Henry Cejudo responds to opponent Song Yadong’s sharing of 2008 Olympics photos; says it made him “cry”

Song Yadong cracks Olympian Henry Cejudo with an emotional call-back ahead of the UFC Seattle (UFC Fight Night 252) event headliner.

Song Yadong cracks through Henry Cejudo before UFC Seattle with emotional call-back (Source: IMAGO/X)

It’s been almost a year gap since Song Yadong competed inside a UFC cage. Now, ready for months, he’s amping up the anticipation for UFC Fight Night 252: Cejudo vs. Song, this February 22nd, at Climate Pledge Arena. Yadong meets Olympian wrestler and former 135-pound title challenger Henry Cejudo in both their return bouts.

Days out from his UFC Fight Night 252 headliner in Seattle, Yadong isn’t going all in the trash-talk way, though. In the run-up to their main event, Yadong shared photos of Cejudo’s Olympic gold medal win and a photo of himself in front of the Olympic arena. He even revealed that he was selling souvenirs. It caught the attention of Cejudo, who gradually replied.

If your job was to make me cry after seeing this, you succeeded. But on Saturday night it will be your turn to cry. Respect 💪🏾 #UFCSeattle
Henry Cejudo via X (@HenryCejudo)

The 2008 Beijing Olympics hold a special place in ‘Triple C’s heart. It’s because it’s where he won his Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the tender age of 21. Cejudo later used his strong, wrestle-heavy background as a base to transition into MMA. Thus, eventually becoming a two-division UFC champion. Almost 17 years later, Team Fight Ready’s Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) meets him in the octagon.

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If your job was to make me cry after seeing this, you succeeded. But on Saturday night it will be your turn to cry. Respect 💪🏾 #UFCSeattle
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) February 19, 2025

Cejudo will look to recover from what could be the first three-fight skid of his career. Despite the moniker of respect, he thus douses out some challenges before the weekend. In his last outing, he faced a major lopsided decision loss (29-28 | 29-28 | 29-28) to now 135-pound champ Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 PPV. The wrestler was even contemplating a gold-or-go-out phase. Song Yadong, however, is relishing the opportunity of facing such a name.

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Song Yadong is full of praise for Henry Cejudo and shares a new nickname for the fighter

Henry Cejudo admits that Song Yadong is a stiff test but hopes to close out the UFC Seattle headliner with a bang. Meanwhile, the challenger faces a four-time AIA wrestling state champ/2007 Pan American Games gold medalist/ Olympic gold medalist wrestler. Cejudo is 7-2 in bantamweight competition and quite the name.

Song Yadong lavishes chance to face Henry Cejudo (Source: X)

There doesn’t appear to be any animosity between the Seattle fight night headliners. While cordial, “Triple C” fell back to his weird gimmick and even showered him with a new nickname. “Kung Fu Kid” opened up about fighting him during his pre-fight media availability ahead of UFC Seattle. Yadong jokingly gave Cejudo a new nickname, as the former two-division champion has done with his other opponents.

This is a great opportunity for me. [Cejudo is] a two-division champion, Olympic champion, he has [a] big name…He’s a promoter. It’s an honor to fight him. Even he lost two fights but look at who he lost [to]. They are champions, so he’s still in the top you know? I’m so honored to fight him…I don’t have anything personal with this guy, so I want to be polite…[My nickname for Cejudo would be] ‘Big Head’ maybe…
Song Yadong during UFC Fight Night 252 Media Day fighter interviews

Triple C? The King of Cringe? The Messenger?

Song Yadong gives Henry Cejudo a new nickname ahead of the #UFCSeattle main event. 😬 pic.twitter.com/kVicpS66J7
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 19, 2025

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Yadong is making his fourth UFC headlining appearance. He’s 2-1 in previous main events. While hardly the 135-pound gatekeeper package for him, Cejudo is a step forward to bigger challenges. The Umar Nurmagomedov fight for December fell through with him challenging for gold.

Song (21-8-1 MMA, 10-3-1 UFC) means to get back to that; he also sees holes in champ Dvalishvili’s monster cardio. If he can get past the Georgian’s two recent opponents, it hoists him to title crack very soon.

#About the Author

Dibaas.M

(1432 Articles Published)

Dibaas is an avid combat sports enthusiast and an MMA writer at FirstSportz. His knack of the sport started early, ranging as far back as UFC 81: Breaking Point; the first match watched. Barring a few years in the middle, he got back in the fold watching the rise of the likes of Conor McGregor, Kamaru Usman, and others... He also happens to be in the habit of writing, wherein his interests collide. He loves to report on anything and everything within the combat sports bubble. He has helped in freelance social redesign and rebranding for a few Instagram businesses, as well as digital/manual art restoration. He has a year of experience as Community service Associate, 4+ years of experience as a freelance content writer, and a year of experience in target-oriented writing. Currently, he delves into topics of MMA, Boxing, and Kickboxing to the best of his ability and share it with a dedicated audience.

Henry Cejudo responds to opponent Song Yadong’s sharing of 2008 Olympics photos; says it made him “cry”

Song Yadong is full of praise for Henry Cejudo and shares a new nickname for the fighter

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