Due to Renato Moicano withdrawing from the main event of UFC Fight Night on April 30 due to injury, the original April 23 Song Yadong vs Ricky Simon match was postponed to that day and upgraded to a five-round headline main event.
This will be Song Yadong's second appearance in the headline main event after losing to Sandhagen in the last match, returning to the octagon after 7 months, and Song Yadong's return fight has also attracted the attention of all Chinese fighting fans.
Song Yadong
Match changes do not disrupt the pace of preparation
"The day I got the news, I was about to go to training for a run, and my coach called, and he said that the event had changed, and I was panicking, thinking that the opponent had withdrawn or something." Song Yadong, who is thousands of miles away, revealed such a small detail in an interview.
"As a result, the coach said that the game was moved to next week and became the headline main game, and asked me if I could play... I immediately agreed, which is good news, better than the withdrawal of my opponent. ”
In fact, suddenly making a change when there are only a few days before the race is a challenge for anyone. Although Song Yadong's opponent has not changed, upgrading to the main event means that he must fight his opponent for five rounds, and the requirements for physical reserves have become higher.
However, at the moment, Song Yadong does not care too much, he said, "I can do it in three rounds or five rounds, no problem, just one more week, I will still follow the normal training." I am quite happy in my heart, and I can play the headline main game, and there must be more people who pay attention. ”
Song Yadong has always maintained this optimistic and confident attitude, and the reason for this is that everything comes from the usual hard training, "I know my level, I know the level of my opponent, if I play out, there is no problem in winning this game." ”
Confidence to self-confidence, Song Yadong still conducted a detailed study of the opponent, and also made a plan to deal with it, "Simon's striking and wrestling are not weak, explosive power is very strong, especially the explosive power in wrestling, I still have to use the striking side as a breakthrough, five rounds for endurance requirements are very high, I want to find an opportunity to hit him hard, reduce his physical fitness, and hope to knockout him to win the match." ”
Song Yadong suffered a serious eye socket injury in the last game.
After orbital surgery, he is still full of fighting spirit
In Song Yadong's description, opponent Simon is a tough stubble, currently he has a 20-3 professional record and has recently maintained a five-game winning streak with strong momentum. However, among Simon's three defeats, one was lost to Song Yadong's current coach Fibo, which to a certain extent increased the confidence of the outside world in Song Yadong's preparation.
Song Yadong did not shy away from this topic, he said bluntly, "Fibo told me that although I won him at that time, his level has been improving. ”
"Of course we also did a lot of special training, like what we were good at Simon, we also practiced defense and response, in short, I hope to knock him out, no matter how it ends up working."
Always confident in yourself, this is the familiar Song Yadong. However, Song Yadong's comeback is also under great pressure when he encounters strong enemies.
After all, he lost the last game and injured his eye, and after the game, Song Yadong even had orbital surgery, removed the broken bone, and implanted titanium alloy at the fracture.
Recalling the match in September last year, Song Yadong still remembers the situation vividly, "I hurt my eye in the second round, and I was fighting completely by willpower, without much skill. ”
"Through this game I told myself that the most important thing is to protect yourself and try to avoid injuries like this, which will have a big impact later in the game."
Song Yadong lost to Sandhagen in his last match.
The next goal, hit the world's top five
From Song Yadong's memories, people can feel the predicament he was in at that time, but Song Yadong in the game is still brave, if not for the referee to stop the game because of the big wound, the final result is still unknown. After the match, even opponent Sandhagen spoke highly of Song Yadong.
"In fact, I was quite panicked at that time, there was too much blood, (right eye) vision was blurred, I couldn't see anymore, but you can't show it, in the octagon we are both fighters and actors, we need to act, you can't let your opponent see that you are injured and timid, on the contrary, you have to make your opponent panic..."
When he said this, Song Yadong was particularly serious, this is a psychological threshold that a good martial artist must pass - even in adversity, even if he suffers heavy damage, he must play his momentum in the ring and become the one who makes his opponent fear.
Obviously, Song Yadong not only has a strong physique, but also a strong psychology, and when he regains the game, what he wants is not just an immediate victory.
Song Yadong said that he hopes to move his ranking up a level this year, "I am in the top 10 now, if I win this match, I want to play the top 5 players, and my goal is to hit the top five." ”