Song Yadong Beats Cejudo by Technical Decision
Song Yadong defeated Henry Cejudo by technical decision in the main event at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Feb. 22, 2025. The fight was stopped after three rounds when Cejudo could not continue following an unintentional eye poke. The official event report lists Song as the winner.
How the Main Event Ended
An accidental eye poke interrupted the third round. Cejudo resumed and completed the round but could not continue afterward. Because three rounds had been completed, the judges’ cards determined the outcome: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for Song. The official scorecards confirm the technical decision.
A Scheduled Five-Round Contest
Before the event, the matchup was promoted as a test of Cejudo’s wrestling and championship experience against Song’s striking. The completed result was narrower and unusual: Song earned the win on the cards, while the unintentional foul ended the contest before the scheduled five rounds.
The matchup entering Seattle
The official weigh-in report identified Cejudo as the No. 7 bantamweight contender and Song as No. 8. Cejudo weighed 135 pounds, while Song weighed 136. The meeting paired a former champion in two divisions with a contender seeking a prominent win at bantamweight.
The interruption was followed by a full five-minute recovery period before Cejudo completed the third round. The final decision therefore used the scores from three completed rounds, rather than estimating how the remaining two rounds might have unfolded.
Reading the final scorecards
Two judges gave Song two of the three rounds, while the third scored all three for him. All agreed on the winner even though they differed on the round-by-round assessment. The technical-decision designation is an important part of the result: it records Song’s victory while explaining why a scheduled five-round main event ended after fifteen minutes of completed fighting.
Sources
Tags: MMA
