Saturday night's main event at UFC Fight Night 252 may have ended somewhat abruptly, but UFC president Dana White isn't interested in rebooking the fight to in order to search some closure..
Bantamweight contender Song Yadong (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) triumphed over former 2-weight championHenry Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) by technical decision during Saturday’s headliner at Climate Pledge Arena. The bout was sent to the judges’ scorecards after Cejudo informed his corner that he had lost vision following an accidental eye poke midway through Round 3.
Cejudo opted to complete the round after taking a full five minutes to recover, and as a result, the decision was left in the hands of the judges. Both fighters have expressed interest in a rematch, but White has no desire to see a second encounter.
“Not at all,” White stated during the post-fight press conference. “Not even a little bit. I just don’t want to see it again.”
White admitted he wasn’t surprised that the fight concluded shortly after Cejudo’s eye poke. “Song looked good,” White observed. “Only Cejudo can answer those questions. I don’t know if he thought, ‘If I stop here, is this a DQ or a no contest?’ I’m not sure what was going through his mind, or maybe he truly couldn’t see.”
The UFC president also disagreed with referee Jason Herzog's decision to deduct a point, as he believed the poke was unintentional. “If you thought it was intentional, sure, take a point away,” White remarked. “But do you believe it was intentional? Why would he poke him in the eye? He was doing fine. If he was getting dominated and then poked, you could make that argument.”
He continued, “Eye pokes aren’t good, but they happen often, and fights do carry on after them. I’d have to check how many fights have been stopped due to eye pokes—but not many.”
Cejudo has now lost 3 consecutive fights since his return from a 3-year layoff. After winning and subsequently defending the UFC bantamweight title, he announced his retirement inside the Octagon following a victory over Dominick Cruz in 2020. The announcement was met with skepticism from fans and media alike, most of whom believed "Triple C" was simply trying to play hardball during contract negotiations with the UFC.
The UFC called his bluff, stripping him of the title and removing him from the rankings. He returned in May of 2023 but has now lost to Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili and Song and at 38 years old, seems as far away from UFC gold as he has ever been.
