Yadong
Song took another step forward in the Ultimate Fighting
Championship bantamweight division—albeit an anticlimactic one—and
settled for a technical unanimous decision over Henry
Cejudo in the
UFC Fight Night 252 headliner on Saturday at Climate Pledge
Arena in Seattle. All three members of the cageside judiciary
scored it for Song (22-8-1, 11-3-1 UFC): 29-28, 29-28 and
30-27.
An inadvertent eye poke left Cejudo (16-5, 12-5 UFC) unable to
continue after the third round. Fans in attendance lustily booed
the outcome.
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Song seemed to be in control up until the finish. The Team Alpha
Male standout tore into Cejudo’s lead leg with damaging kicks,
often forcing him to switch stances to shield the appendage from
further exposure. Song countered effectively throughout, used
occasional level changes to keep the onetime Olympic gold medalist
honest and leaned into potent jabs. Cejudo was effective in spurts
but seemed to be trending downward at the time the foul occurred
late in the middle stanza. He exhausted his allotted five minutes
to recover, finished the round and informed his corner he was
seeing double out of his left eye, leading referee Jason Herzog to
call for the stoppage.
Meanwhile, Anthony
Hernandez improved to 2-0 in his head-to-head series against
fellow former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Brendan
Allen with a three-round unanimous decision in their
middleweight co-main event. Hernandez (14-2, 8-2 UFC)—who won their
first meeting on points under the LFA banner in 2018—swept the
scorecards with matching 29-28 marks across the board.
Allen (24-7, 12-4 UFC) was his own worst enemy at times. After a
strong close to the first round, the Kill Cliff Fight Club never
pushed Hernandez out of his comfort zone. The MMA Gold Fight Team
product outpaced, outgrappled and outmaneuvered Allen, winning a
majority of the many scrambles between them. Hernandez kept his
foot on the accelerator in Round 3, leaned on his superior
conditioning and piled up copious amounts of control time, often
pairing it with steady ground-and-pound from advantageous
positions.
Hernandez heads into his next assignment on a seven-fight winning
streak.
Further down the lineup, ex-CES MMA champion Rob Font held
his place in the Top 10 with a nip-tuck split decision over the
previously unbeaten Jean
Matsumoto in a three-round catchweight showcase at 140 pounds.
All three judges scored it 29-28: Sal D’Amato for Matsumoto, Derek
Cleary and Michael Bell for Font.
A short-notice replacement for the now-retired Dominick
Cruz, Matsumoto (16-1, 2-1 UFC) undoubtedly boosted his stock
in defeat. The Inside MMA prospect traded with Font on the feet,
tipped his spear with punishing leg kicks and struck for multiple
takedowns. Font (22-8, 12-7 UFC) stayed composed, returned to his
feet after being grounded and landed the most memorable blow of the
fight: an upward elbow that opened a significant cut on the
Brazilian’s forehead in the third round. With the outcome still in
doubt, the two combatants spent the final 30 seconds hurling power
punches at one another.
Font, 37, has posted back-to-back wins for the first time in almost
three years.
Elsewhere, fast-rising Fighting Nerds star Jean Silva
disposed of Melsik
Baghdasaryan with punches and elbows in the first round of
their featherweight attraction.
Baghdasaryan (8-3, 3-2 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:15 into Round 1,
losing for the second time in three appearances.
Silva (15-2, 4-0 UFC) bided his time as he poked and prodded the
Glendale Fight Club product with punches and kicks from distance.
Baghdasaryan answered with sharp jabs, sneaky counters and even an
open-handed slap. It was not enough to throw the Brazilian off the
scent. Silva uncorked a left hook and followed it with a vicious
straight right that floored his opponent. He then looked to referee
Kevin
MacDonald to call for the stoppage before pouncing on a badly
dazed Baghdasaryan with punches to the head and elbows to the body
that tied up loose ends.
The 28-year-old Silva has rattled off 12 straight victories, 11 of
them finishes.
Finally, Fortis MMA’s Alonzo
Menifield rebounded from consecutive knockout losses to
Carlos
Ulberg and Azamat
Murzakanov with a grueling split decision over organizational
newcomer Julius
Walker in a three-round light heavyweight appetizer. Judge
Brianne Davis saw it 29-28 for Walker, while D’Amato and Cleary
scored it 29-28 and 30-27 for Menifield.
Walker (6-1, 0-1 UFC) troubled his far more experienced adversary
in the clinch for much of the first round, unleashing knees, elbows
and punches at close range. However, he exhausted himself with a
series of unsuccessful takedown attempts. Menifield (16-5-1, 9-5-1
UFC) seemed to right the ship in the middle stanza, where he
connected in combination and landed the cleaner, more powerful
punches. Neither man had much in the tank for the final five
minutes, as they both were warned for what appeared to be
fatigue-induced fouls. Menifield was the aggressor down the stretch
and did just enough to get his hand raised.
The win was Walker’s first since Dec. 16, 2023.
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