UFC Fight Night: Yadong vs. Figueiredo Predictions

UFC Fight Night 277: Yadong vs. Figueiredo takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

Song Yadong vs. Deiveson Figueiredo Prediction

Song Yadong has lost two of his last three fights at the top-end of the bantamweight division and now goes up against former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo, who has only picked up one win in his last four bouts.

The 28-year-old Yadong’s two losses in recent times have come against former and current champions in Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan respectively, with a win over another ex-champ Henry Cejudo sandwiched in-between, leaving him 11-4-1 overall in the UFC. Yadong is a technically sound fighter with speed and athleticism on his side. He’s an active boxer with fast, accurate hands and good power, while he mixes in kicks nicely too. He’s shown he can pace himself well over five rounds and is solid defensively too. He prefers to operate on the feet, but he can add variety with a takedown or two and is capable of scrambling back to his feet if taken down.

Figueirdo may be 10-years-older than Yadong, but the 38-year-old has continued to go head-to-head with top contenders in recent times, with his losses in the past 18 months being against Umar Nurmagomedov, Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan. He’s previously shown he can hang in this division though with victories over the likes of Marlon Vera, Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Montel Jackson. Figueiredo is on the small side for the division at 5ft 5″, but while that means he’ll give up 3″ in height to Yadong, he actually as an inch in reach over him. Figueiredo still retains his speed and mobility, and is able to land swift power punches with good accuracy. He likes to be patient and wait for opportunities though, and so as a result his output tends to be on the low side. Figueiredo also has solidly capable wrestling and is comfortable hunting for submissions or scrambling on the mat.

Time is starting to catch up with Figueiredo and with Yadong being more of a natural bantamweight and being more active offensively on the feet I can see him getting the better of the striking action over five rounds here to win by decision.

Yadong to win by decision

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Zhang Mingyang vs. Alonzo Menifield Prediction

A TKO loss last August ended Zhang Mingyang’s four-fight winning start to life in the UFC. Now he returns for a co-main event fight against Alonzo Menifield, who was KO’d in 97 seconds at the tail-end of last year after winning back-to-back fights earlier in 2025.

The 27-year-old Mingyang is a heavy-handed striker who finishes a lot of fights via strikes on the Chinese regional scene before arriving in the UFC in 2022. He then continued that momentum with four 1st round finishes in the Octagon, but Johnny Walker ended that rampaging run last time out by compromising Mingyang’s lead leg with kicks and then finishing him off via strikes. It’s far from Mingyang’s first setback though as he was actually just 7-6 at one point early in his career, with his defensive liabilities resulting in a few losses via both strikes and submission. So while he’s a fighter who can certainly overwhelm opponents with his aggression, it still remains to be seen if he can consistently stay in the win column against a good level of opposition.

Durability has become an increasing concern for the 38-year-old Menifield in recent years, as along with his latest swift TKO loss he was also KO’d twice back in 2024 as well, including a 12 second defeat against Carlos Ulberg. Menifield is a stockily built, muscular 205lb’er who uses his physicality to pressure opponents and land heavy punches and kicks, while he can be a brute with ground-and-pound too. At this age and stage the cracks are showing though as his chin makes him more vulnerable early, while his conditioning is also becoming more of an issue later on in fights too.

Mingyang will come out with big firepower from the start here and I’m just not convinced Menifield’s chin will be able to stand up to that early onslaught, resulting in a 1st round TKO finish.

Zhang Mingyang to win by TKO in Rd1

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Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tallison Teixeira Prediction

After winning back-to-back fights by decision last year, Sergei Pavlovich now goes up against Tallison Teixeira, who beat Tai Tuivasa in February to go 2-1 so far in the UFC.

The 34-year-old Pavlovich earned an interim heavyweight title shot back in 2023 after the heavy-handed striker blasted his way through six opponents in a row inside the first round, including the likes of Curtis Blaydes, Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes. He was then KO’d by Tom Aspinall in just 69 seconds though, and since then he’s been adopting a more patient and cautious striking approach that’s shown he’s not all just about blitzing his opponents with an early barrage of blows. That change didn’t pay off for him immediately, with Alexander Volkov beating him on the scorecards, but last years decision wins over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Waldo Cortes-Acosta have given him renewed confidence. That being said, it would be good to see him find a better balance between his former and current style as he’s become overly tentative at times.

Teixeira is also 34-years-old and lives up to his forename by being extremely tall at 6ft 8″ with a vast 83″ reach to go along with it. However, while that makes him 5″ taller than the stockier Pavlovich, he’ll actually be giving up an inch in reach to the Russian. Teixeira’s a versatile striker, with all eight of his lengthy limbs being potential finishing weapons that have delivered 7 of his 9 career wins so far, all in the 1st round. However, Teixeira is suspect defensively though, including having a habit of leaving his chin exposed, and that led to Derrick Lewis TKO’ing him in just 35 seconds in his UFC debut last year. He has since gone the distance with an out-of-sorts Tai Tuivasa a few months ago though.

Given Teixeira’s size advantage and dubious defense I can see Pavlovich ditching his more cautious, point-scoring style of late in favor of a return to his fast-starting, aggressive roots, leading him to a 1st round KO finish here.

Sergei Pavlovich to win by KO In Rd1

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Kai Asakura vs. Cameron Smotherman Prediction

Kai Asakura will attempt to earn his first UFC victory at the third attempt on Saturday when he moves up to bantamweight to fight Cameron Smotherman, who is coming off back-to-back defeats last year.

