This past weekend’s UFC main event ended in unfortunate circumstances when an eyepoke led to Henry Cejudo being unable to continue, resulting in a technical decision victory for Song Yadong, but Dana White has been it very clear that he was absolutely no interest in putting together a rematch.
“Not at all,” White replied at the UFC Fight Night 252 post-fight presser when asked if he was interested in a rematch. “Not even a little bit. I just don’t want to see it again.”
Prior to the eyepoke incident late on in the third round of the five-round headliner the fight had been a somewhat competitive striking battle, but Yadong was certainly getting the better of the action.
The eyepoke itself was clear for all to see and Cejudo opted to take the full five-minutes to recover. If he’d declared at that stage that he was still having difficulties seeing then the fight would have been waved off and the fight would have been declared a no-contest.
However, the former two-division champ decided to continue fighting, and quickly found himself on the back foot as Yadong poured on the pressure late in the round.
As soon as the round concluded Cejudo informed both the referee and then his corner repeatedly that he couldn’t see out of his left eye, which would ultimately lead to the fight being ended prematurely, but due to the way the rules work the fight would then be scored via a technical decision based on the outcome of the three rounds so far, which is how Yadong emerged victorious.
In the post-fight presser White appeared to be somewhat sceptical about how the whole situation played out from Cejudo’s perspective, and that may perhaps give a clue as to why he’s so adamant about not wanting to run the fight back.
“I have no idea [how Cejudo was feeling]. I’ll let him answer all those questions,” White said. “Song looked good. Only [Cejudo] can answer those questions. I don’t know if he thought ‘If I stop here, is this a no contest?’ I don’t know what he was thinking…or maybe he can’t see.“
Cejudo has since spoken out to confirm that his eye had been damaged due to the poke.
“Diplopia, soft tissue damage, corneal abrasion,” Cejudo wrote on social media.
The 38-year-old Cejudo also went on to plead with White to reconsider his stance on a potential rematch.
“We need to run this fight back asap!” Cejudo wrote. “Dana White I heard what you said but I encourage you to reconsider.
“All respect to Song, you are a warrior…but you did not win this fight and I did not lose.
“We have unfinished business and I know that you agree. Run. It. Back.”
