Bantamweight contender Song Yadong made his return inside the octagon after an eight-month break as he took on Ricky Simon in a five-round main event bout at UFC Vegas 72.
Song Yadong put on an impressive striking display and brutally knocked out Ricky Simon in the fifth round of the fight. After his brutal knockout win, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling lauded Song’s performance.
https://twitter.com/anotherFTBacct/status/1652494165970935809?t=pUPFBt3q6X3XwH8asy_mIQ&s=19
“That dude Song is a beast frfr!”, said Sterling on Twitter. A few hours later, Song Yadong replied to Funkmaster on Twitter and cheered for his upcoming title defense. “Keep the belt, see you in 2024.”
Keep the belt, see you in 2024 https://t.co/lfhDZ474sd
— Song Yadong (@SongYadongLFG) April 30, 2023
Not only did Song Yadong impress Aljamain Sterling with his striking but there are several other fight fans and rivals who reacted to his knockout win. Speaking about the response of Yadong, it is highly unlikely that Sterling will stay in the bantamweight division until 2024 as Funkmaster has said on several occasions that he wants to move up to featherweight.
Unless and until, Song Yadong gets back in action within a span of two to three months and racks up another highlight reel, his rise to the top of the division would probably be tough. There are several top contenders like Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvali and Cory Sandhagen who are waiting for their title shot.
Song Yadong calls out Sean O’Malley and Chito Vera after his UFC Vegas 72 win over Ricky Simon
Song Yadong is aware that he won’t get an immediate title shot against Aljamain Sterling after his UFC Vegas 72 win. Therefore he has called out Sean O’Malley in the post fight press conference. Because O’Maley is the most likely contender to face Sterling if he defends his belt against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288.
“So, I want to fight top five fighters, even [Rob] Font — he’s six, right? He’s okay. Yeah, Chito Vera and Sean O’Malley. But, they probably won’t give me Sean O’Malley [because] the UFC [will] protect him. Yeah, whatever, just top five, my goal is to fight top five fighters this year,” he said.
The UFC likely wouldn’t mind booking Song Yadong against Rob Font because this is a matchup that would excite many fans from the get go. But unfortunately they probably won’t offer Yadong a fight against O’Malley and neither would Suga Sean be interested go fight the Chinese bantamweight who is #8 in the division.
