UFC Seattle: Cejudo vs. Song
Song Yadong defeated Henry Cejudo by technical decision after an accidental eye poke forced the bout to end after three rounds.
Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong met in the main event at Climate Pledge Arena on February 22, 2025, in a five-round bantamweight contest. What had been promoted as a clash between Cejudo’s Olympic-level wrestling and Song’s fast, forceful striking ended abruptly after an accidental eye poke in the third round left Cejudo unable to continue. The fight went to the scorecards, where Song earned a technical decision by scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. The official judges’ scorecards record the result and all three tallies.
A competitive fight ends on an eye poke
The main event had been competitive through three rounds, with both men finding moments in the striking exchanges. Song brought forward pressure and quick combinations, while Cejudo continued to look for ways to blend his wrestling into the fight. The accidental foul came late in the third. Cejudo received time to recover and completed the round, but he could not safely continue after the break. Because the bout passed the threshold for a technical decision, the judges’ completed-round scores determined the winner.
The event recap describes the stoppage as an anticlimactic end to an otherwise active main event. Song was credited with the victory on all three cards. That distinction matters: this was not a conventional decision after the scheduled five rounds, nor a knockout or submission. It was a technical decision after Cejudo was unable to continue following the foul.
A major win, with an unfinished feeling
For Song, the result marked an important win over a former two-division champion and added a high-profile name to his record. His speed and willingness to press the action had been central to the matchup’s intrigue, and the official result gave him the victory in Seattle. At the same time, the early ending left the fight without the final two rounds that might have clarified how each fighter would adjust as fatigue set in. The scorecards provide the formal outcome, while the circumstances explain why the result prompted debate among fans.
Cejudo entered the bout seeking to reassert himself among the bantamweight contenders after time away from competition and two losses in his comeback. He showed his usual mix of striking and wrestling, but the injury prevented him from seeing the contest through. The stoppage should not be framed as a normal late-fight retirement: the official recap says an unintentional eye poke left him unable to continue. That context is essential when assessing both the result and the performance.
What the result leaves open
The five-round main event was expected to test whether Cejudo could impose his grappling against Song’s striking over a longer distance. Instead, the technical decision settled the official outcome without resolving every question the matchup raised. Song left Seattle with the win, and Cejudo with a loss that came after an accidental foul made continuation impossible. The embedded interview shows Song speaking with the promotion after the result, offering a direct post-fight reaction from the arena.
The matchup still stands as a notable bantamweight meeting because of the experience and contrasting strengths both fighters brought into the cage. Its record-book result is clear: Song Yadong defeated Henry Cejudo by technical decision, 29-28 on two cards and 30-27 on the third. The route to that result was unusual, and keeping the eye-poke stoppage in view gives readers a fuller account of what happened in Seattle.
