By:  | December 10, 2023 2:34 pm

This weekend’s fight card was supposed to take place in Shanghai. It was switched to Las Vegas but was still stacked with Asian fighters including Chinese bantamweight Song Yadong.

He beat Chris Gutierrez by decision in the main event at UFC Vegas 83. The Chinese fighter came in as a strong favourite and controlled the fight from start to finish.

Yadong started to score with low kicks in the opening round and forced Gutierrez to switch stances to protect his lead leg. The experienced American fared better at the start of the second but was warned for thrusting out his open hands and poking.

Just when it seemed Gutierrez was in the ascendancy Yadong completed a takedown and finished the second round in top position. In the third round it was the Chinese fighter who was warned after an accidental eye poke that looked painful.

 

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Hard right

Yadong dumped him on his back in the closing stages of this round too although he didn’t do any damage in the process. Being the headline fight this was a five rounder and Gutierrez must have known he was behind heading into ‘the championship rounds’.

Yadong landed a hard right hand which knocked Gutierrez down in the fourth but the American recovered quickly and was able to defend from his back. He would remain there until the bell without receiving much more damage.

Gutierrez knew he needed something big in the final round and rolled for a leg lock. He merely succeeded in giving up top position and Yadong remained there for the rest of the round, finishing with a flurry of punches and hammerfists.

With the win Yadong improves to 21-7-1 and afterwards he called out Petr Yan, who had originally been booked to face him at this event. Gutierrez drops to 20-5-2.

Best of the rest

Late replacement Tim Elliott (20-13-1) submitted Sumudaerji (16-6) in the opening round of their bantamweight bout. He choked the Chinese fighter unconscious with an arm triangle choke.

Park Hyun-Sung (9-0) stopped Shannon Ross (13-9) in the second round of their flyweight fight. The Korean remains undefeated and picked up a $50,ooo USD bonus for this performance.

UFC Vegas 83, Las Vegas, December 9th
Song Yadong def. Chris Gutiérrez via Decision (Unanimous)
Khalil Rountree Jr. def. Anthony Smith via TKO (Punches) at 0:56 of R3
Nasrat Haqparast def. Jamie Mullarkey via TKO (Punches) at 1:44 of R1
Tim Elliott def. Sumudaerji via Technical Submission (Arm-triangle choke) at 4:02 of R1
André Muniz def. Park Jun-yong via Decision (Split)
Kevin Jousset def. Song Kenan Decision (Unanimous)
Park Hyun-Sung def. Shannon Ross TKO (Knee and punches) at 3:59 of R2
Steve Garcia def. Melquizael Costa via KO (Elbows) at 1:01 of R2
Luana Santos def. Stephanie Egger via Decision (Unanimous)
Tatsuro Taira def. Carlos Hernandez via TKO (Punches) at 0:55 of R2
Talita Alencar def. Rayanne dos Santos via Decision (Unanimous)