Song Yadong narrowly outpointed Casey Kenney by split decision tonight at UFC 265 after three rounds of all-action striking between the two.
Round One:
Yadong with a body kick and Kenney throws a counter punch in response. Missed kick from Kenney. Yadong with two right hands.
Body kick for Kenney. Missed head kick from Yadong. Inside leg kick from Yadong. Kenney with a solid punc.
Another body kick from Kenney, but Yadong caught that one, though ultimately let go. Yadong just coming up short with punches.
Hard body kick from Yadong and Kenney returns fire with a leg kick of his own. Right hand counter from Kenney. Inside leg kick from Yadong.
Left hook for Yadong. Now an outside leg kick. Left hand from Kenney. Counter left for Yadong on the back foot.
Leg kick for Yadong. Body kick from Kenney. Yadong with a left straight. Missed spinning kick to the body from Kenney. A couple more missed kicks from him.
Straight lands for Kenney and drops Yadong. Kenney trying for a guillotine, but Yadong is able to stand and get back to striking range.
Leg kick for Yadong, punch from Kenney. Right hand from Yadong, body strike from Kenney.
Round Two:
Body kick for Yadong. Inside leg kick from Kenney. Now another kick from him and again as he works to the body. Yadong punches to the midsection.
Nice hook from Yadong. Body kick from him. Yadong nicely backs out of punching range as Kenney presses forward, then tries to counter.
Body punch from Kenney. Leg kicks exchanged. Jab from Yadong. More body punches from Yadong. Short flurry from Yadong.
Inside leg kick from Yadong. Kenney constantly marching forward. He’s missing sometimes though as Yadong shrewdly stays just out of range.
Finally Kenney goes in on a takedown attempt, but credit to Yadong for stuffing that. Superman punch for Kenney. Left hand for Yadong.
Right hand for Kenney. Three-piece combo for Yadong. Check hook from Yadong. Now he pumps the jab. Leg kicks exchanged.
Left hands gets through for Kenney. Hard hook for Yadong. Kenney with a solid left and then again. Yadong looks to clinch against the cage, but Kenney reverses the position.
Round Three:
Body kick for Yadong. Leg kick for Kenney. Right hand from Yadong. Another sneaks through the guard. Swing and a miss from Kenney. Check hook for Yadong.
Kenney lands over the top. Body kick for him. Now a punch to the midsection. Three-piece combo for Yadong. Now a body kick.
Right hand for Yadong. He lands that again and then kicks to the leg. Body kick for Kenney. Back to the right hand again.
Body punch from Yadong. Knee lands upstairs from Kenney. Right keeps landing for Yadong. Push kick from Kenney. Heavy body kick from Yadong. Kenney lands the jab.
Kenney in on a takedown attempt, but Yadong’s takedown defense is on point. Grazing right hgand from Yadong. left for Kenney on the counter.
Body kick for Kenney. He tries for another kick and Yadong briefly grabs it and pushes him away.
Another takedown attempt from Kenney and again a fast sprawl from Yadong to prevent it. Yadong throws out the right hand. Now a brief flurry.
left hand for Kenney. Body punches in close from Yadong. Hooks landed from both. left hand from Kenney and a punch in return from Yadong. Finally Kenney ducks into a takedown and lands it in the final seconds of the fight.
Decision:
Hard fought battle here from start to finish and that’s reflected in the scorecards with a split decision verdict, and it’s Yadong who emerges with his hand raised (29-28, 28-29, 30-27), with his higher number of strikes landed despite often being on the back foot helping him to victory.
