Song Yadong secured a dominant points win over Chris Gutierrez in the bantamweight main event of the final UFC Fight Night of 2023, held at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Song, who moves to 27-1-1 (1 NC), was the more focused and disciplined of the two fighters, using his wrestling to turn a competitive fight in the first round and a half into a shutout on the judges score cards: 50-44, 50-45, 50-45.
After the fight, Yadong complained that nobody in the top 15 other than Gutierrez was willing to fight him before calling out former champion Petr Yan.
“I’m coming to get the belt,” Song said. “Next one, Petr, sign the contract. Tomorrow I’m going back to train. I know you want to fight in March. OK, let’s go in March.”
The rest of the main card saw Khalil Rountree Jr overcome Anthony Smith with a third-round TKO in their light heavyweight co-main event; Nasrat Haqparast made quick work of Jamie Mullarkey with a first-round TKO in the lightweight division; Tim Elliott submitted Su Mudaerji in a bantamweight match; and the middleweight opener brought a split decision win for Andre Muniz over Park Jun-yong.
Next Sunday, December 17, brings UFC 296 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by a welterweight championship fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington.
UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Gutierrez – Main card results
- Main event: Bantamweight: Song Yadong def. Chris Gutierrez via unanimous decision (50-44 50-45 50-45), R5, 5:00
- Light heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr def. Anthony Smith via TKO (punches), R3, 0:56
- Lightweight: Nasrat Haqparast def. Jamie Mullarkey via TKO (punches), R1, 1:44
- Bantamweight: Tim Elliott def. Su Mudaerji via technical submission (arm-triangle choke), R1, 4:02
- Middleweight: Andre Muniz def. Park Jun-yong via split decision (29-28 28-29 29-28), R3, 5:00