Song Yadong Discusses UFC’s Delayed Approach
Song Yadong did beat Henry Cejudo in their February 2025 Seattle main event, but the bout ended after three rounds when an eye poke left Cejudo unable to continue. The judges awarded Song a technical decision. Song has since lost to Sean O’Malley, submitted Deiveson Figueiredo, and knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov. The old description of him being “frozen” needs context: before the Cejudo booking, Song had endured his longest break between fights, but he also said the matchup had been planned earlier and delayed after Cejudo was injured.
Song entered the Seattle main event looking to build on wins over Chris Gutiérrez and Ricky Simón. His bout with Cejudo was a significant step: Cejudo was a former champion in two weight classes and an Olympic wrestling gold medalist. The event’s official listing for the February 22, 2025 Seattle card confirms the matchup and date.
What “frozen” meant before the Cejudo booking
In a pre-fight interview, Song said the promotion had wanted him to fight Cejudo in September, but Cejudo was injured, so the pairing eventually came together for Seattle. MMA Fighting’s February 2025 report records that explanation. The promotion’s own pre-fight profile described Seattle as Song’s longest layoff since joining its roster, which supports that he had waited longer than usual, but not that officials deliberately froze him out.
That distinction matters. Song had not competed since a March 2024 decision loss to Petr Yan; his official fight history confirms the long gap before Seattle. The record establishes that the layoff was real, but not that it resulted from a deliberate matchmaking freeze. Song’s own account pointed to a particular explanation for the Cejudo delay: an earlier target date fell through after his opponent’s injury. The Seattle booking then gave him a high-profile chance to move closer to a title fight.
Seattle win ended in a technical decision
The fight lasted three rounds. Song was ahead on the judges’ scorecards when an eye poke prevented Cejudo from continuing before the fourth round. Because the bout had passed the threshold for a technical decision, the judges’ totals determined the winner: 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27 for Song. The official scorecards confirm those totals, and the promotion’s Seattle results recap records the technical-decision result.
The ending was unsatisfying for both fighters and left open questions about what a full five-round contest might have shown. It should not, however, be described as a knockout or as a clean finish. Song earned the official win under the rules after the accidental foul stopped the fight, and the scorecards show he had taken each judge’s decision through three rounds. Cejudo asked for a rematch afterward, but the promotion did not book one; Dana White publicly rejected an immediate rematch after the event.
How Song’s career moved on
Song’s next major test came against Sean O’Malley on January 24, 2026. O’Malley won a competitive three-round unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 29-28. The official scorecards for the Las Vegas event document the result. That loss interrupted Song’s push up the bantamweight rankings, but he returned to winning form later in the year.
On May 30, 2026, Song submitted former champion Deiveson Figueiredo with a guillotine choke in the second round of their Macau main event. MMA Fighting’s event report describes the finish at 4:42. Three months later, Song met Umar Nurmagomedov in Shanghai and stopped him with a right uppercut at 1:48 of Round 2. The official Shanghai results list the knockout, a major win over a leading contender.
The story is therefore no longer about whether Song would eventually get an opportunity. The Cejudo matchup materialized and produced a technical-decision win; later fights brought a setback against O’Malley, a submission victory over Figueiredo, and the knockout of Nurmagomedov. Those outcomes provide a clearer account of Song’s progress than the original speculation that he was being held back. The original claim is best understood as a fighter’s frustration with a long gap between appearances, not proof of a deliberate matchmaking freeze.
