Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight contenders Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong will go to war TONIGHT (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. at UFC Seattle. Cejudo has fought just twice since returning from his multiple year retirement, and it hasn’t gone particularly well. Of course, he fought the two best Bantamweight wrestlers in recent memory, both of whom were or now are champion, but this is “Triple C” we’re talking about. Anything less than UFC gold is failure, and the rebuild for one last run begins right here. Still just 27 years of age, Yadong has been viewed as a serious prospect and contender for a while. He’s come close to punching his ticket into the biggest possible match ups, but twice now he’s come up short against elite contenders in Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan. This is another opportunity to clear that hurdle and assert himself into the immediate title mix.

Wrestling credentials don’t come much better than an Olympic gold medal. In the Octagon, Cejudo is incredibly slick with his transitional wrestling and inside trip, but he’s also an excellent kickboxer with great in-and-out movement. The odds reflect that this is a tough match up for the 38-year-old Cejudo. He’s likely going to try to wrestle the knockout artist, but that’s easier said than done given Yadong’s explosive sprawl and quality get-ups. Ultimately, he’s going to have to find a way to wear down the younger, more powerful athlete. Cejudo’s gas tank has failed him in his last two bouts — it cannot here. To defeat Yadong, he has to push a hard pace, which means initiating more often with combinations rather than countering. If he gets the Chinese fighter swinging, Cejudo can enter on the hips and score takedowns. Even if Yadong is difficult to pin down, forcing him to scramble often will wear on that gas tank and create longer periods of control.

Yadong is an absolute powerhouse of a Bantamweight. Fast, fluid, and powerful, the knockout artist excels when able to force his way into the pocket and fire punches-in-bunches. “The Kung Fu Kid” has a real advantage in the stand up here. Cejudo is a dangerous striker himself, but he cannot match the power, durability, or pocket boxing of Yadong. The key will be tracking down Cejudo without giving up easy takedowns in the process, as Cejudo is likely to employ an all the way in or all the way out strategy. Closing distance carefully will be a test of Yadong’s cage-cutting ability, something he’s improved upon in recent years. I’d like to see Yadong feinting actively and chopping low kicks when Cejudo withdraws. It would also be smart for Yadong to build combos by starting to the body then trying to catch Cejudo upstairs as he pulls away. Finally, Yadong has a really nasty front kick, which could be helpful in scoring points at distance and forcing Cejudo into the fence.

Championship credentials and competition aside, it’s hard to go with the older man on a losing streak here. Cejudo is not going to be comfortable striking with Yadong for more than one shot at a time, and holding Yadong down for any period of time is going to be both difficult and exhausting. In truth, Cejudo has never been particularly great at controlling opponents in MMA. Much of the time, he scores takedowns, they get up, and the stand up resumes fairly quickly. That’s especially true when outsized at Bantamweight. Without that control time, Cejudo will be forced to expend energy at an extreme rate to avoid getting clobbered. At 38, it’s unlikely he has the gas tank to do so, not when faced with a monstrous puncher who will be trying to break him down as well.