Tim Welch says the UFC is looking to make its product as fan-friendly as possible.<\/p>\n
This year begins a new era of the UFC, as the promotion begins a long broadcast partnership with Paramount. This partnership begins on Jan. 24 with UFC 324, which will feature a pivotal bantamweight matchup between former champion Sean O\u2019Malley and rising contender Song Yadong. It\u2019s the kind of all-action matchup that the UFC seems to be prioritizing lately, and O\u2019Malley\u2019s coach, Tim Welch, says that\u2019s not a coincidence: he\u2019s heard that the promotion is actively trying to move towards a more fan-friendly style of fighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if they are or not, but rumor has it the UFC is kind of trying to get away from people who just pin people, who just try to stall out,\u201d Welch told Home of Fight. \u201cGrapplers who are going to pin you in half guard for the whole fight. I think they\u2019re trying to get away from that, which is smart. They probably should. It\u2019s a sport people are going to want to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not just a UFC trend. Over the past several years, the unified rules of MMA of moved towards more damage-based scoring criteria in an effort to curb \u201clay-and-pray\u201d and keep the sport entertaining.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, that should not be an issue between O\u2019Malley and Song, two of the most exciting bantamweights in the UFC. O\u2019Malley and his team have some familiarity with Song, who lost to his teammate Kyler Phillips in 2021. But since then, Song has gone 6-2 and is coming off a win over former champion Henry Cejudo, proving himself as one of the best in the world, which has Welch pumped for the matchup.<\/p>\n
\u201cSong Yadong, top five \u2014 I think he\u2019s ranked No. 5 \u2014 he is an animal,\u201d Welch said. \u201cAnybody in the top 10, top five especially, they\u2019re literally the best fighters on the planet Earth. So, any fight from here on out is going to be one of the best in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty excited for this one. We know Song Yadong is going to come out and try to wrestle us and try to pin us against the fence, and we\u2019re planning for that. But it would be sweet if he wanted to stand up and make a really exciting fight for the fans. That would be sweet, too. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cSong Yadong is such an animal. He trains at a great gym, he\u2019s such an explosive athlete, he\u2019s good on the ground, he\u2019s an explosive wrestler, he knocks people out. He fights the best people in the world, and the best people in the world don\u2019t finish him. So, we\u2019ve got our hands full Jan. 24.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Malley is also excited for the fight, saying this week that he believes a win over Song could earn him a title shot<\/a> against new champion Petr Yan. But first he has to beat Song, and Welch knows that\u2019s going to be a tough test.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re planning for a 15-minute, brutal war,\u201d Welch said. \u201cHe\u2019s similar to Chito. He\u2019s way faster than Chito, he\u2019s got more spring than Chito, he\u2019s a little bit more dangerous on the feet. He can KO you, for sure. But Suga\u2019s a KO artist, and when you\u2019re a KO artist, you go in there, and you start sitting down on punches and really trying to crack people.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re preparing for him to be there for 15 minutes. So we\u2019re planning to beat his body up, to cut his face, to punch his head, to potentially choke him, maybe take him down, ride him a little bit. We\u2019re preparing for a 15-minute war. I haven\u2019t really thought about how it\u2019s going to play out, but in my heart, I feel like we\u2019re going to whoop his ass.\u201d<\/p>\n UFC 324 is headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett, and also features the highly anticipated women\u2019s bantamweight fight between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes.<\/p>\n Overkill. Jon Anik: \u2018You might see 6 or 7 undisputed titles<\/a> contested\u2019 at UFC White House.<\/p>\n 155. Paddy Pimblett: If Ilia Topuria is out for a long time, \u2018just vacate and let the division crack on.\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Retirement? Sean O\u2019Malley might call it quits soon<\/a>: \u2018This might be the last \u2018Suga\u2019 year ever.\u2019<\/p>\n Cardio. \u2018My cardio is sh*t\u2019: Reinier de Ridder barely remembers<\/a> abysmal outing against Brendan Allen.<\/p>\n Wrestling. \u2018I\u2019m going to kick his ass\u2019<\/a>: Daniel Cormier plots future wrestling match against Jon Jones.<\/p>\n Feud. Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier set to coach against each other<\/a> on MMA reality show.<\/p>\n Bermuda. Lost in the triangle: The disappearance<\/a> of one of MMA\u2019s basic submissions.<\/p>\n Justin Gaethje fight camp.<\/p>\n Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren.<\/p>\n Zion Clark promises to choke out Valter Walker.<\/p>\n SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE<\/p>\n Conor McGregor out there doing some good.<\/p>\n Poatan got his dad a present.<\/p>\n Fluffy Hernandez in Houston.<\/p>\n Ilia Topuria still working.<\/p>\n Thread of the best KOs from 2025.<\/p>\n I mean, the sport writ large has been trying to kill lay-and-pray for 20 years, and it should. But the problem is when the UFC decides a fighter is boring when he\u2019s not. I will die on the hill that Movsar Evloev is not boring (I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s Justin Gaethje, but he\u2019s in good fights more often than not). More importantly, he\u2019s undeniably one of the best guys in the world, and they\u2019re gonna run him out of there, which I think is lame.<\/p>\n Just get better refs and judges to enforce the rules and scoring appropriately.<\/p>\n If you find something you\u2019d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee<\/a> or @JedKMeshew<\/a> on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, and like us on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n