For the rough patch that Chinese-born fighters had in the UFC Macau card on May 30, it all seemed to pay off for the native crowd in the end when Song Yadong had his moment. And in one of the biggest opportunities in his career, Yadong has shown why he is in the upper echelon of the UFC’s bantamweight contenders.
Yadong took on Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC Macau main event. Prior to that, it was a series of unfortunate events for those fighters competing in their homeland:
- Zhu Kangjie was viciously knocked out by Rodrigo Vera.
- Former ONE strawweight champion Xiong Jingnan was dominated by Angela Hill.
- Aori Qileng was stopped by Cody Haddon.
- Ding Meng fell on the wrong end of a split decision.
- Su Mudaerji’s fight with Alex Perez ended inconclusively after a groin shot.
- Zhang Mingyang was knocked out by a 38-year-old Alonzo Menifield.
With the way things were playing out, momentum didn’t seem so good for Yadong. But Yadong was also a -600 favorite heading into the fight with Figueiredo. Even though Figueiredo is a former flyweight champion, he has struggled of late at 135, and he entered this fight a +400 underdog.
Yadong then proved those odds were the odds for a reason by fighting one of the most perfect fights in his career. Firstly, it helped that Figueiredo didn’t do anything of much in the first round – in fact, he threw just six strikes. But it was also Yadong pounding the former UFC champ’s leg with repeated kicks and stuffing takedown attempts.
The only negative against Yadong during the first round was a late slip, which caused Figueiredo an opportunity to jump on top and end the round there. Fortunately, not much was done.
Yadong’s striking output then increased in the second round, landing 30 strikes, with half of them being deemed significant. He also continued to defend the takedown, which was a noted key to victory for Yadong – a proven striker – against someone with the grappling prowess of Figueiredo.
Having said that, the finishing sequence involved Figueiredo looking to use his grappling edge, only to have it backfire in a major way. As Figueiredo went in for another takedown attempt, Yadong was ready. Not only did he defend it, he locked Figueiredo in a guillotine choke. It didn’t take long for Yadong to sink the choke in, and it didn’t take long for Figueiredo to submit to the hold.
It was one of the best wins, if not the best win, the Team Alpha Male product has ever had in the UFC. And that has to mean a big opportunity is in his way for his next outing.
The question becomes who that next fight is against. Yadong, who entered this fight at No. 5 in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings, has fought most of the names surrounding him. A new opportunity could come against Aiemann Zahabi, but that probably happens only if Zahabi loses to Sean O’Malley on the White House card. Former champion Merab Dvalishvili presents a new matchup, too; however, that’d probably only happen if he loses a rematch with Yan before Yadong fights again.
Nevertheless, things look great for Yadong. And when you consider he’s already a UFC veteran with plenty of fights under him at just 28 years old, he might still have more of a bright future ahead of him.
