UFC Vegas 61 Beforemath: Once again, styles make fights…

Plus a little sanda chat on the side kick!

This weekend the UFC returns from a one week hiatus with UFC Vegas 61. Headlining the night will be a classic stylistic matchup. We’re looking at a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu versus sanda night with Mackenzie Dern and Xiaonan Yan set for a strawweight bout. We’re a day late but I really wanted to do the Yan/sidekick analysis justice! So, without further delay, here is UFC Vegas 61 Beforemath!

UFC Vegas 61: Tale of the Tape

Coming into UFC Vegas 61, Dern comes in ranked fifth and Yan comes in at sixth. With the top of the division shaping up as Carla Esparza is now set to defend against former champ Weili Zhang, a big statement win can put someone in line for a title shot.

Coming into the fight, Mackenzie Dern has been quite successful in the UFC with a couple stumbles against decent opponents. After coming in successfully at 2-0 in the UFC, Dern lost a pretty dominant fight to Amanda Ribas. She rallied back with four straight wins before dropping another fight to Marina Rodriguez, which should be a point of interest for Xiaonan Yan. But last April, Dern got back in the win column with a close fight with stevia Torres.

The path for Xiaonan Yan has been just as tough, if not tougher. The Chinese native arrived in the UFC putting in five good performances with notable wins over Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz (this one’s specifically brutal), and Claudia Gadelha. Yan has fallen on hard times, sadly, and lost to now-champion Carla Esparza pretty soundly and Marina Rodriguez in a tightly fought battle.

This fight will eliminate a contender at the top for the only stacked women’s division in the UFC. A win will put either fighter on track for a title shot in late 2023.

Mackenzie Dern: Get to the ground

The idea behind how this fight needs to go is quite cut and dry. Mackenzie Dern needs to get to the ground and Xiaonan Yan needs to keep the fight standing. But saying that wouldn’t make for much of a Beforemath episode. Plus there are nuances that we can get into for the UFC Vegas 61 main event.

In both of her losses, Mackenzie Dern lost due to her inability to get the fight to the ground. Both Rodriguez and Ribas kept the fight standing and had Dern dead to rights. For Dern, getting the fight to the ground is more important to her than keeping the fight standing is for Yan. Dern has faded in the past and is vulnerable to the body. Marina Rodriguez punished Dern to the body and legs early and reaped the benefits at the end of the fight as Dern was very gassed.

Dern needs to get this fight to the ground as soon as she can. Xiaonan Yan doesn’t have the takedown defense of Ribas and Rodriguez and getting her to the ground will tire out her opponent to keep the fight closer should it go to later rounds. Once she is there, Mackenzie Dern will know what to do. On the ground, she’s a natural and will find whatever submission she wants.

Efficiency needs to be the priority for Dern. In the past she’s gone out throwing haymakers and it got her in trouble. In recent fights she has shown to improve on that as well. But this fight will be her ticket to the top should she win and getting in and out the cage as fast as possible for the biggest statement.

Xiaonan Yan: Don’t let it get to the ground

Today we will be spending most of our time on Xiaonan Yan. While I think Dern’s path to victory is the clearest at UFC Vegas 61, Yan has the sanda background that I would really like to explore so we are going to do that.

We saw against Carla Esparza that Xiaonan Yan isn’t the best on her back. He didn’t make much headway getting up. Carla Esparza was 3 for 3 on the takedowns and landed at 170 to 31 strike differential. Going to the ground like this with Mackenzie Dern will be a death sentence. Dern isn’t going to punch her on the ground. She’s going to choke her out or snatch her arm.

Xiaonan Yan needs to be smart with her footwork and use length to win this fight. She showed in her fight with Rodriguez the inclination to fight in the clinch. Do not do this with Dern. She’s not going to use the basic head and arm throw to take Yan down that we see in WMMA so often. Dern will use a multitude of takedowns and actually can chain wrestle at times.

Her footwork will be important. Yan will want to take a point fighting approach to this fight. Get in and get out as fast as she can and don’t get greedy. Her length will be her advantage. This takes us to the side kick, which we will be going to in length.

Xiaonan Yan Utilizing the Side Kick

The side kick is used in many striking arts. Kickboxing, karate, Muay Thai, pretty much everyone that uses kicks utilizes the side kick. In sanda, which is Chinese kickboxing, the front side kick is often used in the initial exchange of a round. It’s length is great for stifling an opponent that marches on and looks to brawl. Xiaonan Yan, with her sanda background, uses the side kick in just this way.

In Layers Part 3, our ongoing series through Vasyl Lomachenko’s career, we discussed how Gary Russell Jr. used the double jab to close distance on the much faster Lomachenko. He steps in on the jab and slides his back foot forward to step in on the jab again. With the side kick, you have to do nearly the same thing. The exception is there is only one strike thrown instead of two. Against Kailin Curran in her UFC debut, Xiaonan Yan would show off her sanda roots in a dominant performance.

(1 & 2) First to load up the side kick, Yan will have to step into range, sliding her back foot forward. Generally, a fighter will slide it to the front foot to extend the range by a body’s length. We can see with the line marked at the front foot that Xiaonan Yan does just that.

Bear in mind this is the side kick from sanda’s technical standpoint and here is where it differs from karate’s yoko geri or other techniques. In karate’s side kick, the strike is thrown from the knee and produces a snapping motion. Here, Xiaonan Yan is wanting to put the power in more of a piston-like strike. Instead of snapping at Curran, she pounds her foot into her face. Importantly for this is the hips. Karate’s side kick keeps your hips open and almost stationary. For sanda, (3 & 4) we see Yan turn her hips over. The difference in technique comes from how the strike is thrown. Turning over the hip allows Yan to get that piston thrust when she throws the strike.

But like karate, the knee does come up in sanda’s side kick. (5) Yan has her knee up and it is perpendicular to her opponent. Unlike karate, the knee is not pointed at the opponent. The power in sanda is generated from the thighs and not the foot hinging at the knee. As the strike lands (6) Yan kicks up and full extension to get maximum power.

Finishing up with Xiaonan Yan

Coming back full circle, these length strikes will do Yan well to keep Mackenzie Dern at bay. Especially if this goes to the later rounds and Dern begins to get desperate.

To slow down Dern more, the body is going to be another point of investment. Yan will be smart to throw to the body of Dern. That side kick we discussed earlier is a long weapon that she can throw to the mid section. The push kick will also be a smart investment. It will push Dern back, keeping her from grabbing the leg to get down, and also zap the gas tank of Mackenzie Dern at UFC Vegas 61.

Once it’s in the later rounds get here and Yan has fought smart, she can start to let her hands go, counter the wide punches of Dern and get out of the cage with the biggest win of her career against a fighter that’s specialized where her deficits lie.

Be sure to return Sunday after we break down the fight between Mackenzie Dern and Xiaonan Yan’s clash!