Song Yadong was awarded a technical decision over Henry Cejudo tonight at UFC Fight Night 252 after his opponent claimed he couldn’t see out of his left eye due to an earlier eyepoke at the end of the third round.
Round One
The bantamweight main event is underway in Seattle!
Calf kick for Song. One-two for Cejudo comes up short. Another calf kick from Song. Lots of feints from Cejudo, but another calf kick lands for Song.
Step-in body kick from Cejudo. He just misses with a left hook off a faked takedown attempt. Low kick for Cejudo now.
Body punch from Song. Now a leg kick. He finds a home for his jab too and then back to the calf kick. Low kick for Cejudo. Now a body kick for the former champ. Inside leg kick for Cejudo.
Counter-right for Song as Cejudo was coming into range. Calf kick for Song and then lands a left hand as Cejudo burst forward.
Calf kick for from Cejudo troubles Song for a moment. They both exchange low kicks. Body kick for Song. He misses with an uppercut attempt.
Cejudo trying to close the distance, but Song is moving out of range well. Cejudo does land a nice right hand now. Body kick from Cejudo is caught by Song who then lands a punch. Late in the round Cejudo is pressing forward aggressively looking for more strikes.
Round Two
Low kicks from both fighters. Cejudo ducking and then bursting in throwing hard punches, but not finding clean connections yet.
Low kick for Song seemed to get Cejudo’s attention. Straight punches from Song. Right hand gets through from Song.
Song pumps out the jab then kicks to the leg. Body punch for Song as Cejudo came in. Body kick from Cejudo. Cejudo reaches for a leg and Song sprawls fast to prevent that.
Solid right hand for Song. Now a body kick, but he slips to the mat off it. Cejudo can’t close the distance quick enough before he gets back up thoug.
Cejudo swings a bit wildly and doesn’t land. High kick attempt from him. Jabs for Song. Front kick to the body too.
Cejudo lands a nice jab. Low kick for Song. Cejudo with a short flurry. Song tries for a takedown that’s stuffed.
Jab for Cejudo. Uppercut from Song. Good left hook for Song, but Cejudo blasts him back with straight punches. One final left hand for Cejudo as the round ends.
Round Three
Cejudo pumping out his straight left here with power. Song landing too. Good combination of punches from Song.
A few swings and misses from Cejudo. He tries for a jumping knee to the body. Short flurry of light punches from Song. Now a more solid one-two. Cejudo gets caught below the belt with a front kick and that forces a brief timeout.
Back to it. left hook lands for Song after Cejudo misses. Both exchanging hard punches now. Jab lands for Cejudo. Heavy knee from Song partially gets through the guard.
Jab for Song. Now the leg kick. Good straight right from Cejudo. As they exchange again Cejudo gets caught by a clear eyepoke and needs another timeout.
Cejudo takes a good amount of time to recover. He tells the ref he’s not seeing right and needs more time. He waits the full five minutes and then is able to continue.
Leg kick for Song. Now a hard right hand from him as he steps up his aggression. Body kick for Song. Now a nice punch to the body.
Right hand from Song. Cejudo utilizing a lot of movement and not really firing back as Song pursues him.
Cejudo makes it to the end of the round, but then is animated in his corner saying multiple times that he can’t see out of his left eye.
The ref and doctor are brought in and he tells them the same thing.
Round Four
The ref decides to start the round and then immediately call time to end the bout, which will enable the fight to go to the scorecards based on the rounds so far.
Decision
Based on the three previous rounds the judges give their verdict, and it’s Song who is declared the winner via technical decision (29-28 x2, 30-27).
That’s certainly a controversial ending and Cejudo may well be left ruing his decision to fight on after the eyepoke timeout as if he’d said he couldn’t continue the fight would have been declared a no-contest instead.
