Song Yadong said heading into UFC Fight Night 223 he aimed to put on a performance that would turn heads and earn him a top 10 foe – and he may have accomplished that.
In a five-round bantamweight main event Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Yadong (20-7-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC) finished Ricky Simon (20-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) with punches at 1:10 of Round 5.
Yadong, 25, utilized technical, speedy, and powerful striking throughout the fight and found significant success on multiple occasions. Simon resorted to takedown attempts at times, but many of his attempts were unsuccessful.
In the second round, an accidental clash of heads unnoticed by Herb Dean, sent Simon to the canvas as Yadong nearly finished the fight with follow-up punches.
At the end of Round 4, Simon was likely saved by the bell when a blasting left hand from Yadong floored him to the canvas. After the bell, Simon staggered to his feet, off-balance as he moved toward his corner.
Potentially still hurt as he entered the final round, Simon ate a nasty body shot before Yadong tagged him with a similarly angled left hand. The blow folded Simon awkwardly with his legs tucked under him. Yadong pounced and hammered away as Simon flipped to be belly-to-canvas. As Simon posted up, Yadong continued to land shots. Unable to escape Simon flattened out and turned upward as referee Herb Dean saved him.
He gets the job done in round 5️⃣ !!@SongYadongLFG shows why he is one of the best bantamweights in the division 💥 #UFCVegas72 pic.twitter.com/ytNjeGBim3
— UFC (@ufc) April 30, 2023
With the victory, Yadong gets back in the win column after a doctor stoppage loss to Cory Sandhagen in September. The defeat was one of only two Yadong has experienced in the promotion; the other being in March 2021 to Kyler Phillips. Yadong moves to 4-1 in his most recent five.
Simon rode a five-fight winning streak into the fight that included victories over Jack Shore and Raphael Assuncao among others.
The bout between Yadong and Simon was not originally scheduled for five rounds, but was moved from the April 22 co-main event when the original UFC Fight Night 223 main event, Renato Moicano vs. Arman Tsarukyan, fell off.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 223 results include:
- Song Yadong def. Ricky Simon via TKO (punches) – Round 5, 1:10
- Caio Borralho def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:49
- Rodolfo Vieira def. Cody Brundage via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:28
- Fernando Padilla def. Julian Erosa via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:41
- Marcos Rogerio def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Trey Waters def. Josh Quinlan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Martin Buday def. Jake Collier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Cody Durden def. Charles Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Irina Alekseeva def. Stephanie Egger via submission (kneebar) – Round 1, 2:11
- Marcus McGhee def. Journey Newson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:03
- Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Hailey Cowan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 223.
