Prediction: Daniel Santos inside the distance
Yoo’s already proven you can’t just rush in on him. He’s sharp enough to punish reckless entries, and with Santos, that’s exactly what makes Round 1 so dicey. Santos is chaos. He pushes a ridiculous pace, throws volume nonstop, and honestly fights like defense is optional. That means Yoo’s going to land clean in the first, probably more than once, and the question will be if Santos can eat it and keep coming. The thing is, we’ve already seen he can. He’s been cracked with knockout-level shots before, stayed on his feet, and just kept walking guys down. That relentless pressure is what breaks opponents, because no matter how much you hit him, he doesn’t back off, and he doesn’t gas out.
Yoo is well rounded and definitely not a pushover. He’s got striking, he understands the grappling, and he’s patient enough to capitalize when fighters overextend. But the issue for him here is the wrestling and scramble game. Santos is faster in transitions, and when he decides to commit, he usually wins those hustle exchanges. Yoo’s shown that if you go all in on getting him down, you can find success controlling him, and that’s where Santos’ pace and persistence should pay off. Once the fight gets past the early danger, Santos has way more tools to start taking over: higher volume on the feet, endless cardio, and the ability to mix in takedowns or scrambles to keep Yoo reacting instead of dictating.
So while Round 1 is a landmine for Santos, the longer this fight goes, the clearer it becomes. Yoo’s best window is early when Santos’ defense is wide open, but if he can’t get him out of there, Santos’ pressure and grappling advantage are going to wear him down.