After initially signing with UFC as just a teenager in 2017, Chinese bantamweight Song Yadong has evolved into one of the top 135-pound fighters on the planet.
The only problem, however, has been the inability just yet for the 28-year-old Yadong (22-9-1, 1 NC) in getting over the hump to becoming a deserving UFC title challenger.
After winning 10 of his first 12 walks to the Octagon, Yadong is 3-3 over his last six fights including close defeats in each of his three steps up to the elite level against former champions and title challengers like Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley.
On Saturday, Yadong will return to fight in front of a home audience for the first time since 2018 when he headlines a UFC Fight Night card at Galaxy Arena in Macau in a top-10 matchup against former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo (25-6-1). The fight offers the “Kung Fu Kid” an opportunity, as a heavy betting favorite, to showcase the lessons learned from defeat and prove he is finally ready to make the leap to the title level.
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“I am very close to these guys,” Yadong told CBS Sports HQ on Tuesday. “I lost because of just small points. I could have won the fight, each one, even the Petr Yan [fight]. I could have [defeated] him. But I learned a lot of experience from those fights. I believe I will get back soon and am only one or two fights away from a title shot.”
Taking a look at the scorecards of Yadong’s trio of elite losses since 2022 firmly illustrates just how close he is as a well-rounded fighter to finishing his climb atop the bantamweight rankings.
Four years ago, Yadong was even on two of three scorecards against Sandhagen in their five-round main event when the cageside doctor ruled after Round 4 that Yadong couldn’t continue due to a cut above his left eye. Then, in 2024, Yan (who upset Merab Dvalishvilli in their rematch last fall to claim the title for a second time) rallied for a late takedown in Round 3 to steal a 29-28 decision on all three scorecards against Yadong in a competitive fight.
Yadong’s most disappointing loss in recent memory might’ve come against O’Malley in January during the co-main event of UFC 324 when the former champion refused to engage yet still bloodied the nose of Yadong in Round 3 with his jab to steal the decision on a trio of 29-28 scorecards. Yadong outlanded O’Malley, slowed him down with hard calf kicks and took him down three times over three rounds in the close defeat.
“I think I won that fight. [O’Malley] just ran for the three rounds,” Yadong said. “I don’t know the judges but I took it. I learned a lot from that fight. I am just focused on [the Figueiredo fight]. I forgot about [the O’Malley fight] already.”
Yadong catches a 38-year-old Figueiredo in bad need of a victory. After opening his 2023 move up to bantamweight with a trio of wins, Figueiredo has lost three of his last four fights — albeit all against elite competition in Yan, Sandhagen and Umar Nurmagomedov — and seemingly had an excuse for each one whether it be travel issues, injuries or the fact that he missed weight in January by nearly three pounds and looked depleted.
The two fighters will bring a lot of respect and knowledge about one another into the Octagon this weekend considering the two formerly trained together at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Urijah Faber. It’s the same gym that Yadong moved to before the start of his UFC run after having grown up a fan of “The California Kid.”
“Figueiredo is a good man,” Yadong said. “Deveison used to train [with] our team [and] Urijah knows him and knows his skills. Everything is under control and my coach believes in me that even with striking and grappling, I can totally [defeat] this guy. I am so confident.
“I believe in my power. I think I’m stronger and I’m faster. I’m better than [Figueiredo] everywhere so I could win either way: knock him out or win by submission. But Figueiredo is a very tough guy and it’s not easy to knock him out. He’s very sneaky. He knows I’m going to try to hurt him and I think he’s going to try to take me down but my takedown defense is good.”
A win over Figueiredo would look good on Yadong’s resume, which also includes victories over Marlon Vera, Marlon Moraes, Ricky Simon, Chris Gutierrez and Henry Cejudo. But until he gets his hand raised, Yadong is focused on the task at hand and the opportunity to perform in China for the first time in nearly a decade.
“I’m so excited for this fight [and] most importantly the reason is because I am fighting in front of my people in my hometown,” Yadong said. “I’m ready to go. I can’t imagine right now [what it will feel like in the arena] so I just stay calm. We will see. It has been a long time, since like 2018. It has been a long time. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
