Back on Chinese soil, Song Yadong is looking to revive his UFC title fight

Song Yadong returns to Chinese soil on Saturday to shine at UFC Fight Night in Macau on May 30, and while he may not have landed the opponent of his choice, former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo will ensure there will be no shortage of competition at the Galaxy Arena.It was in February of this year that Yadong challenged Mario Bautista to a fight in Macau. But with Yadong still recovering from a loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 324 in January, Bautista declined, saying he’d set his sights on Cory Sandhagen.Still, ranked 8th in Yadong’s top six, he sees the match against Figueiredo as another opportunity to strengthen his titles in front of his home crowd. According to the ‘Kung-Fu Kid’, two more wins could put him firmly in the title picture, while this fight is just as much about protecting his current position.“I just need to stay in the top five and keep winning. In the UFC, if someone pulls out, you can step up, next month you can be in a title fight. But before that, I just have to win and keep my place,” Yadong told TimesofIndia.com ahead of the fight.With a professional record of 22-9-1 and an 11-4-1 run in the UFC, Yadong has been around for a long time. Still, at just 28 years old, he remains one of the more underrated fighters in the division and is still waiting to firmly enter the title picture. He fought O’Malley earlier this year and came up short, derailing his title shot. Interestingly, Figueiredo was also on this card and suffered a defeat from Umar Nurmagomedov.That gives Saturday’s bantamweight main event more weight, and Yadong isn’t underestimating the Brazilian, even though his transition to bantamweight isn’t ideal.“He’s a very good fighter with a lot of experience, a former champion,” he said. “But I know what he’s going to do. Whether it’s a run or a punch, I’m fully prepared for whatever he brings.”Figueiredo, 38, presents a different kind of challenge for Yadong. With a submission game that surpasses most of his divisional peers, he remains a legitimate threat on the mat.“I know they will try to take me down,” Yadong said. “But I’m a black belt too. I can handle it. I believe my jiu-jitsu is better than his. It’s going to be hard for him to take me down.”This evolution from primarily a striker to a more complete fighter is something Yadong has been working on extensively since before the O’Malley fight. He trained under coach J-Flo in San Diego and focused heavily on judo and other aspects of his ground game. Heading into this fight, though, he’s putting an emphasis on sharpening his offense.“I really focused on my offense, especially my kicking,” Yadong said. “I’ve been training Muay Thai for many years. I want to use my kicks more in this fight.”Another aspect Yadong talked about was patience, something he admits he learned the hard way after UFC 324. The loss to O’Malley was as close as a decision could get: 29-28 on each scorecard, with nine of the 21 media scorecards favoring Yadong. It wasn’t a loss that diminished him, but it was still a loss.“I didn’t expect him to go three rounds in that fight. He moved away the whole fight and I wasn’t patient enough. I needed to be more patient and get my offense in earlier. But I learned a lot from that fight,” he admitted.However, Yadong knows exactly what he wants after he’s done with Figueiredo. If all goes to plan, he wants another crack at the division’s elite, possibly even a rematch with Cory Sandhagen, who beat him in 2022.“If I win, maybe Umar (Nurmagomedov). I haven’t fought him yet and he’s in the top five. Or Sandhagen. I know Merab is fighting for the title, so we’ll see how it goes. But honestly, after this fight, I’ll fight whoever the UFC gives me. I just want to stay active this year, it doesn’t matter who and who the opponent is in each of them,” he told Yad24 on February 2, 2025. The Figueiredo fight will be his second game of the year.Except for the fight inside the octagon, Yadong cannot ignore the importance of returning home. It was eight years ago that he made his mark on the UFC scene with a submission win over India’s Bharat Kandare in Shanghai in 2017. Returning to China to fight again is, he says, “a great feeling.”“It’s been eight years since I last fought in China. I’m so excited about this fight. It’s going to be something special to fight again in front of the Chinese crowd. It’s a great feeling. It’s going to be a really great feeling.”And for someone who has carried the flag for Chinese MMA in the UFC for nearly a decade, does pressure become an issue?“As for me, I don’t feel any pressure. I’ve appeared in main events before, so I take it like any other fight, stay calm, stay focused. I’m good,” Yadong added.For a fighter who has been outspoken about his mission to become China’s first UFC men’s champion, a goal that sits alongside Zhang Weili’s success as part of a larger ambition for Chinese MMA, Saturday represents both a homecoming and an audition.Watch UFC Fight Night – Song vs. Figueiredo on 30th May 2026 from 16:30 IST via live stream.