Henry Cejudo reveals graphic reality of eye poke controversy at UFC Seattle

Double eye jab stops Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong at UFC Seattle two rounds early; "Triple C" releases picture after UFC Fight Night 252.

Henry Cejudo reveals graphic reality of eye poke controversy at UFC Seattle

Henry Cejudo releases picture of soft tissue eye injury after unceremonious UFC Seattle end (Source: X)

Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong was shaping up to be all that the crowd clamored for at UFC Seattle. However, a R3 double eye-poke unceremoniously ended the affair, early on. After the Climate Pledge Arena headliner in Seattle, many have called for Cejudo to call it quits. Others have claimed that Yadong shouldn’t have won after a poke. Now, “Triple C” pitches in on the seriousness of the poke with imagery.

The mid-round eye poke foul happened approximately 70 seconds before Round 3 could end. Cejudo had caught a low blow to the groin, only to get poked as he closed range on Song. “Triple C” made the most of all five minutes, even playfully responding to the booing crowd. After 70 seconds, Cejudo resumed facing Yadong but soon told coaches Eddie Cha and Santino DeFranco that he could not see anymore.

There were some initial discussions about how to proceed within the rules. Referee Jason Herzog started and then immediately halted R4 so that the three complete rounds were scored. Yadong, a 2-1 favorite to prop, defeated Cejudo via technical decision (unanimous scores of 29-28, 29-28, 30-27). There’s imagery circulating from Cejudo that does show quite a clot on his left eye.

FS Video

The extent to which Cejudo may have been playing for keeps or his gamesmanship is up for debate. But the injury looks serious by all means. With damage to his perceptive ocular filter due to diplopia, Cejudo was immediately transported to the local Seattle Rain City hospital. Both he and Song Yadong have shown interest in running it back in a rematch. However, UFC headman Dana White has blatantly shut down any interest in it. Cejudo later went on socials to talk about the fallout.

Henry Cejudo airs grievance after UFC Seattle, says he didn’t lose

Henry Cejudo was the UFC 135-pound and former 125-pound champion. But the Olympian retired unexpectedly around 2020 after a bantamweight title defense versus Dominick Cruz. He returned three years later and challenged the 135-pound title guard against Aljamain Sterling. Nine months later, he was on the wrong end of a loss to now champion Merab Dvalishvili.

Henry Cejudo says he didn't lose to Song Yadong in UFC Seattle headliner
Henry Cejudo says he didn’t lose to Song Yadong in UFC Seattle headliner (Source: X)

Since returning from his three-year hiatus, Cejudo now drops to the first three-fight skid of his career. Song Yadong (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) beat the former two-division champ with a rather unorthodox technical decision that wasn’t even to his liking. It definitely wasn’t to Cejudo’s liking either. Taking to socials, he said he didn’t lose and Song didn’t win either, given how it all went.

Thank you to all of my fans and all of my haters. Well that’s not how I wanted the night to end for the fans, for Song, and definitely not for myself. We need to run this fight back ASAP!!! @danawhite I heard what you said but I encourage you to reconsider. All respect to Song, you are a warrior… but you did not win this fight and I did not lose. We have unfinished business. And I know that you agree.
Run. It. Back. #UFCSeattle 😉🏴‍☠️

Henry Cejudo via IG

Song gets back to the win column after a year, ever since a defeat to ex-bantamweight champ Petr Yan. The Cejudo victory is the biggest of his career; he has now won six of his last eight fights at the bantamweight limit. If this isn’t the matchup to make and run back again, he has wished for former champ Sean O’Malley as well, who is fresh off a loss himself.