Preview: UFC Seattle ‘Cejudo vs. Song’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday lands in Seattle for the first time in over a decade, and while UFC Fight Night 252 has been shellacked by some late injuries and changes, it still brings an interesting main draw to Climate Pledge Arena. A bantamweight main event between Henry Cejudo and Yadong Song serves as a fascinating test for both men, as they look to confirm their relevance near the top of the division; and the co-headliner between Brendan Allen and Anthony Hernandez should be a grappler’s delight between two top middleweights. Beyond that, Rob Font goes back on prospect-testing duty against Jean Matsumoto in a late-notice switch. Two other bouts are clearly matched for action: Jean Silva looks to slug it out with Melsik Baghdasaryan, while Alonzo Menifield takes on newcomer Julius Walker.

Now to the UFC Seattle “Cejudo vs. Song” preview:

Bantamweights

Henry Cejudo (16-4, 12-4 UFC) vs. Yadong Song (21-8-1, 10-3-1 UFC)

ODDS: Song (-285), Cejudo (+230)

A fun bit of matchmaking in the UFC’s deepest division makes for an interesting main event, as it’s either a crossroads fight between Cejudo and Song or simply a referendum on both men as potential title contenders in 2025. Cejudo was a particularly fascinating signing when the UFC picked him up in 2013, as few prospects had his level of upside. A former Olympic gold medalist as a wrestler, Cejudo had the potential to become a Mexican-American star for the UFC if everything clicked to the right degree. However, Cejudo’s UFC career almost ended before it started. Questions about his dedication to mixed martial arts nagged Cejudo on the regional scene, and the UFC threatened to cut him after weight management issues scrapped his slated debut. Once Cejudo got in line, it was a fairly clean rise to title challenger status. Within 18 months of his UFC debut, Cejudo was challenging Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title. Johnson wound up finishing the Fight Ready MMA rep in under three minutes, but to his credit, Cejudo showed his Olympic-level work ethic in the face of adversity. He built out an effective striking game within months, marched his way back up the flyweight ladder and became the man to unseat Johnson via split decision in 2018. Unfortunately, that came just as the UFC seemed set on shuttering the flyweight division, so rather than promote Cejudo, he became the B-side to then-bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw. He was coming down to 125 pounds with a clear mandate to beat Cejudo and essentially end the flyweight division. Yet Cejudo once again defied expectations, starching Dillashaw in 32 seconds, which was somehow enough for the UFC to reverse course and keep the flyweight division going—even after “The Messenger” moved up to bantamweight himself and wound up winning the vacant belt. Cejudo’s bantamweight title reign was a footnote, as he had one successful defense against Dominick Cruz during the pandemic and retired, but it helped add to his overall resume as an elite combat athlete, with his legend growing enough that he got an immediate title shot against Aljamain Sterling upon his return from retirement in 2023. From there, it’s hard to call Cejudo’s comeback a success given that he’s winless in his last two bouts, but he has surprisingly proven to still only be one step off from the bantamweight elite. His loss to Sterling was a nip-tuck split decision, and he got off to a solid start before getting overwhelmed by current champion Merab Dvalishvili in a subsequent appearance. It’s unclear where Cejudo goes from here in a greater sense, though it’s nice to still have him around. This fight against Song should help provide some clarity as to Cejudo’s path forward.

Song is still on the shortlist of bantamweights seemingly destined to fight for the title at some point. It’s just a matter of when things fully click for one of China’s best young talents. Song started in mixed martial arts as a teenager, so his regional career was understandably bumpy, but he was an obvious prospect to watch upon his UFC debut in 2017. Song had his flaws, but he stood out as a quick-twitch athlete who could hit like a truck. After being a highlight of the UFC’s trips to Asia over the next few years, Song made his stateside debut in 2019 and proved to be worth the wait. It doesn’t get much talk, but his absolute obliteration of Alejandro Perez is one of the hardest one-punch knockouts in recent memory. After that statement win over Perez, the cracks started to show a bit, as two of Song’s next three fights resulted in a draw against Cody Stamann and a shocker of a loss to Kyler Phillips. Both showed the limitations in Song’s game. Stamann simply leaned on being the best wrestler Song had faced to date, while Phillips stayed speedy from range, exposing him as a static puncher who couldn’t do much to trap and track down opponents. Song has worked on his wrestling to the point that he’s much more credible with his takedown defense—even if Cejudo figures to put it to the test—but that latter issue remains a big cause for concern, if only at an elite level. Cory Sandhagen was similarly able to outmaneuver the Team Alpha Male export and outwork him handily, and even a one-sided decision win over born neutralizer Chris Gutierrez saw Song leave a lot of potential success on the table. Song’s last bout against Petr Yan nearly a year ago wasn’t a matchup where those issues came up, but it did show where he needs to make improvements in a general sense. He showed a lot of new ideas and mixed things up well, but he was still a step behind as a naturally flowing fighter once Yan heated up and got going down the stretch. When it comes to this fight, it leads to Cejudo getting more benefit of the doubt and Song needing to be more in a position of proving himself as a top contender. It’s hard to see Song’s recent wrestling switch-ups being effective against Cejudo, so he might be boxed in once again as a static but extremely dangerous power puncher. Cejudo will still have a lot of moments where he will have to take a straight-ahead approach, which is a cause for concern from his side. However, as a highly regarded game planner, the lean is that he can figure out a way to maximize his success and minimize his risk, even if it’s through some uglier efforts, whether it’s taking a more elusive approach than usual or just committing to the grind. Add in what might be the most important factor of all in Cejudo’s historical durability, and the lean is that the former champion has at least one more win left in the tank. The pick is Cejudo via decision.

Continue Reading »
Cejudo vs. Song
Hernandez vs. Allen
Font vs. Matsumoto
Silva vs. Baghdasaryan
Menifield vs. Walker
The Prelims