. It’s not the strongest card, but even in the more random, non-Chinese bouts, there’s decent name value.
👑 UFC Macau’s lineup Crown grade: C. 👑
135 pounds: Song Yadong (-600) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (+425)
Figueiredo, as accomplished as he is, appears to have reached the “shell” stage of his career. That’s sad to see, but at age 38 and in a weight class above the one where he initially won UFC gold, it comes as no surprise.
“Deus da Guerra” hasn’t been getting completely obliterated by his opposition, only losing to the 135-pound class’ cream of the crop. But he’s clearly been a step behind in his recent bouts, and that will remain true against Song.
The Chinese striking sensation will have the same speed advantage that he typically carries into most matchups. Combine that with some cracking power and solid combinations, and he’ll present problems for Figueiredo at every turn. The grappling element will be huge for the Brazilian to lean on, but Song has sured up his takedown defense nicely against grapplers who aren’t able to mix up their overall game and hang with him on the feet. His win over Henry Cejudo was a great recent example.
Figueiredo and Cejudo aren’t overly comparable in style, but in terms of where they’ve been in their respective careers at the times of their respective Song matchups, there are some similarities. Figueiredo carries more power in his punches than Cejudo, but landing decisively on the perpetually durable Song won’t be easy.
I hate to count out Figueiredo. But there’s just no reason to believe he’s an elite-tier competitor anymore, particularly at bantamweight.
Pick: Song
205 pounds: Zhang Mingyang (-250) vs. Alonzo Menifield (+200)
The UFC Macau co-main event has finish written all over it.
Alonzo Menifield has long been a bit of an odd case at light heavyweight — a guy who clearly has great knockout power, but doesn’t always find the finish and is susceptible to getting bolted himself. Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, that makes a fight with Zhang Mingyang fun for as long as it lasts.
The Chinese knockout artist has been a straight-up bruiser throughout his UFC run — until he met Johnny Walker in his last fight. Zhang will look to rebound from that letdown performance at the last UFC event in China, and Menifield is a tailor-made opponent for Zhang to add a 20th first-round finish win to his résumé.
Yeah, you read that right. This guy has only won in the first round.
Pick: Zhang
265 pounds: Sergei Pavlovich (-650) vs. Tallison Teixeira (+475)
The days of Sergei Pavlovich being a top contender feel so long ago. Yet he is, realistically, still very much one. Those thrilling quick finishes have simply faded since Tom Aspinall dispatched the Russian for interim gold in late 2023.
Luckily for Pavlovich, he’s lined up to take on Temu Stefan Struve.
Pavlovich may not be finishing his opponents as of late, but he’s still winning handily. Teixeira’s last “win” over Tai Tuivasa entirely exposed him and removed any possible faith I had in his future until proven otherwise. The fight was, generously put, abusive to the eyes. And Teixeira looked like a freshly woken giraffe on laughing gas in the final half of the bout. Should he fade again, Pavlovich will finally get back to his finishing ways.
Pick: Pavlovich
135 pounds: Kai Asakura (-300) vs. Cameron Smotherman (+240)
UFC’s underutilization of Kai Asakura’s star power is still baffling. He’s legitimately one of the most popular combat sports athletes in Japan, yet fans unfamiliar with him pre-UFC would never know it.
Sure, his Octagon run thus far hasn’t panned out, with two losses starting with a debut flyweight title shot against the then-champion Alexandre Pantoja. But Asakura is still as good as it gets among violent strikers south of 145 pounds. In this fight with Cameron Smotherman, he’ll return to the division he’s always been his best at: Bantamweight.
Smotherman is still a solid prospect in his own right. After his first UFC loss to Serhiy Sidey, he was somewhat oddly matched with a more notable veteran in Ricky Simon, which did him no favors. The trend continues here in a fight he’ll really want to mix his game up for, as Asakura continues to try and tighten up his defensive grappling.
On the feet, though, few have the devastating precision and speed of Asakura, as seen in his filthy back-to-back knee-strike finishes over Juan Archuleta and Yuki Motoya.
Pick: Asakura
170 pounds: Jake Matthews (-350) vs. Carlston Harris (+275)
Jake Matthews has been 21 years old forever. (OK. He hasn’t, but it sure feels like it.)
The Aussie welterweight has essentially become the ultimate perma-journeyman-gatekeeper of the welterweight division. His position is a weird one, as he’s still only 31.
Despite a submission loss to Neil Magny his last time out, Matthews was looking as sharp as he had in his previous three-fight win streak. He’s a supremely well-rounded fighter, and his boxing is crisp and damaging, though not overly fearsome.
Carlston Harris is longer in the tooth at 38 years old, and the Brazilian’s chin has started to fade a bit, suffering consecutive knockouts to Santiago Ponzinibbio and Khaos Williams in his last two appearances. I don’t necessarily see Matthews continuing that trend, but he’s simply the more well-rounded, youthful fighter at this stage, with more progression than decline ahead in his future.
Pick: Matthews
125 pounds: Alex Perez (-150) vs. Su Mudaerji (+125)
Su Mudaerji has very quietly strung together three straight wins in the ever-exciting flyweight division. A home game against Alex Perez should provide plenty of action to kick off the UFC Macau main card.
These two are allergic to bad fights, really. While most seem to have counted out Perez as a title contender at this stage, the dude still packs a wallop and is one of the better finishers at flyweight. Mudaerji always brings war to the Octagon, and with each man here generally aiming to entertain on the feet, we’re in for a banger.
Ultimately, Mudaerji’s finishes often come more at the tail-end of wars, which add up for him too. Perez only needs one good shot, and his chances of cracking Mudaerji amid a fire-fight are much higher.
Pick: Perez
Preliminary Notes
Xiong JingNan could end up being just the injection of life the UFC strawweight division needs. The former ONE Championship 125-pound champion was undefeated in her reign, racking up seven title defenses and delivering all-time classics with fellow champion Angela Lee. Angela Hill makes for the perfect opponent for Xiong’s UFC debut, and is the ideal litmus test to tell us if the 38-year-old has one last run in her.
I don’t know what it is with the UFC matchmakers, but for some reason they can’t help themselves when it comes to Loma Lookboonmee curtain-jerkers. The Thai strawweight has never been on a UFC main card in her 10-fight run, has been the third fight of the night three times, and will compete in back-to-back opener fights with UFC Macau. Lookboonmee is always a fun time, despite her atomweight size at 115 pounds, so catch that one out of the gate, as Jaqueline Amorim also looks to get back on track after a tough loss to Mizuki Inoue.
Quick picks:
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Lee Yi-sak (+145) def. Luis Felipe Dias (-180)
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Ding Meng (-120) def. José Henrique Souza (+100)
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Cody Haddon (-400) def. Aori Qileng (+310)
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Rei Tsuruya (-250) def. Luis Gurule (+200)
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Xiong Jingnan (-190) def. Angela Hill (+155)
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Rodrigo Vera (-115) def. Zhu Kangjie (-105)
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Jaqueline Amorim (-125) def. Loma Lookboonmee (+105)