UFC Takeaways: Song collects technical decision victory after Cejudo bows out
There was a great deal to digest and unpack from an all-action evening inside the Octagon, so let’s get into the UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song takeaways.
A mellow week in overcast Seattle gave way to a violent evening at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, as the UFC returned to the Pacific Northwest hub for the first time in nearly a dozen years with a revamped fight card that left the packed house frequently picking their jaws up off the floor.
There was a great deal to digest and unpack from an all-action evening inside the Octagon, so let’s get into the UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song takeaways.
A CONTROVERSIAL CLOSE TO THE EVENING
Had Henry Cejudo not finished the third round, Saturday’s main event in Seattle would have ended in a no-contest. Instead, the former champion pushed through the final minute of the round before bowing out, resulting in Song Yadong collecting a technical decision victory and Cejudo suffering a third straight loss.
Song was the sharper and quicker of the two throughout the opening 15 minutes of the highly anticipated bantamweight clash, stifling each of Cejudo’s attempts to get inside and wrestle while landing with precision and speed as the two exchanged on the feet. While the former champion had positive moments of his own standing, he just couldn’t find enough sustained success to keep Song from pressing forward and landing.
The turning point of the contest came late in the third round when Song, unfortunately, poked Cejudo in the eye while pawing forward with his lead hand as the ex-titleholder came forward. Cejudo took the full five minutes to recover, continued to the end of the round, and then bowed out when his vision didn’t return, and he felt unable to do so safely.
While the ending was somewhat anticlimactic, this remains a major victory for the 27-year-old Song, who said he was more than ready to pivot to a matchup with anyone available in the Top 5 when informed that UFC CEO Dana White wasn’t particularly interested in seeing him face off with Cejudo for a second time.
“My goal is world champion, so whatever UFC will give me,” Song said at his post-fight media availability following the event. “Whoever is ranked above; give me (someone) ranked above me. I can fight Sean O’Malley.”
A date with “Suga Sean” is unlikely to materialize, but this could be the time to make a bout between Song and Umar Nurmagomedov finally. The duo was briefly linked to a bout in Macau last November, but it failed to come together, as Nurmagomedov was ultimately slotted into a championship opportunity.
Having come up short in his battle with Merab Dvalishvili earlier this year, Song is in a position to fight forward again potentially, and with few names available in the bantamweight division, a five-round main event between the two could be an entertaining addition to the mix for the summer.
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ANTHONY HERNANDEZ IS A GENUINE PROBLEM
It’s one thing to stack wins as you’re working your way forward in your division, but to keep doing so once you break into the rankings is something entirely different. Anthony Hernandez ran his winning streak to seven in the penultimate bout of the UFC’s return to Seattle, out-wrestling former LFA opponent Brendan Allen, making it clear that he’s a genuine problem in the suddenly fascinating middleweight division.
All three rounds were grimy, scramble-heavy frames, with each man having moments of success in the first two stanzas before the 31-year-old Northern California native largely controlled the action in the third, leaning on his conditioning and pressure to keep Allen in a defensive posture on the canvas for the majority of the frame.
I said in the preamble to this weekend’s fight card that Hernandez gives me “attacking Belal Muhammad vibes,” and I stand by it further after watching this one up close. Though he wasn’t able to find a finish, there is no point where Hernandez isn’t looking to do damage, secure a finish, or advance to a position where he could potentially do one of those two things. While his aggression cost him positioning a couple of times in the first two rounds, it’s the kind of thing you live with if you’re his coach (or Hernandez himself) because it’s what makes him special and dangerous.
And Hernandez is unquestionably both.
The middleweight landscape has been changing in recent years, and the division has been featured prominently this month, with several of the results further contributing to the ongoing renovations happening in the rankings.
Beating Allen is a big feather in Hernandez’s cap, as the Louisiana native entered at No. 9 and had only lost to newly minted No. 1 contender Nassourdine Imavov in recent years. Another matchup with someone positioned ahead of him in the Top 10 should be in order, and while all those names are established and dangerous, Hernandez should not be taken lightly by anyone.
His blend of quality striking and grappling, coupled with his incredible pressure and pace, make him a formidable opponent for anyone in the Top 10, and with another win or two this year, “Fluffy” could find himself on the short list of title contenders in the 185-pound weight class.
