UFC Seattle results: Henry Cejudo suffers third straight loss after Song Yadong eye-poke leads to bizarre scene

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 21: (L-R) Opponents Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong of China face off during the UFC Fight Night ceremonial weigh-in at Climate Pledge Arena on February 21, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong face off in a bantamweight fight in the main event of UFC Seattle. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Uncrowned has UFC Seattle results, live round-by-round updates, start time and highlights for the Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong fight card on Saturday at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington. Former two-division champion Cejudo continues his pursuit of his first post-comeback win when he takes on Chinese contender Yadong in the night’s five-round bantamweight main event.

Cejudo (16-4) has lost back-to-back bouts since returning in 2023 from a three-year retirement, dropping a split decision to then-champ Aljamain Sterling in a failed shot to reclaim the UFC bantamweight belt then losing a unanimous decision to now-champ Merab Dvalishvili. A 38-year-old Olympic gold medalist wrestler, Cejudo announced his surprise retirement in 2020 following a successful bantamweight title defense against Dominick Cruz. He is also a former UFC flyweight champion.

He admitted to Uncrowned this week that a factor in his return to MMA was financial.

“If I had the money, I probably would never have come back,” Cejudo said. “Quite honestly, if I had Khabib [Nurmagomedov] money, s***, I’d retire too.”

Song (21-8-1, 1 NC) competes in his fifth UFC Fight Night main event in search of a win after falling short in a unanimous decision against former champion Petr Yan this past March. A 27-year-old product of Team Alpha Male, Song owns notable UFC victories over Marlon “Chito” Vera, Marlon Moraes, Ricky Simón and Chris Gutiérrez.

Ahead of UFC Seattle, he told Uncrowned that he fully intends to retire Cejudo for good.

In the night’s co-main event, middleweight dark horses Brendan Allen and Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez compete in a rematch of a 2018 bout, which took place on MMA’s regional scene and was won by Hernandez via unanimous decision.

UFC Seattle’s preliminary card starts at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+, while the main card kicks off at 9 p.m. ET.

Follow along with Uncrowned’s live UFC Seattle results and live blog for Saturday’s main card below.

Bantamweight: Song Yadong def. Henry Cejudo via technical decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez def. Brendan Allen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

140-pound catchweight: Rob Font def. Jean Matsumoto via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Featherweight: Jean Silva def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via first-round knockout (punches) at 4:15 | Watch finish

Light heavyweight: Alonzo Menifield def. Julius Walker via decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Light heavyweight: Ion Cutelaba def. Ibo Aslan via first-round submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:51 | Watch finish

Featherweight: Melquizael Costa def. Andre Fili via first-round submission (guillotine) at 4:30 | Watch finish

Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Nick Klein via second-round TKO (punches) at 3:24 | Watch finish

Bantamweight: Ricky Simon def. Javid Basharat via first-round knockout (punch) at 3:15 | Watch finish

175-pound catchweight: Austin Vanderford def. Nikolay Veretennikov via second-round TKO (punches) at 4:13 | Watch finish

Middleweight: Nursulton Ruziboev def. Eric McConico via second-round TKO (punches) at 0:33 | Watch finish

Light heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas def. Raffael Cerqueira via first-round knockout (punches) at 2:12 | Watch finish

Live53 updates

  • RESULT: Song Yadong def. Henry Cejudo via technical decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

  • The doctor continued to check the eye of Cejudo between rounds. Nothing of it, though — initially. Then suddenly, the doctor comes back, and the referee waves off the fight. Wow. What an unfortunate way to end this great night of action.

  • Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong – Round 3

    Song starts right in Cejudo’s face, delivering a hook to the body. Cejudo sends a straight back. A hard left hook lands for Cejudo. They trade jabs. Song strikes his way into the pocket as Cejudo waves him on. Cejudo lands a nice hook on an exit. Song teeps to the body. He strikes with it again, catching Cejudo low to pause the fight. Action restarts and they start going at it, punch for punch. A big knee from Song surprises Cejudo. Huge right straight lands for Cejudo. As Cejudo came forward, he took an eye poke to pause the fight. Cejudo is taking his time, which he very well should. Vision is kind of important, you know.

    That was a long wait, but that’s the game. Great job by Cejudo. It’s back on.

    Song presses forward instantly and lands a big uppercut. Song’s pressure is taking over as Cejudo just tries to cut angles but he gets no offense before the round ends. He still rallied for the majority of that to take it.

