Athletes
Song Yadong Eyes A Showcase Of Power
23 Year-Old Looks To Put Together Another Elite Bantamweight Streak
Song Yadong promises there are things he actually enjoys doing besides training and fighting.
“I do go snowboarding in the wintertime. I love to go shopping and I love to go to LA to eat all the great Chinese food that doesn’t appear in Sacramento.”
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A six-hour drive for Chinese food might sound like a pretty stinging indictment of the dining scene near Sac-town’s Team Alpha Male gym, but being from China, the man knows a thing or two about authentic cuisine. This author, for one, respects the hustle.
The only problem with all of Song’s non-fight hobbies is that, even by his own admission, he doesn’t do any of them very much.
“I feel like I need to listen to my coach when he tells me to be more relaxed. Just do more fun stuff in life. It will get me more mentally relaxed, and this will help me in my training.”
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The only problem with all of Song’s non-fight hobbies is that, even by his own admission, he doesn’t do any of them very much.
“I feel like I need to listen to my coach when he tells me to be more relaxed. Just do more fun stuff in life. It will get me more mentally relaxed, and this will help me in my training.”
And there it is again, the training. Even the fun things lead right back to the training.
For what it’s worth, as he sits in Las Vegas this week ahead of Saturday’s bout against Julio Arce that opens the main card of UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Rodriguez, Song is as relaxed as any of us on the UFC staff recall seeing him. He attributes at least some of this to remaining in the U.S. after his last fight, a split decision nod over Casey Kenney in August at UFC 265.
“I’ve been training in the States the past few months. The weight cut has been going well.
The whole process has been really convenient just staying over here. I have a lot of friends coming over that have to deal with visa issues and the time difference and stuff like that. It feels good to just stay over here and train.”
Again with the training.
To his credit as a fighter, Song is his own harshest critic. He suffered his first pro loss since 2016 last March in a war with Kyler Phillips, and despite washing that sting away with the Kenney victory, Song isn’t satisfied.
“I feel kind of ashamed because I feel like if I had pushed him a little more, I would have been able to knock him out in the third round.”
Shame shouldn’t enter into the equation. Song looked his usual dominant self, and large swaths of fans and sports media had it scored as a more one-sided affair than the judges did. But Song takes no particular satisfaction in that.
“I have a lot of things I’ve been doing in training that I haven’t gotten a chance to show the audience.”
He’ll get another chance to show what he’s describing against the exciting Arce, who is coming off a brilliant TKO of Andre Ewell last July. Arce has alternated wins and losses since 2018, but of course Song won’t be counting on that to continue.
“I’m going to be more careful. I feel like he’s more dangerous than Casey Kenney. I need to be more focused.”
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He’s also focused on not leaving it in the judges’ hands, if he can help it.
“I know I have the knockout power. I know if I just do what I do, I will be able to knock him out.
“I want to showcase my speed and power. I want to put on a great performance. If I can finish him quick, I would like to fight a ranked opponent ASAP.”
