UFC Seattle Preview

Feb 21

The UFC is invading the Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington on Saturday, February 22nd. The main event will be in the bantamweight division between former champion #7 Henry Cejudo and #8 Song Yadong.

Cejudo is riding two straight losses into the fight most recently to current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalashili and previously in a title fight to former champion Aljamain Sterling. The former two-weight champion took three years off from fighting before making his return to fight Sterling for the bantamweight belt.

The future hall of famer reflected on how he feels about his current losing streak. “F***, it’s a chip on my shoulder,” Cejudo said. “I mean, nobody wants to make ‘the greatest comeback of all time’ and you’re f***ing 0-2, but it’s part of the game.

“There is always a 50 percent chance you may lose, particularly in this sport, and it’s humbling. It’s a lot of different emotions, but it’s also motivating.”

The 38-year-old knows what is at stake against Yadong. “Nobody wants to continue losing,” Cejudo said. “But sometimes failure is not a bad thing because it’s also an indicator that lets you know, ‘Hey man, it’s time to move on.’

“I’m not one of these guys that’s gonna hold on forever; I’m not a jealous ex-girlfriend. I think I’ve done some amazing things in combat sports, period, but (the position I’m in) is bittersweet, to say the least.

“Everything is at stake, man,” continued the always engaging Fight Ready standout. “In every single fight that you compete in, everything is always at stake because people always recognize you according to your last fight. Your last fight is what defines you, typically, so there is so much at stake in the sense where…”

Cejudo believes he is in for a tough fight with Yadong in Seattle. “I think his power — he has power — and he’s a counterpuncher,” he continued, offering an assessment of what makes Song dangerous. “He’s beaten good guys and he’s put away good guys. He has power and you’ve gotta respect that. Guys that have power are the most dangerous guys, but the fire can get them burnt, too, because they risk it all through power; they can turn themselves into you, too.

“I think his youth, being 27, and he’s from a great camp — he’s training with Urijah Faber, so I’m sure they’re doing a lot of wrestling, but it’s just different when you actually get in there.

“Is he the real deal? 100 percent,” he added. “He’s a scary dude, full of muscle.”

Cejudo is also a former flyweight champion and is one of only seven fighters in UFC history to win belts in two weight classes. He has key wins in his career over Dominick Cruz, Marlon Moreas, TJ Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis, Wilson Reis and Jussier Formiga. A win on Saturday could keep him in contention and with one more win he could enter the title conversation once again.

Yadong is trying to rebound from a loss to former champion Petr Yan in his last fight at UFC 299 in March. The 28-year-old is 2-2 in his last four fights but has the chance to prove that he is a title contender with a win over Cejudo. He is ready to keep Cejudo’s losing streak going. “Yeah, I think if he lost this one, this is his last fight, the last round,” Yadong said. “But I will win the fight. I believe this is his last one, [his] last fight. This will be the last fight in Seattle. Time is over, it’s time to retire.”

Although Yadong expects Cejudo will retire on Saturday, he does say he will feel a little bad about retiring the former champ-champ. However, he is looking forward to the fight as he says this is someone he has been calling out.

“That’s what I [wanted],” Yadong said. “Last year, in May, I called him out. UFC wanted me to fight him in September, but he got injured and we finally got this one. Yeah, he’s a very good fighter — two-division UFC champion, Olympic champion, a lot of achievements. It’s an honor to fight him.”

Yadong knows there is still work to do with a win on Saturday. “So if I win this fight, I have another chance to challenge the top 5,” Yadong explained. “If I win this one, give me top 5 fighters, for sure, [then] one more, two more, I will get a title shot.”

Yadong has come up short against top contenders but he can turn that all around with a win over Cejudo. A win reminds the bantamweight division why he has fought the likes of top contenders such as Yan and Corey Sandhagen.

The rest of the main card:

Middleweight -Brendan Allen vs.Anthony Hernandez

Catchweight (140 lb) - Rob Font vs.Jean Matsumoto

Featherweight - Jean Silva vs.Melsik Baghdasaryan

Light Heavyweight - Alonzo Menifield vs.Julius Walker

ESPN+ Prelims:

Light Heavyweight - Ion Cuțelaba vs.Ibo Aslan

Featherweight - Andre Fili vs.Melquizael Costa

Middleweight - Mansur Abdul-Malik vs.Nick Klein

Bantamweight - Ricky Simón vs.Javid Basharat

Catchweight (175 lb) - Nikolay Veretennikov vs.Austin Vanderford

Middleweight - Nursulton Ruziboev vs.Eric McConicoLight