This past Saturday night in the headliner of UFC Vegas 72, we saw a big time bantamweight matchup between two rising young contenders. Song Yadong (20-7-1) was in his second straight headliner as he took on Ricky Simon (20-4) who was looking to win his sixth straight fight.
This fight was originally supposed to be the co-main event at UFC Vegas 71 and was scheduled for three rounds. However, after an injury scrapped Saturday’s original main event, the promotion pushed this fight back and added two rounds.
I figured those two rounds would really benefit Song Yadong. Entering the bout, I thought Simon would have some early success with his wrestling and pressure, but I figured that Song would come on strong in the later rounds and I predicted a fourth round finish.
Well, I was wrong about one thing and that’s how much success Simon would have early. From the opening bell, this fight belonged to Song Yadong. Outside of one judge giving Simon the first round, every judge scored every round for Song leading to the fifth.
Upon entering the fifth, Song was really piecing up and hurting Simon bad. Eventually, the shots started to add up and he put Simon down for good and got the TKO win at UFC Vegas 72.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 72?
This was a massive win for Song who is now 4-1 in his last five fights. In those four fights, he’s won three of them by stoppage. After the fight was over, Song made it clear that he wanted a step up and wanted a top five opponent the next time he enters the cage. It’s honestly hard to argue with him at this point.
In looking at the rest of the division, I would love to see a potential matchup between Song and Rob Font. Font is coming off a first round knockout over Adrian Yanez and I think he would be a big test for Song. Another possible matchup is the rematch with Chito Vera.
Vera is coming off a loss but his first fight with Song was razor close with Song getting the win. Those are the two opponents I like the most for him next. Former champs Petr Yan and Dominick Cruz could also be options for Song.