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Song Yadong is the youngest fighter in the UFC. It didn’t look that way at a senior event on Saturday.
The 26-year-old fighter used his grappling skills to get a late edge in a five-round unanimous decision (50-44, 50-45, 50-45) win over Chris Gutierrez in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Song won his first three fights by finish, and this practice showed his ability to play all over 25 minutes.
“I learned a lot from this fight,” said Song, a Chinese national, in his post-fight interview.
In the UFC’s official bantamweight rankings, Song came in at No. 7 and Gutierrez was No. 15.
The fight started as a fight. They both have good low kicks, and really attacked each other’s legs in the first round. Things started to change in the second round when Song went down. He was able to control things from the top position in all subsequent rounds, including the fifth when he landed several hard elbows after rolling Gutierrez for a leg to start the frame.
“I’m sorry to the Chinese that I didn’t kick him out,” said Song.
In his post-fight interview, Song added that he was “coming” for the title and called out former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan. Song vs. Yan was the main thing needed for this card, but things fell through and Gutierrez got Yan’s position. Yan revealed a screaming X emoji during Saturday’s fight.
“Your last fight (wasn’t good) either,” said Pese in his response to his interview after the fight. “I know you want to fight Mati, well, let’s fight Mati”.
Song (21-7-1, 1 NC) has won two straight and five of his past six fights. The Team Alpha Male (California) product has eight wins at UFC bantamweight since his debut in 2017. The only fighter to beat the division since then is former champion Aljamain Sterling, current Sean O’Malley and No. 1 Marlon “Chito” Vera, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Song is 10-2-1 in the UFC since he arrived at age 19.
Gutierrez (20-6-2) has lost two of his past three fights. The 32-year-old Texas native, who trains out of Colorado, has not lost in eight straight so far.