UFC veteran Kang Kyung-ho will fight Danaa Batgerel at UFC 275 this Saturday. The fight will take place in the Bantamweight division and it will occur in the early prelims of the event. While this will be Kang’s first appearance in almost 7 months, Batgerel has previously fought in March of this year.
Nicknamed Mr. Perfect, Kang Kyung-ho started fighting in April of 2007. He fought Jae Hyun So in his first professional MMA bout in a promotion called Spirit MC. Despite getting off to a winning start, Kang was pretty inconsistent throughout the first 5 years of his career.
Before fighting Shoko Sato in Road FC, Kyung-ho had a record of 8-6 up until that point. He then won 3 straight fights against Sato, Jae Hoon Moon, and Andrew Leone. After that, he fought Alex Caceres in 2013 on his UFC debut. Since then, he has had a UFC record of 6–3-1.
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Danaa Batgerel is a Mongolian MMA fighter who started his professional career in 2011. He became a UFC fighter in August of 2019. Before that, Danaa had a professional record of 9-1. Interestingly, he beat Kai Kara-France before joining the UFC.
UFC 275 Early Prelims, Kang Kyung-ho vs Danaa Batgerel: Stats
Stats | Kang Kyung-ho | Danaa Batgerel |
---|---|---|
Wins | 17 | 12 |
Losses | 9 | 3 |
Height | 1.75 m | 1.7 m |
Division | Bantamweight | Bantamweight |
Reach | 185.4 cm | 177.8 cm |
Age | 34 | 32 |
Can Danaa Batgerel outmuscle Kang Kyung-ho?
On paper, this is a contest between two fighters who have completely opposing skill sets. While Kang Kyung-ho is an exceptional grappler with 11 submissions, Danaa Batgerel is a phenomenal knockout artist with 8 KO wins. Who will get his hand raised this Saturday? Let’s find out what to expect from this fight.
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Throughout the duration of his UFC career, Kang has averaged 2.23 takedowns per fight. He has a high takedown accuracy of 59%. The South Korean fighter also attempts 0.9 submissions per fight. He does not have a bad striking record either. Kyung-ho lands and absorbs 2.56 and 2.36 strikes per minute respectively. In almost 10 years in the UFC, Kang has only been knocked down once.
Batgerel has been a dominant finisher so far in the UFC. Danaa won via KO/TKO against Brandon Davis, Kevin Natividad, and Guido Cannetti. He lands 5.66 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.45. It proves how dominant he is on the feet.
Over the years, Kang Kyung-ho has been incredibly hard to finish. He has been knocked out only one time so far in a career that has spanned 15 years. Hence, he will look to replicate what Alatengheili did against Batgerel. The 34-year-old will try to survive the early storm and then control Danaa on the ground.
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Both fighters are coming off losses in their last fights. Hence there will be an advantage in terms of momentum. Although Kyung-ho may be slightly ahead based on skills, Danaa Batgerel will certainly be a live underdog due to his destructive nature of fighting.