UFC Seattle: Five Things We Learned

UFC Seattle: Five Things We Learned

UFC Seattle was a great fight card with meaningful fights. Those fights delivered in addition to the less-known bouts ending in finishes. The only downside of the night was that an eye poke led to a stoppage in the main event. Still, it was a solid night of fights. Here are the five biggest lessons we learned from UFC Seattle.

Song Yadong Wins After A Strange Ending

Song Yadong won a technical decision over Henry Cejudo in the main event of the UFC Seattle. The bout was stopped after three rounds. The stoppage came after Yadong incidentally poked Cejudo in the eye. The former champion took all five minutes allotted for an injury timeout to attempt to overcome the injury. After that point, he elected to continue fighting, though it was clear that his vision was compromised. The bout was stopped when the third round ended because Cejudo could not see.

This was an unfortunate ending to a solid fight. It felt like the fight was just getting started. The action was steadily increasing every round, and it felt like both fighters were preparing to push in the championship rounds.

After the first three rounds were completed, Yadong did have a slight edge. The pair exchanged in the pocket while trading leg kicks. It felt like Yadong was landing more consistently in the boxing exchanges, and he inflicted more damage with the leg kicks. That does not mean Cejudo did not have moments of success. The bout was close until the eye poke.

This outcome does leave a small asterisk on Yadong’s victory. It is impossible to know how the rest of the bout would have played out without the eye poke. Although, he still deserves credit for the positive skills he showed.

Anthony Hernandez Continues To Outgrapple Opponents

In the UFC Seattle co-main event, Anthony Hernandez used his cardio and grappling to earn a decision victory over Brendan Allen. The victory marked his seventh consecutive win.

This bout was a standard performance from Hernandez. In the past, he has shown the ability to use cardio and grappling to win. This fight showed that once again. Despite fighting another good grappler, he was able to get takedowns and spend a lot of time in top positions.

Hernandez deserves a lot of recognition for winning three-round fights. In almost every fight, he will hold a massive cardio advantage in the championship rounds. In this fight against Allen, it felt like his success would have snowballed in the late rounds. Still, he did enough to win two of the first three rounds.

It will be fascinating to see how far Hernandez can take his skills. This win streak is getting him to the point where he will be fighting top competition soon.

Rob Font Takes Out A Prospect

At UFC Seattle, Rob Font took on undefeated prospect Jean Matsumoto. The bout ended up being a close scrap, but Font was the fighter who landed the shots needed to win the fight.

This Font was a great demonstration of his boxing skills. He continuously landed his jab and eventually landed damaging shots behind it. Additionally, he showed improved defensive grappling. That helped ensure Matsumoto did not steal rounds with his wrestling offense.

This was a strong performance that showed Font is still able to how his position in the bantamweight ranking. In his last two fights, he has defeated prospects Matsumoto and Kyler Phillips. Now, he is looking at potentially fighting a ranked opponent.

Jean Silva Adds To His Streak Of Violence

At UFC Seattle, Jean Silva added another knockout to his highlight reel. His victim this time around was Melsik Baghdasaryan. Silva now has four UFC victories with four stoppages.

This performance was in line with what we have seen from Silva thus far in his UFC career. The pair were engaging in striking exchanges until Silva landed a shot Baghdasaryan could not take. In this fight, he managed to land the shot by manipulating Baghdasaryan’s lead hand which allowed him to land a left hook followed by a right straight.

In his post-fight interview, Silva called out Bryce Mitchell. That would be an appealing fight for the UFC considering Mitchell’s recent pro-Hitler comments. The promotion would probably like the idea of booking Mitchell against a fighter with serious finish potential.

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Ion Cutelaba Leans Into Being A New Fighter

On the UFC Seattle prelims, Ion Cutelaba submitted Ibo Aslan in the first round. The victory marks a change in his approach to fighting.

Cutelaba has always been a high-action fighter. That was present in this fight. In the early exchanges, Cutelaba and Alsan were throwing haymakers at one another. Both fighters had success, but the tide turned in Cutelaba’s favor when he began grappling.

This fight feels like a turning point in Cutelaba’s career. The veteran is leaning into being a fan-friendly fighter while also using his grappling to win fights. It is a great approach to get fan interested in his fights while also bringing a better set of skills to the octagon.

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