Song Yadong claimed a controversial victory over Henry Cejudo in the bantamweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, on the morning of Sunday 23 February.
The fight, which was scheduled to be five rounds, ended after just three via a technical decision, with Cejudo unable to continue due to an accidental eye poke from his opponent.
The incident happened in the third round and Cejudo used up the five-minute recovery window before completing the round. However, he then told his corner that he could not see, with referee Jason Herzog deciding that he would start a new round, call a timeout for the doctor and send the fight to the scorecards.
This fight has been stopped after 3 rounds.@SongYaDongLFG wins via technical decision. pic.twitter.com/S7VRyl6pcR
— UFC (@ufc) February 23, 2025
Song was awarded the win with scores reading 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. Had Cejudo refused to continue fighting after the eye poke, the fight would have ended in a no-contest.
“We're about to be brothers, Bisping..." Cejudo told UFC commentator Michael Bisping, who famously lost his eye after a fight with Vitor Belfort, post-fight. "I can't see from the left. I wanted to continue but if I can't see, he's going to hurt me."
Song, in his post-fight interview, said, "Sorry, that was totally an accident. This result is not what I want. I'm so sorry, Henry. He's a legend. We should run this back. I'm sorry, fans."
The rest of the main card featured decision wins for Anthony Hernandez over Brendan Allen in the middleweights division, as well as Rob Font over Jean Matsumoto in a 140lb catchweight figh. Jean Silva finished Melsik Baghdasaryan in the first round of their featherweight match; and Alonzo Menifield outpointed Julius Walker in their light heavyweight opener.
The UFC continues next weekend with a Fight Night at the Apex Facility in Las Vegas, headlined by a flyweight fight pitting Angola’s Manel Kape against Asu Almabayev.
UFC Fight Night: Cejudo v Song main card results
- Main event: Bantamweight: Song Yadong def. Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 30-27), R3, 5:00
- Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez def. Brendan Allen via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Catchweight (140 lb): Rob Font def. Jean Matsumoto via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Featherweight: Jean Silva def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via TKO (punches & elbows), R1, 4:15
- Light heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield def. Julius Walker via split decision (29-28 30-27 28-29), R3, 5:00