SEATTLE — Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong had a lot to fight for on Saturday, but the outcome of their UFC Fight Night headliner won’t satisfy anyone. The promotion’s first visit to Seattle in 12 years came to a disappointing conclusion after an eye poke rendered Cejudo unable to continue.
Saturday’s main event went to a technical decision after the conclusion of Round 3. Song caught Cejudo with a nasty eye poke, bringing the fight to a screeching halt. Cejudo burned the five-minute recovery window allocated for the foul before resuming action. Cejudo made it to the end of the round; however, he immediately told his corner that he could not see. After some discussion with the corner, Jason Herzog made the decision that he would start the round, call a timeout for the doctor and send the fight to the scorecards.
Since three of the five scheduled rounds were completed, the fight went to a technical decision. The judges’ scorecards from the first three rounds were tabulated to determine the winner. Song was awarded the win with scores reading 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. Had Cejudo refused to continue fighting after the eye poke, the fight would have ended in a no-contest. By choosing to complete Round 3, Cejudo secured his own defeat.
Song led the dance, outstriking Cejudo by a small margin in the three rounds. Cejudo failed to weaponize his Olympic wrestling pedigree but showed championship spirit by launching hard strikes back at Song, 11 years his junior.
“We’re about to be brothers, Bisping…” Cejudo told UFC commentator Michael Bisping, who famously lost his eye after a fight with Vitor Belfort, post-fight. “I can’t see from the left. I wanted to continue but if I can’t see, he’s going to hurt me.”
“Sorry, that was totally an accident,” Song said during his post-fight interview. “This result is not what I want. I’m so sorry, Henry. He’s a legend. We should run this back. I’m sorry fans.”
Song scored the biggest win of his career despite the circumstances. The record books will show that he defeated a former two-division UFC champion. Cejudo is now on the first losing streak of his career, losing all three fights since returning from retirement.