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GOOD ‘LORD’
Jean “Lord” Silva continues to make noise in the featherweight division, registering his fourth consecutive stoppage win since joining the UFC roster, dispatching Melsik Baghdasaryan in the waning seconds of the opening round on Saturday.
Humble and grateful for the opportunities afforded him throughout the week, the 28-year-old Fighting Nerds representative transforms into a punishing menace as soon as the bright lights come on. Even then, he’s still all smiles, but he hits like an absolute truck, relishes the opportunity to show out, and absolutely did so again this weekend.
After he and Baghdasaryan traded blows, smiles, and high-fives for much of the opening stanza, Silva stepped into a right hand that put the Glendale Fighting Club representative on the canvas. Silva waited to follow up, giving referee Kevin McDonald a chance to halt the action then and there. When he didn’t, Silva swarmed and closed things out before activating celebration mode.
One of the top newcomers last year, this always felt like a strange matchup after Silva stopped Charles Jourdain and Drew Dober in back-to-back outings two weeks apart last summer. He not only showed on Saturday that he was, indeed, a level above Baghdasaryan, but that he’s also a legitimate dark horse in the division.
Featherweight is on the cusp of major changes up and down the rankings, and it shouldn’t be too much longer before Silva finds himself getting the opportunity to face ranked opposition or brandishing a number next to his name, for that matter.
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BANTAMWEIGHT REMAINS THE BEST
In the lead-up to this weekend’s fight card, I broke down the bantamweight division in detail, highlighting the critical “veteran versus prospect” battles between Rob Font and Jean Matsumoto, which was fought at a 140-pound catchweight as it came together on short notice, and Ricky Simón and Javid Basharat.
When the tandems hit the Octagon on Saturday night, the bouts served as massive reminders that the 135-pound weight class is the deepest, most competitive division in the UFC and how important it is to have talented veterans scattered throughout every weight class.
Font and Matsumoto went the distance, with the tenured veteran getting the better of things in an entertaining battle that ended in a split decision. The veteran, who has been preparing at Tristar Gym for each of his last two outings, was on point with his striking throughout, leaving Matsumoto busted up and bleeding in the third. However, the Brazilian refused to relent, pushing and throwing right through to the final horn.
Earlier in the night, Simon delivered an emphatic finish in his return to the Pacific Northwest, knocking out Basharat with a perfect right hand late in the first round. It was the kind of victory that cements the former Top 15 picture as the kind of dangerous veteran talent every division needs up and down the ranks, with Simon occupying a space just outside the rankings.
The level of skill and talent from the top to the bottom of the 135-pound weight class remains unmatched, as it’s a deeper, more competitive field than any other in the UFC today, and these results served as a reminder of that on Saturday.
The veterans weren’t ready to cede their ground to the upstarts, but both Matsumoto and Basharat should be better going forward for having gone through these battles. Tough fights are crucial for growth, and in several other divisions, there just aren’t veterans like Font and Simon standing in the way of their younger counterparts at this place in the hierarchy.
Every victory at bantamweight carries real weight and genuine heft, while the setbacks give you a more accurate depiction of where the vanquished fall in the pecking order. These contests were a reminder of that, and it should continue to remain that way in the division for the foreseeable future.
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BUSINESS PICKING UP AT MIDDLEWEIGHT
The prelims featured a pair of middleweight contests that produced second-round finishes and added the victors’ names to the growing list of ascending talents to track in the 185-pound weight class.
In the second bout of the evening, Nursulton Ruziboev put newcomer Eric McConico away seconds into the middle stanza, registering his third finish in as many appearances when competing at middleweight in the UFC. The towering Uzbekistan native clearly has quality power, and working with the crew at Marquez MMA should ensure that he continues to make strides as he gets deeper into his UFC career, as excellent training partners and a collection of sharp coaches surround him.
Two fights later, unbeaten DWCS graduate Mansur Abdul-Malik somehow managed to remain upright despite eating a spinning backfist from Nick Klein in the first, then rallied to finish his fellow DWCS alum in the second. Just eight fights into his professional career, this feels like it will stand as a “right of passage” moment for the 27-year-old, as every ascending hopeful needs to go through a couple of dicey moments in order to grow inside the Octagon.
No division has sent more athletes into the UFC cage thus far in 2025, and the variety of results produced thus far has shown that the once shallow ranks are becoming deeper, with a ton of promising talent starting to turn up and make some noise.
