LAS VEGAS – Song Yadong doubled down on his callout of former bantamweight champion Petr Yan after a convincing win over Chris Gutierrez in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 233 main event.
Song (21-7-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) was dominant throughout five rounds of his headliner at the UFC Apex, earning a unanimous decision over Gutierrez (20-6-2 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) in a somewhat lackluster affair. The Chinese fighter claims he was hunting for the finish, but he simply couldn’t be as effective with his offense as some other performances.
“I was ready for his leg kicks,” Song told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at UFC Fight Night 233. “In the fight, I want to knock everyone out, but this guy comes very good. I couldn’t find the distance. He always use his faints, his kicks. But my coach, Urijah (Faber), told me to go more MMA style, and I went to the legs and took him down. In the fourth round, I knew he was very tired, and I wanted to finish him. But he kept holding me on the ground.”
With wins in four of his past five fights, Song is looking for a step up in competition. He was originally linked to a matchup with Petr Yan on the card, but it failed to materialize.
Song said prior to UFC Fight Night 233 that he would call out Yan with a win, and he did just that in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder. Yan responded with a yawning emoji on social media, which could be seen as disinterest in the matchup.
That doesn’t fly with Song, however, and he’s convinced it’s the pairing to make.
“I already fought two guys lower than me, so I want to fight Petr Yan,” Song said. “He post the emoji. It means the fight was boring. but his last fight was boring, too – like sh*t. Let’s fight at UFC 299. I heard that he wants to fight in March. We can fight in March. We both don’t go back. Let’s go face-to-face. Let’s see who’s boxing is good. Let’s see who is the best boxer in this division.”
Despite his strong desire to fight Yan next, Song isn’t entrenching himself in getting that fight, he said. He just wants to take meaningful strides toward the 135-pound belt and is eager to get a name that fulfills that objective.
“Anyone in the top five,” Song said. “I want top-five fighters. I don’t want to fight outside of top 10.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 233.
