Attendance reaches 12,647 spectators
The Chinese mainland’s Song Yadong defeated Brazil’s Deiveson Figueiredo in Saturday’s action-packed UFC FIGHT NIGHT at the 16,000-seat Galaxy Arena, making the Brazilian tap while in a guillotine chokehold right as the second round of their bantamweight bout was coming to a close.
While both fighters had their fans, the outpour of support from Song’s fans echoed across Macau’s largest indoor arena as he made his way into the Octagon.
Going toe-to-toe, the first round between Heilongjiang’s Song, the No. 5 UFC bantamweight and title contender, and Figueiredo, the No. 7 UFC bantamweight and former flyweight champion, started off with careful and calculated strikes and takedowns, with several exciting close calls, the cheers of “Song Yadong!” and “Jiayou”* echoing periodically for the crowd’s favourite.
While the excitement continued in the second round, just towards the end, Figueiredo went for a takedown, but “The Kung Fu Kid” gained the upper hand, beating the skilled grappler by submission and bringing Song’s fight record to 23-9-1 (1 NC-“No Contest”).
At the post-fight press conference, Song told the media that he was proud of his win by guillotine. “I did a lot in the sparring, but I finally did it in the fight. I’m so proud of myself”, he said.
The main fight was not the only bout that drew excitement as the five other fights in the main card also had notable highlights, including the co-main fight: The light heavyweight slugfest between Anhui’s Zhang Mingyang and Alonzo Menifield from Dallas, Texas. In a match with much built-up excitement and collective support as Zhang entered the arena, the “Mountain Tiger” would be defeated via TKO near the end of the first round, leaving fans disappointed, yet still supportive as he exited the arena.
The first match of the main card, meanwhile, was that of mainland China’s Su Mudaerji and US fighter Alex Perez, which was ruled a no contest due to an accidental foul after the latter was kicked in the groin during the second round, vomiting into a bucket and unable to continue. This left many, as observed by the Post, upset with the ruling.
The ensuing fights included the victory by unanimous decision for Australia’s Jake Matthews against Guyanese Carlston Harris, Japan’s Kai Asakura’s first round finish against Cameron Smotherman from the US via TKO (Technical Knockout) at 1 minute 50 seconds, a swift TKO further topped by Russia’s Sergei Pavlovich, who knocked out Brazil’s Tallison Teixeira at just 39 seconds into the first round of their heavyweight bout.
The preliminary fights leading up to the main card were also not without their moments, among which were the impressive performances of UFC veteran and No. 14 ranked the US’s Angela Hill and Xiong Jiangnan, representing Indonesia’s Bali. In the end, Hill claimed victory by unanimous decision.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT’s attendance reaches 12,647
Addressing the media after yesterday’s main fight, Senior Vice President and Head of Asia for the UFC, Kevin Chang, said that Saturday event’s attendance reached 12,647, with tickets, like in 2024, sold out.
Performance of the night bonuses went to Kai and Song, while the fight of the night was Zhang vs. Menifield. Chang also highlighted the performances of Kai and Song, whose victory against the accomplished Figueredo was an achievement that also showed what he can do.
Moreover, Chang noted in response to a reporter’s question that the China market was “very, very important”, noting metrics such as fanbase size, social media followers, trends that all ranked highly. “Just the scale of the country, the number of fans and how passionate they are, all of those things contribute to that”, also adding that the UFC believes that the quantity and quality of the athletes will also take this all to the next level.
* “Jiayou (加油)” is a ubiquitous Chinese expression of encouragement and support. Directly translated, it mean “Add Oil”. In Cantonese, it is pronounced “Ga Yauh”. – Wikipedia/MPD
Macau winner of UFC FIGHT NIGHT Song Yadong from Heilongjiang addresses the media during Saturday night’s post-fight press conference at Galaxy Arena.
Song walks past fans and media workers at Galaxy Arena.
Crowds anticipate the main fight of UFC FIGHT NIGHT. – Photos: Rui Pastorin
