UFC Seattle: Cejudo vs Song betting tips - Former champ faces rising star in crucial clash

Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong main fight card

• Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong
• Brendan Allen vs Anthony Hernandez
• Jean Silva vs Melsik Baghdasarian
• Rob Font vs Jean Matsumoto
• Alonzo Menifield vs Julius Walker
• Ion Cutelaba vs Ibo Aslan

The UFC heads to Seattle, Washington for a UFC Fight Night event featuring the return of former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo and rising Chinese star Song Yadong.

The pair will do battle in a bantamweight battle of top 10 contenders, with the winner set to be catapulted towards the division’s elite.

Check out the best UK bookmakers to claim free bets worth up to £850!

Cejudo will make his return to action after a year away as he looks to end a two-fight skid against championship-level opposition. Song plans to bounce back from his year-long layoff when he faces his second former world champion in successive fights.

Ahead of fight night, we break down the main event and offer our pick for victory in Seattle.

Tale of the tape: Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong

Henry Cejudo: Does ‘Triple C’ have one more title run in him?

Henry Cejudo’s claim to the title of being the best combat sports athlete of all time is not an overly ambitious one.

The American captured Olympic gold on the wrestling mat at the Beijing Games of 2008 and transitioned to MMA and became a two-division world champion after capturing the undisputed UFC titles at flyweight and bantamweight.

After defending his bantamweight title against former champ Dominick Cruz in May 2020. Cejudo walked away from the sport, supposedly into retirement. But, three years later, he returned to challenge for his old title against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.

That bout ended in a split-decision defeat, and a bounceback fight against Sterling’s teammate, Merab Dvalishvili, also ended in a loss on the scorecards. Dvalishvili went on to eventually capture the 135-pound title and still holds the title today.

The big question after those back-to-back defeats was over Cejudo’s fighting future. Would he continue his career? Would he stay at bantamweight, or return to flyweight? And if he sticks around at 135 pounds, can he still be a factor in the weight class he once ruled?

From a technical standpoint, Cejudo still has the speed, the wrestling and the fight IQ to be a major problem for the very best in either weight class. But at bantamweight, it’s clear that he has more barriers to the top.

He’s clearly stronger and happier at 135 pounds, but against many of the division’s top contenders, he’s undersized. He’ll have to overcome those physical shortcomings against Song in Seattle, as he faces a man with a height and reach advantage.

He’ll need to use his savvy, his speed, and his game planning nous to have Song’s key tendencies covered. If he does, he can upset the odds and return to the title conversation at 135 pounds once again.

Song Yadong: Can Chinese ace bounce back with marquee win?

Much has been expected of Song Yadong ever since he broke into the UFC, and he’s largely delivered the goods.

The Chinese star was a point deduction away from winning six in a row to kick off his UFC career – that deduction turned a victory into a majority draw. But as well as his winning performances, he also showed a level of excitement that earned him four post-fight bonuses from those six bouts.

In his run since, he’s faced two elite contenders and has lost to both of them. 

He was on the wrong end of a doctor’s stoppage against Cory Sandhagen in September 2022, and then, in his most recent outing, he was edged out on the scorecards by former champion Petr Yan.

Despite that loss to Yan, Song looked strong, and he will have learned a lot against a fighter who pushed the pace on him for the full 15 minutes.

Now Song is set for his fourth five-round main event in his last five outings, and he’s ready to put what he’s learned to good use against another savvy veteran.

Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong: The key factors

Looking at the key factors ahead of this fight, it seems like many of the factors that helped take Cejudo to the title are also qualities possessed by Song. 

The big question is whether Cejudo is still at his peak and whether Song has elevated his skills to match those of his rival.

In his defeat to Yan, Song saw what was needed to outwork a world championship-calibre fighter, and that experience could be absolutely crucial against Cejudo. 

Song has been improving fight to fight, and the lessons he would have learned from sharing the cage with a phenomenal fighter like Yan will be hugely valuable during his preparations to face Cejudo this weekend.

Cejudo knows the championship duration well, but that won’t be much of an advantage to him this time around. Song has competed in five-round fights three times in his last four fights.

That doesn’t just refer to the fights themselves – it also includes three fight camps spent preparing for a five-round fight, whether that’s refining how to pace a five-round contest, the change in approach, particularly early in a fight, and the overall mental capacity to deal with 25 minutes of sheer pressure against an elite-level opponent.

Another key factor is speed. Cejudo brought his flyweight speed up to bantamweight with great effect, but now, with him entering the veteran stage of his career, that speed might not be quite what it once was.

Song, meanwhile, is among the quickest bantamweights in the division. His ability to dart in and out at speed, mixing up punches with takedown attempts as he goes, has helped propel him up the bantamweight rankings.

Song should have the edge in speed and cardio against the older man, and he also has the sort of punch power that can give Cejudo problems. 

It might not earn him a one-shot KO victory, but the combination of heavy shots, aggressive wrestling and constant forward pressure should help him bank the rounds early to allow him to get the victory on the scorecards.

FIRST’s top tip for Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong

Cejudo is smart, experienced and has proven championship experience, but it feels like the time is right for Song to make that crucial breakthrough from talented contender to legitimate title threat. 

We’re picking Song to make that leap with a decision victory.

PICK: SONG YADONG TO WIN - 2/5 (Betway)

Extra tips

Turkish knockout artist Ibo Aslan has looked the part since blasting his way into the UFC’s light heavyweight division via Dana White’s Contender Series. 

The 14-1 prospect is on a run of six straight KO/TKO finishes, with two in the UFC, including a third-round knockout of the only man to defeat him, Anton Turkalj. 

He’s an 8/13 shot to defeat Ion Cutelaba, and if paired with fellow light heavyweight striker Modestas Bukauskas (30/100), you can get an even-money double that should offer a decent chance of a payout. 

Check out both men’s odds to win by TKO/KO as the fight draws nearer, too.

Odds correct at the time of writing.