    10-9 Cejudo (29-28 Song)

  • Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong – Round 2

    Cejudo starts the round trying to lunge in with his first punch and the big shot behind it. Song peppers him with a double jab. Two right straights connect for Song. Cejudo fakes a single and gets no connections out of it. Song walks through a big right hand. Hard leg kick from Song. Hard body kick lands from Song, and he slips. Cejudo takes a left hook and staggering low kick. The jab keeps finding a home for Song. Right hook from Song, but Cejudo lands one in return. A clean right from Cejudo sneaks to the chin of Song. A counter hook from Song lands, as Cejudo starts to press forward in the final seconds. He needs to change something up.

    10-9 Song (20-18 Song)

  • Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong – Round 1

    Cejudo feints early with his kicks. Song is backed up, downloading data. He paws out the jab. Hard body kick from Cejudo. Song jabs to the body. Song starts to land the leg kick. Cejudo returns a pair of his own. A nice right hook counter catches Cejudo. They trade blows, punches and kicks. Timing doesn’t appear to be a problem for either. Cejudo teases his first single-leg takedown but gives it up. Song just moves out of the way when Cejudo comes in. Song catches Cejudo with a handful of punches in the final 10 seconds. An interesting first round.

    10-9 Song

  • Main event time

    Who is it going to be? Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong closes out UFC Seattle in a bantamweight showcase with five rounds if needed.

  • RESULT Anthony Hernandez def. Brendan Allen via unanimous decision (29-28 All)

  • Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez – Round 3

    The rivals embrace at the start of the round. Allen sticks Hernandez to the body, while taking an eye poke to pause the action. Talk about a weird way for a round to start. Upon replay, that looked like a punch to me. Anyway, they get back at it. Hernandez takes a shot he doesn’t like and begins to squint and shoot a takedown that’s stuffed. Allen lands a nice uppercut-to-hook combo. Hernandez wrestles in to get ahold of Allen’s waist with a body lock. Hernandez works for something significant, but Allen’s maintaining his defense and low gravity against the cage. Hernandez lands some short shots to annoy the working Allen. Hernandez finds an opening for a near-face crank, but Allen again turns out. They’re just too evenly matched. Hernandez winds up on top to land some hammerfists and punches to close out the action. He needed every little bit of that, and likely goes 2-0 against “All-In.”

    10-9 Hernandez (29-28 Hernandez)

  • Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez – Round 2

    Allen chops the leg as soon as the round starts. Hernandez shoots in for a takedown. He works for it, but gets it. Hernandez crushes Allen into the corner, seeking a guillotine before he spins out and over Allen to take the back. A choke attempt rotates Allen to his side. Hernandez loses position as Allen sprawls. Hernandez gets to side control before making his way back to the back. Some short shots land in between all these transitions, but nothing significant. Allen pushes Hernandez backward to get caught in a crucifix but spins out to get Hernandez’s back. The chokes are only leading these guys to their backs. That’s how well they defend. Hernandez stands and shakes off Allen, taking control once more. Round ends with Hernandez smashing some punches and elbows into the dome of Allen against the cage. It comes down to the third here.

    10-9 Hernandez (19-19)

  • Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez – Round 1

    A hard leg kick lands early for Allen, and he follows it with a high kick that grazes Hernandez. “Fluffy” catches it and Allen tries to wrap around the back. He slides off, and Hernandez briefly gets on top as they scramble to the wall. Hernandez powers Allen down into side control. Allen moves to escape, but Hernandez just floats over top of him, taking a half-side position. Hernandez works to get the back, giving up the position as Allen reverses to get on top in half-guard. Allen threatens an americana, forcing Hernandez to turn and give up his back. Allen punches while teasing rear-naked chokes. He gets under the chin late but Hernandez manages to turn out of it. Some scary final moments there for Hernandez, who ate elbows in the process.

    10-9 Allen

  • Co-main event

    It’s time for the co-main event rematch at middleweight between contenders Brendan Allen and Anthony Hernandez. “Fluffy” currently holds the lead in their series, defeating Allen in LFA before they reached the big stage.

  • RESULT: Rob Font def. Jean Matsumoto via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

  • Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto – Round 3

    Font jabs his way into an exchange right away. Overhand right for Font gets through. Font goes over the top with a right hook and head kick that graze the target. A shot in tight appeared to slice Matsumoto. He’s bleeding from the forehead somehow. Font backs Matsumoto to the cage, and they each land hard hooks in succession. A heavy leg kick lands on the knee of Font. They trade elbows. Font punches his way into another clinch. An elbow stings Matsumoto as he defends and takes another with his back to the cage. Matsumoto attempts to trip his way out but fails. A push kick gets through for Font. The crowd erupts late. They start throwing wildly now! Seattle is on its feet. Holy hell the energy in this place is absurd as the fight comes to an end. Unfortunately for the veteran, too little, too late. But not for a lack of trying.

