‘Kung Fu Kid’ got his hand raised in his fourth main event spotlight but it was a bittersweet victory for him.
Having debuted in the UFC back in 2017, Song Yadong has shown a lot of promise as a 15-fight Octagon veteran at just 27-years-old.
He has faced some tough opposition in the past but this past Saturday night in Seattle, the #8-ranked bantamweight contender had a big opportunity on his hands.
Henry Cejudo looked to break a two-fight skid to earn his first win since returning to the UFC in 2023 when he met Yadong at the Climate Pledge Arena.
On paper, February 22 should be remembered for being the biggest win of his career to date but Song was left with some disappointment after the way that the fight ended.
Song Yadong says he feels bad for Henry Cejudo after he lost the fight via a technical decision
After suffering a significant eye poke in the third round, Henry Cejudo decided to keep on fighting against Song Yadong after taking the full five-minute recovery period.
The fight was then called off as soon as the fourth round started meaning that the bout was decided by a technical decision with all three judges scoring the fight for Yadong at the time of the stoppage.
For the Team Alpha Male fighter, he just beat a former bantamweight champion but he wasn’t able to relish in the victory after the way that it ended.
Song said in his post-fight press conference that the manner of the win had put a dampener on the result itself.
“That was totally an accident. I’m not so happy with that. It is what it is. I feel bad. I feel bad for Henry.”
One of the biggest talking points regarding the fight was the decision for Cejudo to keep fighting which meant that he came out for the fourth round where the bout was stopped.
Having completed three rounds, it then went to the scorecards via a technical decision which would clearly result in a loss for ‘Triple C’.
If he had told the referee or doctor during the recovery period that he couldn’t see out of the injured eye, the fight would have been declared a no contest rather than declaring either man as the winner.
Song recognized this during his press conference, adding that this is why he feels empathy towards his opponent in this moment.
“I saw that (would’ve been) a no contest, that’s why I feel so bad.”
What’s next for Song Yadong?
In his post-fight interview inside the Octagon, Song Yadong suggested a rematch between him and Henry Cejudo but this was quickly shut down by Dana White.
The Chinese fighter also pitched in his press conference that he welcomes former champion Sean O’Malley back to the Octagon but this also seems unlikely given the gap between them in the rankings.
A rematch with Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera of their closely contested 2020 bout over five rounds could be an option, as could Rob Font who also won on the same night.
Whilst Jose Aldo may be ranked several places below him in the rankings, this would be another big and exciting spot for Song, otherwise you’re looking at the very top names like Umar Nurmagomedov.