In the co-main event of UFC 324 this past Saturday, we saw a big time matchup in the bantamweight division. Former champion “Suga” Sean O’Malley (19-3) was looking to bounce back as he took on rising contender Song Yadong (22-9-1).
For Song, he was looking to finally get over the hump and get that signature win in the bantamweight division. The 28-year-old has been fighting for the promotion since he was 19 and he’s fought all the best guys in the world.
He defeated Henry Cejudo in his last fight leading up to Saturday night, but that win doesn’t hold the weight that it used to. UFC 324 was his opportunity to get that signature win against someone in their prime.
The first round between these two was really close. Song got a takedown at the end of the round and many think he won the first round. I leaned O’Malley due to the overall striking, but it could’ve gone either way. The second round was clearly a round for Song.
In the third round, Song slowed a bit and O’Malley really turned things on. The third round was the most decisive and I scored it 29-28 O’Malley, but could easily see someone giving the fight to Song. In the end, all three judges scored the fight for the former champion Sean O’Malley.
What’s next after UFC 324?
It’s important to remember that Song just turned 28 and I think he’s still got room to grow before he truly reaches his full prime. However, he really needs to try and get that signature win that he’s been chasing. Song is 6-3 in his last nine fights which is really good.
However, the three losses all came against top guys when he took that next step up. He lost to the current champion Petr Yan, former title challenger Cory Sandhagen, and now he lost to former UFC champion Sean O’Malley.
As of now, Song is a guy you would consider really good, but until he takes that next step you can’t consider him one of the elites at 135 pounds. So, what should be next for him?
I think a great fight for him would be against Payton Talbott. Talbott is coming off a huge win against Cejudo and you know that the promotion would want to push him. This matchup would be a ton of fun and I think it’s one the UFC would be interested in.
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