This past Saturday Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong clashed in the UFC Seattle main event but unfortunately, things ended unceremoniously.
Despite being only 27 years old, Song Yadong is considered a UFC veteran after making the 15th appearance of his eight-year UFC tenure this past Saturday in Seattle against Henry Cejudo.
The ‘Kung Fu Kid’ was looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Petr Yan last March, looking to hand Cejudo his third loss in a row.
Although the 27-year-old picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, technically scoring a win over the former double champion, Song was left disappointed in how it came about.
Song Yadong calls out Sean O’Malley after Dana White rubbishes down rematch
After a relatively close three rounds, the doctor called a stop to the fight in the fourth round after Cejudo made an alarming admission that he couldn’t see anything out of his eye after suffering several eye pokes.
With the fight having passed the halfway mark, it ended up going to the scorecards where Yadong picked up the technical decision with two judges scoring it 29-28, and one scoring it 30-27 in the Chinese fighter’s favor.
Following the fight, both Song and Cejudo called for a potential rematch due to the unceremonious ending, however, UFC boss, Dana White shut down that potential.
And with that, the 27-year-old instead made a speculative callout of former bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley.
“So, my goal is to be world champion, so whatever these guys give me, my goal is to fight a guy who is ranked above me, if not Henry, (Sean) O’Malley. Give me O’Malley, I can fight any time,” Yadong said in the post-fight press conference.
Could Song Yadong get his wish granted?
O’Malley has been inactive since his title loss against Merab Dvalishvili last September and has been recovering from a labrum injury.
Although Yadong will now likely be ranked seventh in the 135lb division, it is unlikely that he will be offered a fight against the number one, ‘Suga’.
Having been a part of the bantamweight division for eight years, Yadong has fought several contenders already, making it difficult to match him up, however, there is one fighter he has yet to meet inside the Octagon.
Umar Nurmagomedov is coming off the back of a loss to Merab and will be looking to rebound with a win in an attempt to put himself back into title contention.