As a two-time Rizin bantamweight champion, the 32-year-old Asakura was immediately thrown into a flyweight title shot upon his arrival in the UFC in late 2024, but he lost to Alexandre Pantoja by submission, and has since been tapped out again by Tim Elliott. Asakura is certainly at his best on the feet courtesy of his aggressive striking game, with big power in his punches, well-timed knees and good counter-striking, leading to 13 finishes via strikes from 21 career wins. His ground game isn’t as strong, but while his defensive wrestling is an issue, he had never been submitted prior to arriving in the UFC and does have three wins via submission on his record.

Smotherman failed to make it into the UFC via the Contender Series in 2023 after suffering a 60 second TKO loss, but after a few more wins on the regional scene he earned a short-notice call-up and won his UFC debut by decision. He’s since lost twice on the scorecards though, and was pulled from his last fight in January after feinting on-stage after weighing-in, so he still has plenty to prove this weekend. Smotherman has a steady boxing game from range with reasonable power, but against his better judgement he can be lured into a brawl at times. He also has capable offensive wrestling, but doesn’t use it too much.

There should be some competitive exchanges here on the feet, but I think Asakura’s superior power will win out in the end, resulting in a 2nd round TKO finish.

Kai Asakura to win by TKO in Rd2

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Carlston Harris vs. Jake Matthews Prediction

Coming off back-to-back losses, Carlston Harris steps in as a short-notice replacement on Saturday against Jake Matthews, who is coming off a submission loss, but had been on a three-fight winning streak before that.

Harris is returning from a 16 month lay-off, and perhaps that was for the best given that his last two fights had seen him get KO’d by Khaos Williams in 90 seconds, followed by a TKO loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio. Unfortunately time is not on his side though, as he’ll turn 39 in a little over a months time. A tall 170lb’er, the long-limbed Harris remains well-conditioned and uses his physicality well to try to wear down his opponents with clinch-work, takedowns and spells of control on top. He can also threaten with chokes on the mat, but on the feet he has a bit of an awkward striker who lacks finesse but does throw with power. However, he leaves holes defensively in the process, which is an increasing concern given his declining durability.

The 31-year-old Matthews was still a teenager when he first joined the UFC 16 years ago and has gone 15-8 in the Octagon since. He’d gained some momentum in the past couple of years by winning three fights in a row, and though he lost to Neil Magny last time out he’d performed fairly well against the veteran before succumbing to a final round submission. Matthews is a solid all-rounder who is at his best using his respectable wrestling and good offensive grappling to work for submissions, with nine choke-based finishes on his record. He’s not as assured defensively on the mat though, having been submitted himself on four occasions. Meanwhile, the durable Matthews striking has shown some improvement over time, but is still fairly workmanlike.

A short-notice fight doesn’t seem ideal for Harris at his age after a long lay-off, and with Matthews being younger, sturdier and with the benefit of a full fight camp I’ll take him to mix his striking and ground work to emerge with a decision victory.

Jake Matthews to win by decision

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Alex Perez vs. Su Mudaerji Prediction

Alex Perez comes in off a TKO victory in January to fight Su Mudaerji, who is on a three-fight winning streak.

The 34-year-old Perez’s latest win over Charles Johnson was much-needed as before that he’d lost four of his previous five fights, albeit against a consistently high-level of opposition. Perez is a pressure-fighter who stays active offensively with his boxing and has notable punching power to go along with solid leg kicks. He has solid wrestling and so will hunt for takedowns to open up opportunities for ground-and-pound and submissions. However, he has been vulnerable to being submitted himself over the years, accounting for 6 of his 10 career losses.

The 30-year-old Mudaerji has been in good form lately, though his overall UFC record is 6-4. He’s a couple of inches taller than Perez, but will also have a substantial 7″ reach advantage. Mudaerji is a striker who has fast, accurate hands and a dynamic kicking game. On the regional scene in China that led him to a long run of T(KO) finishes, but he hasn’t been able to maintain that finishing threat in the octagon so far, with only one of his six victories having been inside the distance. Meanwhile, Mudaerji’s ground game has been a known weak point, with six of his seven losses coming via submission, but to his credit he has been improving defensively in recent times.

Mudaerji’s speed and reach advantages will be important factors on the feet here, but I think Perez’s more well-rounded game will enable him to get this fight to the mat and lock in a submission finish in the 2nd round.

Alex Perez to win by submission in Rd2

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UFC Fight Night 277: Yadong vs. Figueiredo Prelims

(Predicted winners in bold)

Lee Yi-sak vs. Luis Felipe Dias
Ding Meng vs. José Henrique Souza
Aori Qileng vs. Cody Haddon
Angela Hill vs. Xiong Jingnan
Loma Lookboonmee vs. Jaqueline Amorim
Zhu Kangjie vs. Rodrigo Vera
Rei Tsuruya vs. Luis Gurule

MMA Writer

Ross Cole

Ross Cole is one of the most prolific mixed martial arts writers in the world.

Having written more than 22,000 MMA news stories for MMA Insight, which he founded in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts.

Few people know the UFC and the sport of MMA like Ross, and he has built a solid reputation for being one of the best MMA tipsters in the world.

You can read more of Ross's work at MMAInsight.com.