    10-9 Font (29-28 Matsumoto)

  • Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto – Round 2

    Font gets back on the attack early but not to the same aggression. A slapping kick hits the guard of Font. A nice right-hand gets through for Font. Matsumoto jabs back, going for a takedown and getting caught in a guillotine. He powers out and pursues a better position. Font gets to his knee but stands off his other leg only to get dropped to his butt shortly after. Font burst out and starts to walk down his opponent. Matsumoto keeps chipping with his kicks low. Font rips the body. A clean right straight connects down the pipe for Font. Matsumoto ties the legs and gets Font to the mat. Font working his way up and out leads to another big Matsumoto takedown. He wall-walks to his feet and presses forward. Matsumoto lands a hook each. Font landed the nicer shots, but not a whole lot of them, while Matsumoto controlled the overall round better.

    10-9 Matsumoto (20-18 Matsumoto)

  • Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto – Round 1

    Font came out guns blazing and drilled Matsumoto. The Brazilian clinched in defense. If any damage was done, Matsumoto is recovering by stalling into a potential takedown and landing knees to Font’s knee. Font escapes and jabs his way into a near uppercut that misses. Matsumoto presses, taking punches before he lands a takedown. Font somehow starts threatening with an omoplata. Matsumoto defends and gets to side control. They scramble briefly and get to half-guard with Matsumoto on top. Font finds an opening to explode up but gets caught in a guillotine attempt. It wasn’t really there. Matsumoto lets go and starts dropping punches. Font postures to his knees and stands with Matsumoto on his back. He hits a slam from behind to end the round. After that early flurry, Matsumoto gained momentum and took the round.

    10-9 Matsumoto

  • Next: Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto

  • RESULT: Jean Silva def. Melsik Baghdasaryan via first-round knockout (punches) at 4:15

  • Jean Silva vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan – Round 1

    Baghdasaryan connects first with an outside leg kick. Silva goes upstairs with a head kick that’s blocked. He goes back to it around two minutes in. Not much has happened yet. Silva presses in with a right straight and a body kick behind it. A sneaky left hook in tight lands for Silva. He follows it with a spinning back kick. Baghdasaryan catches Silva with a big right and he starts playing to the crowd. AND BOOM! A monster right straight plants Baghdasaryan! It’s over. Insane.

  • Next: Jean Silva vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan

  • RESULT: Alonzo Menifield def. Julius Walker via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

  • Alonzo Menifield vs. Julius Walker – Round 3

    Well, that’s no fun. An eye poke to Walker immediately halts round three. And I mean, immediately. Thankfully, I couldn’t quite see the nastiness of it here cageside, but the replay was no fun. Walker is good to go. Action resumes and Walker returns to backing up Menifield. A pair of big left hooks land for Walker. A jab off the backfoot stings Walker before a knee to Menifield’s cup causes another pause. I could hear that one blatantly. The broadcast probably doesn’t do it justice. Referee Jason Herzog restarts the fight, and Menifield gets to work with a combo of punches. Walker goes back to the inside leg kicks. A Walker takedown attempt and re-clinch earns the boos. The fight feels like it’s in slow motion by the final minute. Walker goes for another knee and eats a right hook. A one-two lands for Menifield, and the final bell sounds. An odd round, but one Menifield just slightly edges out.

    10-9 Menifield (29-28 Menifield)

  • Alonzo Menifield vs. Julius Walker – Round 2

    Walker jabs forward right out the gate, eating a right straight for his troubles. He ties up Menifield again, holding him to the fence. Walker now walks down Menifield. He throws out some teep kicks to keep his distance before a nice inside low kick. Menifield now looks like he’s fading. Another lazy takedown attempt from Walker gives him control with an under hook. Menifield reverses position and separates. Nice jab lands from Walker. A big right hand into the clinch follows for Walker. Menifield casually waves him on then blasts an overhand right. Walker is starting to look for step knees and gets closer on each attempt. They trade leg kicks. A left hook gets through for Menifield as Walker starts to slow. Walker scores a late brief takedown against the cage to end the round.

