The sold-out crowd at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle were treated to a raft of finishes during Saturday evening's preliminary card. The fighters on the main card at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song, however, made the cageside judges earn their keep as 4 of the 5 showcase fights went to the scorecards.
There was controversy in the main event (which was originally scheduled for 5 rounds) as a double eye poke by Song Yadong caused an extended stoppage late in round 3. Henry Cejudo took full advantage of the 5 minutes he was allowed to try to recover. However the former 2-weight UFC champion, after returning to complete the final minute of the round, complained in his corner of blurred vision.
After consulting with the doctor, referee Jason Herzog stopped the fight at the beginning of the 4th round and went to the scorecards, which led to Song walking away with a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x2, 30-27).
There were also decision wins on the main card for Anthony "Fluffy Hernandez, Rob Font and Alonzo Menifield, while Jean Silva scored a 1st-round KO over Melsik Baghdasaryan.
Here are the numbers from Dana White’s post-event presser and the performance bonus award winners.
- $3.84 million gate
- 18,287 attendance
- Fight of the Night - Menifield vs. Walker
- Performance of the Night - Jean Silva
- Performance of the Night - Ricky Simon
UFC Seattle Main Card Results
Song Yadong def. Henry Cejudo via unanimous technical decision (30-27, 29-28x2)
Anthony Hernandez def. Brendan Allen via unanimous decision (29-28x3)
Rob Font def. Jean Matsumoto via split decision (29-28x2, 28-29)
Jean Silva def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via TKO (punches) - Round 1
Alonzo Menifield def. Julius Walker via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Preliminary Card Results
Ion Cutelaba def. Ibo Aslan via submission (arm triangle)
Melquizael Costa def. Andre Fili via submission (guillotine) - Round 1
Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Nick Klein via TKO (punches) - Round 2
Ricky Simon def. Javid Basharat via KO (punch) - Round 1
Austin Vanderford def. Nikolay Veretennikov via TKO (punches) - Round 2
Nursulton Ruziboev def. Eric McConico via TKO (punches) - Round 2
Modestas Bukauskas def. Raffael Cerqueira via KO (punch) - Round 1
