UFC Vegas 68 will take place on February 4, 2023. Following a week of absence after UFC 283, the company is back with another show for the fans. This time, heavyweight fighters Derrick Lewis and Sergey Spivak will go head to head in a 5 round clash to headline the event. However, there are other notable fights such as Jeong Yeong Lee vs Yi Zha in the prelims.
Similar to Jeka Saragih vs Anshul Jubli, this fight will also be a part of the “Road to UFC” competition. The winner of this featherweight bout will have the chance to earn a permanent contract in the UFC.
The 4 #RoadToUFC finals on February 4th during #UFCVegas68.
LW
– Anshul Jubli vs. Jeka Saragih
FW
– Jeong Young Lee vs. Yi Zha
BW
– Toshiomi Kazama vs. Rinya Nakamura
FLYW
– Seung Guk Choi vs. Sung Hyun Park pic.twitter.com/mybNzCOLxj— Marcel Dorff đłđ±đźđ© (@BigMarcel24) January 7, 2023
Jeong Yeong Lee beat Kai Lu and Xie Bin on his way to the final of the competition. Yi Zha, on the other hand, defeated Keisuke Sasu and Koyomi Matsushima to reach the final. Both of these fighters are extremely talented and their record just proves it.
Yi Zha has only 3 career losses in 24 fights and Jeong Yeong Lee has suffered only 1 loss in 10 fights. While Lee hails from South Korea, Zha is from the Aba, Sichuan province of China. So who wins in an all-Asian showdown in the prelims? Let’s find out!
UFC Vegas 68: Jeong Yeong Lee vs Yi Zha, Stats
| Stats | Jeong Yeong Lee | Yi Zha |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | 9 | 21 |
| Losses | 1 | 3 |
| Height | 1.78 m | 1.7 m |
| Division | Featherweight | Featherweight |
| Reach | 186.7 cm | 179.1 cm |
| Age | 27 | 26 |
Lee vs Zha: Fight Breakdown
Jeong Yeong Lee has 4 KOs, 3 submissions, and 2 decision wins in his career so far. Yi Zha’s wins comprise 10 submissions, 6 KOs, and 5 decisions. So there are chances that the fight may go the full distance. However, judging by the stats, a finish seems more probable. So who wins? Zha Yi is clearly the more experienced fighter between the two. He started his career in 2016 against Seio Yamada with a decision win.
Zha is currently on a 3-fight win streak. But, in his last bout, the 26-year-old had a tough time against Matsushima. He ultimately won the fight via split decision. Jeong Yeong, on the other hand, has a much better recent record than his competitor this weekend. The 27-year-old is on a 6-fight win streak and 5 of them came via finishes.
Looking at their losses, Lee had never been finished and his only defeat came via a judges’ decision in 2017. Yi Zha, however, has been finished twice in his career. From that front, it looks like Jeong has a better chance of getting a stoppage win than Yi. But, the latter has great grappling stats. He averages an obscene 7.83 takedowns per fight. To counter that, Lee averages 10.77 strikes per minute.
So it will be interesting to see whether Yi can implement his potent grappling skills to neutralize Lee’s striking skills or not. If the grappling doesn’t work, Jeong Yeong Lee will definitely get his hand raised at UFC Vegas 68.
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