Yadong Song Outpoints Henry Cejudo After Eye Poke Ends UFC Seattle Headliner

Yadong Song took another step forward in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division—albeit an anticlimactic one—and settled for a technical unanimous decision over Henry Cejudo in the UFC Fight Night 252 headliner on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. All three members of the cageside judiciary scored it for Song (22-8-1, 11-3-1 UFC): 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.

An inadvertent eye poke left Cejudo (16-5, 12-5 UFC) unable to continue after the third round. Fans in attendance lustily booed the outcome.

Song seemed to be in control up until the finish. The Team Alpha Male standout tore into Cejudo’s lead leg with damaging kicks, often forcing him to switch stances to shield the appendage from further exposure. Song countered effectively throughout, used occasional level changes to keep the onetime Olympic gold medalist honest and leaned into potent jabs. Cejudo was effective in spurts but seemed to be trending downward at the time the foul occurred late in the middle stanza. He exhausted his allotted five minutes to recover, finished the round and informed his corner he was seeing double out of his left eye, leading referee Jason Herzog to call for the stoppage.

Meanwhile, Anthony Hernandez improved to 2-0 in his head-to-head series against fellow former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Brendan Allen with a three-round unanimous decision in their middleweight co-main event. Hernandez (14-2, 8-2 UFC)—who won their first meeting on points under the LFA banner in 2018—swept the scorecards with matching 29-28 marks across the board.

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Allen (24-7, 12-4 UFC) was his own worst enemy at times. After a strong close to the first round, the Kill Cliff Fight Club never pushed Hernandez out of his comfort zone. The MMA Gold Fight Team product outpaced, outgrappled and outmaneuvered Allen, winning a majority of the many scrambles between them. Hernandez kept his foot on the accelerator in Round 3, leaned on his superior conditioning and piled up copious amounts of control time, often pairing it with steady ground-and-pound from advantageous positions.

Hernandez heads into his next assignment on a seven-fight winning streak.

Further down the lineup, ex-CES MMA champion Rob Font held his place in the Top 10 with a nip-tuck split decision over the previously unbeaten Jean Matsumoto in a three-round catchweight showcase at 140 pounds. All three judges scored it 29-28: Sal D’Amato for Matsumoto, Derek Cleary and Michael Bell for Font.

A short-notice replacement for the now-retired Dominick Cruz, Matsumoto (16-1, 2-1 UFC) undoubtedly boosted his stock in defeat. The Inside MMA prospect traded with Font on the feet, tipped his spear with punishing leg kicks and struck for multiple takedowns. Font (22-8, 12-7 UFC) stayed composed, returned to his feet after being grounded and landed the most memorable blow of the fight: an upward elbow that opened a significant cut on the Brazilian’s forehead in the third round. With the outcome still in doubt, the two combatants spent the final 30 seconds hurling power punches at one another.

Font, 37, has posted back-to-back wins for the first time in almost three years.

Elsewhere, fast-rising Fighting Nerds star Jean Silva disposed of Melsik Baghdasaryan with punches and elbows in the first round of their featherweight attraction. Baghdasaryan (8-3, 3-2 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:15 into Round 1, losing for the second time in three appearances.

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Silva (15-2, 4-0 UFC) bided his time as he poked and prodded the Glendale Fight Club product with punches and kicks from distance. Baghdasaryan answered with sharp jabs, sneaky counters and even an open-handed slap. It was not enough to throw the Brazilian off the scent. Silva uncorked a left hook and followed it with a vicious straight right that floored his opponent. He then looked to referee Kevin MacDonald to call for the stoppage before pouncing on a badly dazed Baghdasaryan with punches to the head and elbows to the body that tied up loose ends.

The 28-year-old Silva has rattled off 12 straight victories, 11 of them finishes.

Finally, Fortis MMA’s Alonzo Menifield rebounded from consecutive knockout losses to Carlos Ulberg and Azamat Murzakanov with a grueling split decision over organizational newcomer Julius Walker in a three-round light heavyweight appetizer. Judge Brianne Davis saw it 29-28 for Walker, while D’Amato and Cleary scored it 29-28 and 30-27 for Menifield.

Walker (6-1, 0-1 UFC) troubled his far more experienced adversary in the clinch for much of the first round, unleashing knees, elbows and punches at close range. However, he exhausted himself with a series of unsuccessful takedown attempts. Menifield (16-5-1, 9-5-1 UFC) seemed to right the ship in the middle stanza, where he connected in combination and landed the cleaner, more powerful punches. Neither man had much in the tank for the final five minutes, as they both were warned for what appeared to be fatigue-induced fouls. Menifield was the aggressor down the stretch and did just enough to get his hand raised.

The win was Walker’s first since Dec. 16, 2023.

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