What happened in Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong fight at UFC Seattle? Explaining the main event ending and eye-poke controversy
The main event at UFC Seattle came to an anti-climatic end as an accidental eye-poke by Song Yadong rendered Henry Cejudo unable to continue the fight. While this didn't stop the judges from granting the win to one of the fighters, the how of the matter has confused many.
The fans in attendance at the Climate Pledge arena voiced their frustration with the result with loud boos. However, none were more unhappy with how the fight ended than the fighters themselves, who demanded an immediate rematch.
So what happened during the UFC Seattle main event? Let's find out.
Check out Song Yadong ask for a rematch against Henry Cejudo below:
What happened in Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong fight at UFC Seattle?
Safe to say Song Yadong dominated the fight for as far as it went on. While the Chinese had a bit of trouble dealing with 'Triple C's' feints and unorthodox striking in the first round, he quickly adjusted and outclassed the former champion in the second and third.
All was going well for 'Kungu Fu Kid' until a pivotal moment around the final minute of Round 3 when he accidentally poked his opponent in the eye. Henry Cejudo right away demanded referee Jason Herzog call a time-out, and even urged the official to deduct a point from his opponent.
While no points were deducted, Cejudo was allowed the full five minutes, as is the official time limit for fighters to recover from eye pokes. Fans, however, were furious with 'Triple C' taking the full recovery time, with many even speculating that Cejudo ended up taking more than five minutes.
However, concerns flared as 'Triple C' resorted to survival mode for the rest of the round. Once the round ended, the former champion informed his corner that he was unable to see out of his left eye and as a result was having a hard time seeing his opponent's movements.
Check out Henry Cejudo voice his concerns about his left eye below:
The ringside physician was called in, and after having a chat with Cejudo the doctor advised it was best to stop the contest.
The referee thereafter informed both teams that he was going to opt for a technical decision. In this case, the technical decision meant that judges' scorecards up to round three would be used to decide the winner.
Herzog then started Round 4 and immediately called a time-out, as is the procedure in such cases, and requested a technical decision. All three judges found the fight in favor of Yadong (29-28,29-28, 30-27).
Check out how the drama unfolded for Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong below:
Interestingly, had Cejudo opted not to continue the fight during the five-minute recovery time, the fight would have been ruled a no-contest.