Henry Cejudo rips Song Yadong in four-word message in first remarks since UFC Seattle announcement
Yesterday at 08:06 PM
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo didn’t take long to poke his upcoming opponent Song Yadong just weeks out from UFC Seattle.
Henry Cejudo will headline the UFC’s long-awaited return to Seattle against surging contender Song Yadong on February 22nd. Despite a heated run-in with another rising bantamweight contender, Cejudo will welcome Yadong back to the Octagon in one of 2025’s early intriguing matchups.
Cejudo’s return to the bantamweight division comes after back-to-back losses to Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili since returning from a three-year fighting hiatus. He retired following a controversial victory over Dominick Cruz in the UFC 249 co-main event.
Cejudo and Yadong don’t have a significant history of bad blood during their tenures in the bantamweight division. While Cejudo has embraced a ‘cringe king’ persona, Yadong has taken a more modest approach to promoting his fights, and letting his performances do the talking.
Despite this, that didn’t stop Cejudo from ramping up pre-fight trash talk ahead of the February 22nd UFC Fight Night headliner.
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Henry Cejudo pokes fun at Song Yadong after UFC Seattle booking
“Song YaDone fucked up,” Cejudo posted in a recent Instagram comment. (h/t MMANews)
As of this writing, Yadong hasn’t responded to Cejudo’s comments.
Cejudo initially teased a return to the flyweight division following his loss to Dvalishvili at UFC 298. But years since vacating the UFC flyweight belt, Cejudo hasn’t fought at 125lbs after defeating former bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw in January 2019.
Yadong is looking to make a big statement in his return after being briefly linked to a fight with Umar Nurmagomedov last year. He hasn’t competed since a unanimous decision loss to former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 299.
Cejudo is also fighting with a lot to prove since ending his retirement at UFC 288 against Sterling. He’s looking to reclaim the form that saw him beat a slew of top names such as Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis, and Marlon Moraes.
Henry Cejudo seeks his first UFC win since vacating the bantamweight title
Yadong defeated Chris Gutierrez and Ricky Simon in back-to-back impressive performances after a TKO loss to Cory Sandhagen. The close defeat to Yan stopped what initially looked like a quick ascent to the title picture.
Cejudo vs. Yadong takes place just weeks after the upcoming UFC 311 co-headliner between bantamweight champion Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov. The Cejudo vs. Yadong winner could potentially catapult back into the title conversation and a No. 1 contender bout.
Ahead of UFC Seattle, tensions are rising between the two top bantamweight contenders. Despite it being a difficult venture to attack Yadong, Cejudo isn’t missing an opportunity to bring more eyeballs to his fights.
