Song Yadong

Overview

Two wins over elite opponents, back to back, and both finished in the second round. Song Yadong, "Kung Fu Kid," fights at bantamweight out of Team Alpha Male, and his UFC record is 13-4-1.

That record carries eight finishes: six by KO/TKO and two by submission. Five more wins went to the scorecards. He enters his next fight on a two-fight win streak, and his longest in the UFC is four.

The four losses keep the profile honest. Cory Sandhagen stopped him in a five-round fight, and the other three went to decision. The two elite wins stand next to a decision loss to an elite opponent, so it's a small sample at the very top.

UFC Career

Song debuted in November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Gastelum, submitting Bharat Kandare in the first round at 4:16. Two more wins followed: a second-round TKO of Felipe Arantes in June 2018, then a unanimous decision over Vince Morales that November. A first-round knockout of Alejandro Perez at UFC 239 made it four straight.

The streak ended with a draw, not a loss. Cody Stamann took him to a majority draw in December 2019. Song answered with a unanimous decision over Marlon Vera, an opponent our model rates as strong. Then came the first loss, a unanimous decision to Kyler Phillips at UFC 259.

He bounced back with a split decision over Casey Kenney, then back-to-back stoppages: Julio Arce in the second round, Marlon Moraes in the first at 2:06.

The next test was the biggest of that stretch. In September 2022, Song headlined a five-round fight against Cory Sandhagen, another strong opponent, and lost by TKO at the end of round four. He followed it with two more five-round fights, both against strong opponents. He stopped Ricky Simon in round five at 1:10, then took a unanimous decision over Chris Gutierrez over the full five rounds.

Petr Yan beat him by unanimous decision at UFC 299, and Henry Cejudo fell to Song by unanimous decision in February 2025. A decision loss to Sean O'Malley at UFC 324 followed, and that one came against an elite opponent.

What came next changed the picture. Song submitted Deiveson Figueiredo in round two at 4:42, then knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov in round two at 1:48. Both opponents were elite.

Fighting Style

Song is a busy striker who lands more than most UFC fighters. His accuracy, defense and the strikes he absorbs are all around the UFC average, so his edge comes from output rather than from avoiding damage.

He is hard to take down and rarely tries to take anyone else down. He also hunts for submissions far less than most fighters. Even so, two of his 13 UFC wins came by submission, so he isn't purely a striker.

Eight of his 13 wins ended in a finish. Six came by KO or TKO and two by submission. Three of the eight came in the first round, four in the second, and one in the fifth.

Notable Wins

• Umar Nurmagomedov — KO/TKO, round 2 (1:48), UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song (2026)
• Deiveson Figueiredo — submission, round 2 (4:42), UFC Fight Night: Song vs Figueiredo (2026)
• Ricky Simon — KO/TKO, round 5 (1:10), UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon (2023)
• Marlon Moraes — KO/TKO, round 1 (2:06), UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev (2022)

Quick Facts

• Division: Bantamweight
• UFC record: 13-4-1
• Professional record (all promotions): 24-9-1
• UFC debut: November 24, 2017
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 5'8" / 67"
• Team: Team Alpha Male
• Born: Heilongjiang, China