Bantamweight contender Song Yadong is back in the win column, submitting Deiveson Figueiredo with a guillotine choke in the UFC Macau main event Saturday at Galaxy Arena.
Competing on home soil in China for the first time in nearly seven years, Song secured the finish at 4:42 of the second round to earn his first submission victory since November 2017.
“Team Alpha male has the best (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) in the world,” Song said after the fight through an interpreter, according to ESPN’s Jeff Wagenheim. “I had the submission skills.”
Song, ranked No. 5 in the 135-pound division, gradually picked apart Figueiredo throughout the bout, landing hard strikes to the head and fending off most of the Brazilian’s takedown attempts.
The 28-year-old rebounded from a unanimous decision loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 324 in January and extends his streak of never losing consecutive fights in his MMA career.
Meanwhile, the loss continues a tough stretch for Figueiredo, who’s dropped four of his last five fights. The former flyweight champion is now 4-4 as a bantamweight, though his previous losses came against top fighters Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, and Umar Nurmagomedov.
Song didn’t call out anyone in particular in his post-fight interview but said he’s willing to fight anyone following his impressive finish.
