5 takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong
The UFC visited Seattle last night for a Fight Night event that turned out to be solid. A flurry of excellent finishes early in the show punctuated what was an injury-hit card.
UFC Fight Night: Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong did slow down somewhat as the main card got going, but for the most part, the fans more than got their money's worth.
With a number of talking points, too, this event will be one that is definitely discussed for a while.
Here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong.
#5. The UFC should've rewarded the preliminary fighters more handsomely
The UFC's post-fight bonus system regularly throws up talking points. Some observers believe it should be scrapped altogether, while others maintain that it helps to encourage more exciting performances by offering lower-paid fighters a bigger potential payout.
Last night, though, it definitely felt like the system didn't work quite as it should've done.
Four fighters received an extra $50k, with Jean Silva and Ricky Simon scoring Performance of the Night cheques and Alonzo Menifield and Julius Walker picking up the Fight of the Night award.
However, with all seven preliminary fights ending in excellent finishes, surely some of the victorious fighters also deserved some kind of bonus?
Austin Vanderford, for instance, took his bout on less than a week's notice and did an excellent job in dispatching foe Nikolay Veretennikov. Ion Cutelaba pulled an upset win over Ibo Aslan, while Modestas Bukauskas opened the night with a wicked knockout.
Despite this, the only prelim fighter to receive a disclosed bonus was Simon, who knocked out Javid Basharat.
It's possible that some of these fighters were paid under the table for their work last night. Even so, though, this event deserved more disclosed bonuses, particularly when finishes aren't as common in the UFC these days.
#4. Rob Font and Jean Matsumoto performed well in their late-notice scrap
The original co-headliner for last night's event would've seen Rob Font taking on former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. However, 'The Dominator' picked up an injury in training and decided to hang up his gloves, leaving Font without an opponent.
It looked like the Boston native would miss out on the event altogether, until midway through last week, when Jean Matsumoto accepted a bout with him on late notice.
Given that the fight was at a 140-pound catchweight, it was hard to know what to expect. However, it turned out to be an excellent fight that saw both men shine.
In the end, Font came away with a razor-close decision win, largely on the strength of a nasty third-round elbow that opened up a gash on his Brazilian foe.
Either way, though, both men came away with a lot of credit here. Font showed why he's probably the best gatekeeper at 135 pounds right now, while Matsumoto showed that he's got a bright future, even if he lost here.
Overall, this fight was the best on offer last night and probably should've earned the Fight of the Night award.
#3. Jean Silva's knockout was awesome, despite a criminal refereeing job
The best finish on offer last night was undoubtedly produced by Jean Silva. 'Lord' dispatched Melsik Baghdasaryan in the first round of their featherweight bout with some extreme violence.
A brutal one-two essentially did for 'The Gun' late in the first round, with Silva extending his record to 15-2, with four of those wins in the UFC. He's undoubtedly a potential future contender at 145 pounds.
However, it's also worth discussing the performance of referee Kevin MacDonald in this fight.
When 'Lord' landed the one-two that dropped Baghdasaryan, a blind man could've seen that the fight was over. Silva even stood off, hoping for MacDonald to step in.
The referee simply urged him to continue, though - resulting in 'The Gun' eating numerous follow-up shots that were simply unneccessary.
Refereeing gaffes in the UFC are thankfully rare, particularly ones that endanger a fighter, but this was a pretty egregious one. It was a great showing for Silva, but one that still left a bad taste.
#2. Not enough had changed for Brendan Allen to beat Anthony Hernandez this time around
Last night's co-headliner saw burgeoning middleweight contenders Brendan Allen and Anthony Hernandez face off. The two men had fought prior to their UFC careers, back in 2018, with Hernandez winning a decision.
This time around, Allen was hopeful of securing a victory and some semblance of revenge. Unfortunately for 'All In', not enough had changed in the seven years between the fights to allow him to come out on top.
It didn't look that way in the first round. Allen stunned 'Fluffy' with a head kick and then managed to scramble well on the ground, even ending the round by doing damage from the top.
The second and third rounds, though, looked a lot like the first fight. Despite Allen's best efforts, Hernandez seemed one step ahead in the grappling exchanges, got the better of them, and generally kept the pressure on.
When the fight went to the scorecards, it was no surprise to see 'Fluffy' get the nod. Riding a lengthy seven-fight win streak in the UFC, he should now move into title contention.
As for Allen, this was an unfortunate example that unless a fighter drastically changes style, a stylistically bad match for them will likely always be that way.
#1. An unfortunate eye poke shouldn't shield Henry Cejudo from the truth
Despite last night's UFC event being a largely entertaining one, the headline bout ended in anticlimactic fashion.
The bantamweight bout between Song Yadong and Henry Cejudo was stopped after the third round, when an inadvertant eye poke meant that 'Triple C' was unable to continue.
Due to this, Song was awarded a technical decision win, with both men suggesting afterwards that they'd like a rematch.
Unfortunately, the fact that Dana White later stated that he wasn't too keen on the idea of a second bout between the two told its own story.
The truth is that even before the controversial ending, Cejudo was on his way to losing this fight. Song was clearly getting the better of almost all of the striking exchanges thanks to his rapid jab and some nicely placed low kicks, and 'Triple C' didn't even land a takedown.
It wasn't a whitewash, but this certainly wasn't a vintage showing from Cejudo, and at the age of 38, the former champ should probably weigh up his options.
Song is a great fighter, but right now he's probably not quite in title contention. If 'Triple C' can't beat him, then he's not going to win the UFC title back, and if that's the case, what is he fighting for?
An athlete of his calibre shouldn't be reduced to fighting as a gatekeeper to the elite, not at his age. Maybe it'd be worth looking for a lesser opponent to go out on a win, but Cejudo really ought to consider hanging up his gloves again now.