Los Angeles, Dec 10: It might not have come the way Song Yadong envisioned, but he scored a lopsided win over Chris Gutierrez nonetheless.
Song showed versatility to his overall game as he defeated Gutierrez by unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night 233 bantamweight headliner. After 25 minutes, the judges awarded Song the victory with scores of 50-44, 50-45, 50-45 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
It was the second consecutive victory for Song, who called out former 135-pound champion Petr Yan in his post-fight interview with Paul Felder.“I’m coming to get the belt,” Song said. “Next one, Petr, sign the contract. Tomorrow I’m going back to train. I know you want to fight in March. OK, let’s go in March.” Immediately after Song’s win, Yan posted a yawn emoji on X, presumably as an assessment of Song’s performance. Song had a response to that.
“Your last fight, too, bro,” Song said, reference Yan’s most recent loss to Merab Dvalishvili in March. “Looked like sh*t. Some time I will knock you out. You’re boxing is good? OK, let’s go. Let’s try it.”
Song (21-7-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) entered the fight with Gutierrez (20-5-2 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) looking to display his striking, but he was forced to make adjustments as things unfolded. After a leg-kick heavy Round 1 from both Song and Gutierrez, it was Round 2 where the fight changed. Gutierrez was doing a good job of managing distance, but after an eye poke from Gutierrez halted the action, Song came back and scored a nice takedown when the fight resumed.
After holding Gutierrez down for the remainder of the round, Song found more success on the feet before closing out the round with another takedown. The biggest moment of the fight came early in Round 4 when Song dropped Gutierrez with an overhand right. He then proceeded to fight him heavy on the mat with ground and pound. Round 5 saw more of the same as Song left no doubt who was the winner.
Looking to build on a win in her promotional debut last time out, Luana Santos was paired up with Stephanie Egger at UFC Vegas 83.
Egger was 3-3 through her first six fights in the promotion, and looking to get back in the win column after a loss to Irina Alekseeva.
Santos took some big swings early, but later in the opening round opted to fall back on her grappling, tying Egger up along the fence. Egger and Santos fired knees and Santos added in some stomps. Santos came away from the round seemingly out to a comfortable lead. (Agencies)