    10-9 Walker (19-19)

  • Alonzo Menifield vs. Julius Walker – Round 1

    No time to waste. They lock-up early after throwing some punches in tight. Walker pushes Menifield to the cage, controlling with an underhook. Some nice knees to the bread basket get through for Walker. The Seattle crowd quickly gets to booing after the action we’ve seen already. Menifield manages to push away, creating a brief exit that sees him tagged in the process. Walker regains position. They break again, and Walker walks forward, shooting for a double-leg takedown that’s defended. Walker connects with some punches to Menifield, and he fires back a big right, forcing Walker to re-engage in the clinch. Walker appears gassed as Menifield begins to unleash bombs as he shells up. Walker stays close, allowing Menifield to grab him and briefly get around his back and neck but no real threats present themselves. A late Walker missed head kick results in him eating some shots. Now the crowd is into it as the horn sounds.

    10-9 Menifield

  • Prediction: Alonzo Menifield vs. Julius Walker

    205 pounds: Alonzo Menifield (-250) vs. Julius Walker (+200)

    Talk about a roundabout way for Alonzo Menifield to arrive on this card. Seattle and London have somewhat similar weather, so maybe it was all meant to be after Oumar Sy dropped out of Menifield’s original March 22 matchup at UFC London, and Julius Walker was instead given a shot to make an impact in his promotion debut on Saturday.

    Will the gamble pay off for Walker? It’s a green 25-year-old vs. a seasoned 37-year-old. If Menifield is on his game, he should having no issue putting the newcomer in his place after suffering recent losses to light heavyweight up-and-comers Carlos Ulberg and Azamat Murzakanov — two men with whom Walker shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath, at least not right now.

    Walker is going to look for the kill early, and if he doesn’t find it, he’s done for. This fight is simply a case of not doubting the veteran, who also had a whole camp for the bout unlike his rookie counterpart.

    Pick: Menifield

  • Main card next

    Deciding bonuses isn’t going to be easy come the night’s end. UFC Seattle stays at light heavyweight for the opening fight when Alonzo Menified welcomes Julius Walker to the Octagon.

  • Cutelaba def. Aslan

    Light heavyweight: Ion Cutelaba def. Ibo Aslan via first-round submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:51.

    Well, the prelims were perfect. What night of action it’s been so far.

  • The last prelim

    The light heavyweight gets back-to-back features with the next two bouts. First, we should get another fast and furious affair between Ion Cutelaba and Ibo Aslan.

  • Costa def. Fili

    Featherweight: Melquizael Costa def. Andre Fili via first-round submission (guillotine) at 4:30

    And now a submission! It’s something in the rain, I’m tellin’ ya.

  • First of two featherweight fights in Seattle

    Up next the always-entertaining veteran Andre Fili will take on Melquizael Costa. May the violence continue.

  • Abduk-Malik def. Klein

    Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Nick Klein via second-round TKO (punches) at 3:24.

    This card is getting out of hand, folks. Every fight is madness.

  • Another finish?

    Can the finish streak continue? I sure hope so. The middleweights get after it once again. It’s Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Nick Klein.

  • Simon def. Basharat

    Bantamweight: Ricky Simon def. Javid Basharat via first-round knockout (punch) at 3:15

    OK, Seattle. CALM DOWN. Good luck to everyone in topping that.

  • Up next

    Another Washington native returns to action, as Ricky Simon collides with Javid Basharat in a bantamweight affair.

  • Vanderford def. Veretennikov

    Catchweight (175 pounds): Austin Vanderford def. Nikolay Veretennikov via second-round TKO (punches) at 4:13

    There was a little bit of extra action after that one. Wild scenes out here.

  • “Mr. VanZant” has arrived

    Nikolay Veretennikov vs. Austin Vanderford will be a rare UFC catchweight bout at 175 pounds. The fight will be the UFC debut of Vanderford — the husband of UFC veteran Paige VanZant. He appeared destined for the promotion years ago when on Contender Series, but instead enjoyed a stint with Bellator before this opportunity arose. On the other hand, Veretnnikov seeks a rebound win after falling short in his debut last August.

  • Ruziboev def. McConico

    Middleweight: Nursulton Ruziboev def. Eric McConico via second-round TKO (punches) at 0:33

  • Middleweights on deck

    Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Eric McConico follows that stellar start from Bukauskas. McConico looks to make some noise with a serious upset on short notice.

  • Bukauskas def. Cerqueira

    Light heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas def. Raffael Cerqueira via first-round knockout (punches) at 2:12

This article was originally published by Yahoo.com. Read the original article here.
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