Ricky Simon is a wrestler without shame. Will that be enough to best Song Yadong?

It does seem like there are some wrestlers in MMA who are somewhat ashamed about going to their wrestling in fights. However, there are also fighters who are on the opposite end of the spectrum and unabashedly go for takedowns throughout their fights. Ricky Simon is not exactly what you would call a shy wrestler.

During his UFC/DWCS career, he has attempted 12.31 takedowns per 15 minutes of fight time. That currently ranked third among ranked UFC fighters behind other unashamed grapplers Muhammad Mokaev (13.69) and Merab Dvalishvili (18.06). Simon lands only 52% of his attempts, but persistence often pays off in life. Thanks to his high volume, he still averages 6.43 takedowns per 15 minutes, which ranks fourth among ranked fighters.

The good news for Simon’s opponents is that he is not always able to hold position once he scores a takedown or presses an opponent into the fence. Control time is not currently available for his DWCS fight against Donavon Frelow, but in his UFC fights he has held control positions for 39% of his fight time. While that is not a small proportion, it is much more similar to Dvalishvili (41%) and Arman Tsarukyan (38%) than it is to Jailton Almeida (84%) and Tatiana Suarez (75%).

While Dvalishvili and Tsarukyan are wrestling oriented fighters, they do allow opponents to return to their feet and reengaged in the striking realm. Fighters like Almeida and Suarez have hardly even given opponents the chance to strike. 

Song Yadong has allowed his opponents to average 1.50 takedowns per 15 minutes, while that might not sound like a lot, many successful fighters do not allow a lot of takedowns at all. He is one of only 45 ranked fighters with a takedowns allowed rate of at least 1.50 or more, and the rate is above the average for a ranked fighter (1.09).

Considering the contrast, it should not be surprising if Simon is able to score takedowns early and often in this fight. However, Song has done a good job extricating himself from control positions in the Octagon. He has allowed his opponents to hold control positions for only 13% of his cage time. 

This sets up a scenario where Simon will be able to score takedowns, but Yadong will still have his opportunities to land strikes. He could easily make the most of those opportunities with his power. He has scored five knockdowns in his 11 UFC fights. While his 0.63 knockdowns per 15 minute rate does not set the world on fire, he has proven himself to be a respectable power threat in the bantamweight division. 

Simon has never fought longer than 15 minutes inside the Octagon, and this fight has the potential to go the full 25 minutes. He has shown finishing ability in his last two fights, but he has fought 74% of his potential cage time so far in his career. If he is not able to score a finish, he will likely need to hold control positions for the better part of five rounds. This is entirely possible, but it is a new challenge that could prove difficult.