China’s Song Yadong had been penciled in to face Marlon Vera at UFC Jacksonville, at least according to his opponent.
But Marlon Vera took to Twitter moments ago to announce that he is looking for a new opponent because Yadong pulled out:
Song yadong pull out what a pussy! @UrijahFaber jump in
— C H🖕🏽T O🇪🇨V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) April 30, 2020
Yadong has spent time training at Team Alpha Male in the U.S. and it appears he might still be in California. The Chinese fighter has won four fights out of five for the UFC and holds a record of 15-4-1.
Yadong currently sits at #14 in the rankings and is coming off a draw with Cody Stamann at UFC Washington. Vera is #13 and has won his last five fights.
Restrictions on international travel make it unlikely we will see many Asian fighters on the upcoming UFC cards. However the U.S. based mixed martial artists like Mizuki Inoue might feature.
It will be interesting to find out why Yadong was unable to accept the matchup with Vera, which would have taken place on May 16th and been headlined by a heavyweight fight between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris.
Vera accused the Chinese bantamweight of a ‘pull out’ and it will be interesting to find out whether Yadong did accept the fight, and if so, why the 22 year old subsequently withdrew.
Urjah Faber is the founder of Team Alpha Male, which might explain why Vera demanded he replace Yadong. The 40 year old former bantamweight title challenger made a comeback last year.
