*Featured Bout*
Featherweight, Xie Bin (14-6) vs. Yudi Cahyadi (7-2)
Xie Bin
Pros:
-Submission threat/Excellent d’arce choke
-Fights long well
-Good wrestling
-Good ground and pound
-Dangerous jumping knee
-Solid Jiu-Jitsu
-Long Jab
Cons:
-Loose in positions
-TDD needs work
-Easily hit
-Sloppy at times
Bin has had multiple opportunities to reach the UFC but has come up short in each. He fought in the Contender Series in 2021 and in the Road to UFC in 2022 and 2024. At this point, Bin is like a squatter with tenant rights. It’s not like Bin is a better fighter because he’s actually quite competitive. It’s just that his process sucks; he’s a terrible minute-winner and fails to put it together.
Yudi Cahyadi
Pros:
-Fast starter
-Good kicks
-Relentless ground and pound
Cons:
-Poor cardio
-Terrible takedown defense
-Poor position control
-Can be flat-footed
-Will telegraph everything
What’s a Road to UFC season without the annual Indonesian MMA “filler” storyline? To his credit, Cahyadi is a fun fighter in spots, and at 34 years old, coming from a smaller camp with limited activity, expectations are naturally tempered.
Early in fights, he does bring some danger. He’s explosive and fairly dynamic with his kicking game—he’ll spin, attack with side kicks, and look to go upstairs when openings present themselves. There’s a bit of unpredictability there that can make him awkward to deal with in the opening minutes.
He’s not a strong wrestler, but he does have decent hip strength that helps him resist some takedowns and create moments in scrambles or when he’s put on his back. His jiu-jitsu is serviceable at a basic level, but once he’s forced into sustained grappling exchanges or bad positions, the technical gaps become more obvious—his grips aren’t great, and he can be controlled or shaken off fairly easily.
The biggest issue is how quickly his effectiveness drops off. After the first five minutes, his speed, timing, and explosiveness tend to fade, and his attacks become more predictable and easier to read. That decline makes it hard for him to sustain success over a full fight. Even his win over former UFC fighter Rocky Lee back in 2019 doesn’t carry much weight at this point, given the time gap and overall trajectory.
Prediction:
Cahyadi’s path is a first-round finish, but Bin is hard to finish. The only time he was finished in round one was against a much better fighter. I think Bin is clearly the better fighter in every way. Cleaner on the feet and more complete on the mat. More importantly, he has better cardio. That I believe will lead to a late-round submission victory for Bin.
