Song Yadong got the better of Chris Gutierrez on the scorecards tonight in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC Fight Night 233.
Round One:
The main event is underway in Las Vegas!
Tentative leg kicks from Gutierrez. He misses on a front kick upstairs. Chopping low kick from Yadong.
Quick body kick from Gutierrez. Low kick for Yadong. He misses on a spinning backfist attempt. Calf kick for Gutierrez.
Overhand from Yadong, but Gutierrez backed away to avoid that. Yadong misses on another spinning backfist. Solid inside leg kick for Yadong.
Gutierrez feels out with an oblique kick. Inside leg kick for Yadong. Now one to the outside of the leg. Oblique kick for Gutierrez.
Leg kicks exchanged. Solid one-two for Yadong. Spinning backfist from Gutierrez comes off the guard. Solid leg kick from Yadong. Oblique kick from Gutierrez.
One-two from Yadong. Good left hand from Gutierrez. Heavy leg kick for Yadong as Gutierrez was looking for his own. Head kick attempt from Yadong is blocked. A punch misses for Yadong but he follows up with a body kick as the round ends.
Round Two:
Touching leg kicks from Gutierrez. Harder one for Yadong. Gutierrez lands a front kick solidly to the face.
Outside leg kick for Gutierrez. Calf kick for Yadong. One-two for Yadong, but Gutierrez was backing up. light inside low kick for Gutierrez.
Calf kick for Gutierrez. He lands another. Yadong still trying to find his range with his punches. Reaching punch from Gutierrez but left his fingers open and that causes an eyepoke that requires a brief timeout.
Yadong is ok to continue. Leg kicks for Yadong. Body kick for Gutierrez. Gutierrez still feeling out with leg kicks. However now Yadong reaches for a single-leg and works a takedown.
Yadong in Gutierrez’s butterfly guard here. Gutierrez opts for open guard. Not too much happening and the ref suddenly interrupts to warn Gutierrez not to grab his opponent’s glove. The action then continues and Yadong lands a few ground-and-pound punches as the round comes to a close.
Round Three:
Head kick from Yadong misses. Inside leg kick from him. Yadong fakes a takedown and then lands a short flurry of punches at close range. Now it’s Gutierrez who suffers an eyepoke and needs a brief timeout.
Gutierrez is ok to continue. Light body kick for Gutierrez. He feels out with more kicks and then Yadong lands a leg kick of his own.
Both men miss with spinning kicks. Inside thigh kick from Yadong. Inside leg kick for him. Oblique kick from Gutierrez.
Body punch for Yadong. He lands another. Now a calf kick. He tries for a head kick but it’s blocked. Gutierrez reaches for a leg, but Yadong gets away. calf kick for Gutierrez.
Low kick for Gutierrez. Yadong unleashes hooks at closer range. Yadong swinging hard now, but still not quite finding his target as Gutierrez stays light on his feet.
Spinning high kick from Yadong misses. Yadong nicely times a takedown in the final seconds of the round, but there’s not enough time on the clock to make it count.
Round Four:
Glancing front kick to the face from Gutierrez. Yadong presses forward with punches and does land a left hand.
Yadong upping the pressure here and a good punch stuns Gutierrez. Yadong able to get the fight to the floor now, but has to avoid a triangle attempt from Gutierrez. Yadong free of danger and settles into his opponents closed guard.
Elbow lands for Yadong. Occasional punch lands for him, but mostly staying patient here. He looks to posture up but Gutierrez is trying to tie up his arms. a few right hands land for Yadong and Gutierrez complains to the ref that they were to the back of the head. Ref isn’t interested though.
Nice left hand for Yadong. He lands an elbow as the round ends. Gutierrez seems a bit dazed as he gets back to his corner.
Round Five:
Leg kick from Yadong. Gutierrez drops down for an ambitious ankle pick and fails completely, enabling Yadong to get on top. Back to that patient work on top from Yadong, landing the occasional strike while maintaining solid control.
A few more punches from Yadong and into half-guard. Gutierrez gets him back to his full guard. Big elbow for Yadong. He lands another. Gutierrez walks the cage as he tries to improve his position, but is unable to get anything going.
Yadong with more ground-and-pound. Now he stands over his opponent and then drops down some more hammerfists as the fight comes to a close.
Decision:
Not the most exciting main event then with Gutierrez being quite tentative and Yadong struggling at times to find his range on the feet. There was generally more purpose to Yadong’s work and he was able to switch things up with takedowns and control time on top to help secure a unanimous decision victory (50-44, 50-45 x2).
