Song Yadong wins after Henry Cejudo can’t continue following nasty eye poke in UFC Seattle main event

On paper, Song Yadong has a win over Henry Cejudo but it certainly didn’t happen the way he wanted.

Following a strong start to the fight, Song delivered a nasty eye poke to the Olympic gold medal wrestler that left Cejudo struggling to see out of his left eye. Replays showed two fingers went directly into Cejudo’s eyes but referee Jason Herzog didn’t assess any penalties and the fight continued until the horn sounded to end the third round.

Between rounds, Cejudo told his coaches that his vision was completely compromised.

“I don’t know what the f*ck he’s throwing at me ... I can’t f*cking see,” Cejudo said. “I cannot f*cking see”

The doctor came in to check on Cejudo but it was clear that the fight was already over because he couldn’t see out of one eye.

In a strange twist if Cejudo never restarted after the initial eye poke, the fight could have been stopped and potentially declared a no contest. But because Cejudo attempted to fight and the round came to a close, Herzog was able to end the contest and gather the scorecards for a decision since three rounds were completed.

The judges scored the fight 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 with Song getting the win by technical decision.

“That was totally accidental,” Song said about the eye poke. “This result is not what I wanted. I’m so sorry, Henry. I think we should run it back. We will fight again. Sorry fans. I learned a lot from this fight. I will do better next time in a rematch.”

It was an unfortunate ending for Song, who was looking great throughout the fight but the eye poke obviously affected Cejudo and prevented him from continuing.

Beyond the way the fight ended, it has to sting for Cejudo that Herzog decided not to deduct a point for the foul, which based on the scorecards would have actually resulted in a majority draw. Instead, Cejudo goes home with a damaged eye and a loss on his record.

“I couldn’t see [out of] my left [eye],” Cejudo said. “My right’s OK but even that last minute when he was chasing, I didn’t know what he was throwing at me. I can’t see from the left.

“I wanted to continue. If I can’t see, he’s going to hurt me. OF course, we can run it back 100 percent. F*ck, that finger went in my eye pretty good.”

There’s no telling if the UFC decides to run this one back or not, although to his credit Song was putting on a strong performance prior to the stoppage.

While he did have to deal with some nasty leg kicks from Cejudo early, Song was controlling the distance and really hammering away at the former two-division champion with a barrage of punches on the feet. Song really started surging ahead in the third round but that’s also when the eye poke connected that ultimately ended Cejudo’s night.

It’s a tough way for Song to score perhaps the biggest win of his career but he obviously seems open to a rematch.

Prior to the fight, Cejudo said he was making one final run for title contention before calling it a career but the weird way the UFC Seattle main event ended likely brings him back with hopes that he can get another shot at Song in the future.