Sean O’Malley got back to winning ways tonight at UFC 324 with a unanimous decision victory over Song Yadong.

Round One

Leg kick for Yadong immediately. Glancing body kick from O’Malley. Oblique kick from O’Malley. Low kick from Yadong.

Left hand gets through for O’Malley. And another one. Short flurry from Yadong.

Inside leg kick from Yadong. Front kick to the body from O’Malley. Jab for ‘Suga’. Spinning body kick for O’Malley.

Light connection on a leg kick from O’Malley. Yadong glances the target with a step-in left hand.

Low kicks from Yadong. Side-to-side movement from O’Malley as Yadong tries to cut off the cage. Low kick for Yadong. Now Yadong drives into a takedown and lands it nicely. O’Malley trying for a guillotine choke, but nothing much to that.

Yadong settling into O’Malley’s guard late in the round and lands a few body punches.

Round Two

Leg kicks exchanged and O’Malley stumbled off-balance for a moment.

Leg kick from O’Malley and a hard right hand lands in response from Yadong. Body kick for O’Malley.

Yadong presses forward and lands a body kick. Left hook from Yadong in close.

Yadong drives into a takedown again and gets O’Malley off-balance to the mat. O’Malley immediately back up, but Yadong still has the body lock. Yadong lands a few knees to the back of the thigh.

O’Malley tries to get free, but Yadong manages to take him down. Yadong staying tight to his opponent, but O’Malley does a nice job of getting back to his feet.

Good hook lands for Yadong. Front kick to the body from O’Malley. Right hand for Yadong. Now a low kick from him. A couple of grazing punches from O’Malley, but not the clean connection he’s looking for. Low kick from Yadong.

Round Three

A few powerful swings but misses from Yadong. O’Malley with a body punch and Yadong lands a calf kick.

Another low kick from Yadong as O’Malley was looking to land his left hand. Now O’Malley does manage to connect with his left hand.

O’Malley times another good left. Yadong bleeding around the nose now. Jab for O’Malley.

Yadong lunges into a takedown, but O’Malley moves out of range. Right hand for Yadong. Now a big right hand for O’Malley.

Leg kicks exchanged. Right hand for O’Malley. Punch from Yadong. Yadong trying to find a home for a hook.

O’Malley just ducks under a spinning backfist from Yadong. Yadong trying for a single-leg but O’Malley fends it off.

Knee strike lands upstairs for O’Malley now in the final minute of the fight. Now a left hand lands. Right hand sticks too. Spinning back kick from Yadong.

Final 10 seconds and Yadong points to the mat. It’s O’Malley who commits to the strikes though, landing a right hand and then looking for a head kick.

Result

This was a relatively close fight, and with all to play for in the final round it was O’Malley who got the better of the striking exchanges to seal a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).