Song Yadong tied the Asian player's unbeaten record at UFC. Photo/Social Media
On May 17, 22-year-old Song Yadong defeated Marlon Villa in the UFC fighting night, with a record of 5 wins and 1 draw, equaling the unbeaten record of Asian players in the UFC. Song Yadong began practicing MMA at the age of 14, and he was also the first Chinese male player to enter the top 15 of the official UFC rankings. In an interview with the Beijing News reporter, Song Yadong bluntly said that there are still many immature technologies, and his long-term plan is to impact the UFC chickweight gold belt within 3 years.
Song Yadong rushed to the arena and wrapped himself tightly. Photo/Social Media
Challenge
This game is needed to make ends meet
On May 12, Song Yadong traveled to Florida for his 6th game at the UFC. When departing from Sacramento Airport, Song Yadong wrapped himself tightly, with many protective clothing, protective glasses, masks, and medical gloves. Special equipment and nervous emotions make Song Yadong's game full of uncertainty.
On April 25, UFC announced that on May 14 and 17, two fighting night matches would be played in Jacksonville, Florida, and Song Yadong, who was training in Sacramento, USA, received an invitation to compete against Ecuador's Marlon Villa.
When he first received the invitation to play, Song Yadong did not want to play. In the past few months, the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the United States has continued to spread, Song Yadong has stopped training for a period of time, and every day he only maintains his physical condition through running, "Restaurants are closed, supermarkets are few people, and I feel very stressed." ”
After consulting with coach Fibo, Song Yadong accepted the contract. He said he was a professional athlete and it was ok to play a game safely in all aspects. Moreover, a large family spends a lot of money in the United States, and Song Yadong needs this game to survive.
On April 30, Song Yadong signed a match agreement. At this point, there are only two weeks left before the race. Song Yadong spent a week adjusting his body to the state of the game, and his heart rate dropped from 65 to 47, but it was not easy to lose weight in a short period of time.
Weight issues Marlon Vera also have to deal with. Rapid weight loss may reduce the body's immunity, and the current epidemic is detrimental to the health of the players. After consultation between the two agent teams, the match between Song Yadong and Malone Villa was temporarily adjusted from 135 pounds to 145 pounds, and everyone no longer had to worry about weight loss.
A week before the night of the fight on May 17, the UFC249 race was played at the same venue. Before the match, Brazil's Sousa, nicknamed "Crocodile", tested positive for COVID-19. Although the UFC has done enough protective measures in all aspects, the news still brings psychological shadows to the players.
The day after arriving in Jacksonville, Song Yadong did a nucleic acid test. "No one can feel that kind of psychological pressure, and I can't be sure if I can play the day before the game." Playing 6 UFC matches, Song Yadong was so bottomless for the first time.
Song Yadong and Marlon Villa played fiercely. Photo/Social Media
On the field
Twice picked up by an opponent in 1 minute
Song Yadong is currently ranked 13th in the welterweight of the UFC and 14th in Marlon Villa, and the two have equal records and strengths. However, before this, Marlon Villa had defeated two Chinese players, Ning Guangyou and Wuli Jiburen, and was once regarded as a "Chinese bitter hand", which also added a lot of highlights to the competition.
In the first two rounds, Song Yadong, who was a sanda player, had a more obvious advantage in boxing, and the back-hand punch allowed Marlon Vera to only go to the edge of the cage. After three rounds, the three referees unanimously decided that Song Yadong (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) won. In the whole game, Song Yadong effectively hit 101 times, surpassing Marlon Villa's 92 times, and a wonderful game also made the two win the "best event" bonus of the night.
"I didn't play well in this game and prepared too hastily. I was a little surprised by the unanimous judgment, which I thought was a divergent judgment. This result made Song Yadong a little surprised, he said that before the game, he was ready to play 3 rounds and disagree.
With a hasty start and some unprepared results, Song Yadong's match is full of a certain drama. In the post-match live interview, when the host asked about the next game plan, Song Yadong was a little stunned, "In fact, accepting this game, I am not prepared for it myself, let alone considering the next game." After the game, Song Yadong said that he needed to settle down well, and this game was enough for him to digest for a while.
In a telephone interview with the media before the game, Song Yadong said that there are still many places to improve, one of which is ground technology. "I'm more skilled at standing now, but the wrestling still needs to be strengthened, especially in terms of details. If the wrestling is done well, there is still a great opportunity to rush forward. ”
In this match with Marlon Villa, this disadvantage of Song Yadong's ground technology was magnified. In the 3rd round, Song Yadong was thrown twice in a row by Marlon Villa in 1 minute, but fortunately the latter did not have many effective blows in the upper position. In the final stages, Marlon Vera tried to hang bare on the ground, but failed to take shape.
'It was a tough game and I'm thankful that it was another game worth learning and pushing me forward.' Song Yadong said that he will seriously review this game in the future.
Song Yadong believes that he still has many immature technologies. Photo/Social Media
Comments
There are still many technologies that are immature
After winning the match against Marlon Villa, Song Yadong's record at UFC was rewritten to 5 wins and 1 draw, which also equaled the longest unbeaten record held by South Korean Kim Dong-hyun for an Asian player at UFC. The only draw came in December last year, when Song Yadong's opponent was Kodi Steinman, who was ranked 9th in the welterweight. In the first leg, Song Yadong was deducted a point for an illegal knee strike, and the match was finally judged to be a draw, which also made him miss the opportunity to impact the top ten.
'There were a lot of problems in that game, weight loss, fouls on the field, etc., all of which affected me.' Talking about that game 5 months later, Song Yadong said that he was too young, inexperienced, and the mood swings on the field were a bit big, "Coach (Uriah Fibo) said I think too much, every round is a new round, which is a good experience for me." ”
Less than 3 years after entering UFC, Song Yadong has gained a lot of experience, and the most important point is that he has a full understanding of scientific training. In March last year, Song Yadong injured his knee and was at one point worried that he would not be able to continue his career.
"I've never had a knee injury before, so I thought I was strong." Song Yadong said that when he first signed the UFC, he buried his head in hard training and wanted to retire if he couldn't practice. During that time, Song Yadong had to cook and wash every day after training, and there was no time to relax and massage, which eventually led to a knee injury, "Before, in the martial arts school, it was hard work, and our culture was hard work to have gains." Coaches on the American side have told me that I can't practice like this, and my body can't be stretched under a high point. ”
Compared with most Chinese MMA players, Song Yadong is lucky, at the age of 19 he had the opportunity to appear on the UFC stage, and at the age of 22, he became the first Chinese male player to enter the top 15 of the official UFC rankings, "Coming to play UFC must have a goal, but I didn't expect it so fast, and I was lucky enough to win all the time." ”
Song Yadong said he didn't want to pick an opponent and every game was a good opportunity for him to have long experience. In the "monster level" player's continuous chickweight, Song Yadong is very aware of his position, and he also left himself plenty of time to impact the golden belt.
"I still have a lot of immature skills, I want to get a gold belt in the UFC, I have to sit in that position for a long time, I need to train constantly, improve myself, challenge myself." Song Yadong said that he still needs to temper for about 3 years, when he will have the strength to impact the golden belt.
Biography · Song Yadong
Date of birth: December, 2 1997
Birthplace: Harbin, Heilongjiang
Height: 1.73m
Career record: 16 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw and 1 resultless
UFC record: 5 wins and 1 draw
Beijing News reporter Sun Haiguang
Edited by Han Shuangming Proofreader LuCy