Dana White shoots down Song Yadong vs. Henry Cejudo rematch after controversial UFC Seattle main event – MMA Fighting
Filed under:Song Yadong and Henry Cejudo both seemed open to a rematch after a disappointing end to their fight in the UFC Seattle main event, but it doesn’t sound like it’s actually going to happen.The bantamweight bout ended after the third round when Cejudo wasn’t unable to continue due to a nasty eye poke delivered by Song during an exchange on the feet. Cejudo repeatedly stated “I can’t f*cking see” when speaking to his coaches, which led to the ringside physician stopping the fight.Because three rounds were completed, the judges’ scorecards were tallied with Song getting the win by technical decision but Dana White already saw enough that he doesn’t want to see it again, regardless of how it ended.“Not at all,” White said about his interest in a rematch during the UFC Seattle post-fight press conference. “Not even a little bit. I just don’t want to see it again.”White didn’t exactly take aim at Cejudo for not being able to continue, although he wasn’t at all surprised that the fight ended after the eye poke compromised his vision in the third round.To that point in the fight, Song was up on the scorecards and seemed to be surging further ahead but the foul brought the action to an unsatisfying conclusion.“Yeah [I knew he wasn’t going to be able to continue],” White said about Cejudo. “I have no idea [how he was feeling]. I’ll let him answer all those questions.“Song looked good. Only [Cejudo] can answer those questions. I don’t know if he thought ‘if I stop here, is this a [disqualification], no contest?’ I don’t know what he was thinking or maybe he can’t see.”Perhaps the biggest argument about the way the fight ended was referee Jason Herzog choosing not to assess a point deduction for the foul, which is always at the official’s discretion.For his part, White clearly didn’t seem to think a point deduction was necessary because in his estimation, Song didn’t commit the foul on purpose.“If you thought he intentionally poked him in the eye, [you take a point],” White said. “Why would he poke him in the eye? He was doing pretty well. If he was getting his ass whooped, and he poked him in the eye, you could probably make the argument.”While the UFC CEO clearly felt great about the overall card in Seattle, White was obviously far less enthusiastic when addressing the way the main event ended, especially given the circumstances surrounding the stoppage.“Listen, eye pokes are never good but they happen a lot,” White said. “And fights do continue after eye pokes. I don’t know, I’d have to look and see how many fights are actually stopped due to an eye poke. Not many.”Check your inbox for a welcome email.Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.
