In the UFC Fight Night 233 main event, Song Yadong provided a great reminder that there are levels to this sport.
Song, the UFC's No, 7-ranked bantamweight, was back in action against Chris Gutierrez, who was perched at No. 15 ahead of the card.
Despite fighting way up the rankings, Gutierrez started pretty strong and seemed to frustrate Song a bit with his evasive movement.
"This guy controls the distance very well," Song said in his post-fight interview.
Despite a frustrating start, Song quickly began to show that, despite being known for his knockout punching, their are layers to his game. The Chinese fighter first began to diversify his striking attack by adding in kicks, then started looking for takedowns, and in the process, exposed Gutierrez as somewhat limited by comparison.
By the time the five-round fight was over, he had landed 160 strikes to Gutierrez's 105 and completed two of three takedown attempts to rack up just over 11 minutes of control time on the mat—the recipe for a clear-cut unanimous-decision win.
After his victory, Song set his sights on former bantamweight champion Petr Yan. That's a great fight, and one the UFC might well put together. Whomever is next for the Chinese fighter, however, will have to prepare all the more thoroughly after his layered performance in Saturday's headliner.
