Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simon was originally supposed to be the co-main event of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 223 event in Las Vegas, but it’s now been pushed back a week to serve as the headliner for UFC Fight Night 223 instead.
The late change-up occurred after UFC Fight Night 223’s originally planned main event between Renato Moicano and Arman Tsarukyan fell through due to Moicano suffering an injury. As a result Tsarukyan has now been pulled from the card too, and Yadong and Simon now step into their shoes, with just one extra week to prepare for what’s now going to be a five-rounder.
Yadong comes into the fight off a doctor’s stoppage TKO loss to Cory Sandhagen back in September of last year, which ended a three-fight winning streak that had seen the 25-year-old beat Casey Kenney, Julio Arce and Marlon Moraes.
Now the 8th ranked bantamweight fights the 10th placed Simon, who has been in fine form over the past few years, racking up five wins in a row against Ray Borg, Gaetano Pirrello, Brian Kelleher, Raphael Assuncao and Jack Shore.
With Yadong vs. Simon having moved, this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 222 main card is currently left with five fights, including a main event heavyweight clash between Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes.
