China's Last Hope Delivered. Song Submits Figueiredo in His First Home Fight in 8 Years

Every Chinese fighter on the card lost. Every single one bro.

Zhang Mingyang got TKO'd by Menifield. Ding Meng lost a split decision. Su Mudaerji's fight ended in a no contest from a groin strike. Aoriqileng got stopped by Haddon. Xiong Jing Nan got submitted. Zhu Kangjie got KO'd in under two minutes. Six Chinese fighters on the card and not one of them got their hand raised before the main event.

Song Yadong was the last one standing. China's last hope on a card in China. And the man who hadn't fought in front of his own people in eight years walked out, survived a slow first round, and then choked Deiveson Figueiredo unconscious with a guillotine at 4:42 of the second round.

The arena exploded.

We Called This One

We told you this card was worth setting an alarm for. We picked Song by decision. Said his cardio and volume would take over in the championship rounds. Said the home crowd energy would matter. Said Figueiredo was dangerous early but would fade.

We got the method wrong but we got the fighter right. Song didn't need five rounds. He needed one and a half.

The first round was quiet honestly. Both guys were feeling each other out with low kicks. A couple exchanges in the pocket but nothing significant. Song took the center, controlled distance, and landed enough to edge it on the cards but it wasn't the fireworks the crowd wanted, not yet.

Round two is when Song turned it up. Started finding Figueiredo with cleaner shots. Leg kicks that were adding up. A right hand that snapped Figueiredo's head back. And you could see the shift. Figueiredo went from being patient to being desperate. His output dropped. His timing was off. The crowd noise was getting louder and Figueiredo was shrinking in real time.

Then Figueiredo shot for a takedown and that was the fight.

The Guillotine

Figueiredo changed levels after eating a calf kick and Song was waiting for it. The second Figueiredo ducked his head, Song clamped down with a guillotine choke. Team Alpha Male guillotine. The same submission that gym has been drilling into fighters for years. Urijah Faber's signature move passed down to the next generation.

Song locked it. Squeezed. And Figueiredo tapped.

4:42 of round two. The Kung Fu Kid submitted a former two time flyweight champion in front of a building full of Chinese fans who hadn't seen him fight live since 2018.

MMA Mania called him "China's last hope" and that's not an exaggeration. If Song had lost, the entire card would've ended with zero Chinese victories on the main or prelim card. Every fighter from the host country would've walked out with an L. That pressure is insane. And Song handled it by finishing the main event.

What This Changes at Bantamweight

Song is now 23-9-1 and back in the win column after the loss to O'Malley at UFC 324. That loss dropped him to #5 but a submission win over a ranked former champion in a main event should keep him firmly in the top five and probably move him toward a title shot conversation.

The bantamweight division is genuinely stacked right now. Merab Dvalishvili is the champion. Petr Yan is lurking. Cory Sandhagen fights Bautista at UFC 329. O'Malley is on the White House card. And Song just proved he can finish ranked opponents, not just outpoint them. The guillotine showed everybody that The Kung Fu Kid has a ground game that can end fights and that's a dangerous new dimension for the rest of the division to worry about.

Figueiredo drops to 25-7-1 and he's now lost four of his last five at bantamweight. The move up from flyweight has not worked. He went from being a dominant champion at 125 to a gatekeeper at 135. That's a tough pill to swallow for a guy who was legitimately one of the scariest flyweights in UFC history not that long ago.

The Rest of the Card

We previewed four undercard fights in the original article and here's how they played out.

Pavlovich. We said "if Pavlovich loses this one, the conversation about his future gets real uncomfortable." He answered with a 39 second KO of Teixeira in the first round. Thirty nine seconds bro. The man we said needed a win badly got the fastest finish of the entire card. The former title challenger just sent a message to every heavyweight on the roster.

Asakura. We said "this is basically his last chance to prove he belongs on the UFC roster." He KO'd Cameron Smotherman at 1:50 of the first round. The RIZIN crossover experiment is officially alive. He answered the question with violence.

Zhang Mingyang. We said "if Zhang wins, he crashes the top 15 at 205 and becomes the biggest Chinese star in the UFC outside of Song." He didn't win. Menifield TKO'd him at 4:15 of the first round. The rising star got humbled on home soil. That one stung for the Chinese crowd.

Salikhov vs Matthews became Matthews vs Harris due to a change. Matthews won by unanimous decision 30-25 on one card. Dominant.

The Card Nobody Talked About Might Have Been the Best Fight Night of the Year

Look, I'm going to say it. We told you. We literally told you to set the alarm and most of you didn't. And the card that nobody was talking about delivered a 39 second heavyweight KO, a first round RIZIN crossover knockout, a homecoming submission in the main event, and the emotional weight of Song Yadong carrying an entire country on his shoulders while every other Chinese fighter had already lost.

Thirteen fights. 4 AM start time. Galaxy Arena in Macau. The sleeper card of the year turned out to be exactly what we said it would be.

Song Yadong hadn't fought at home in eight years. He came back. He submitted a former champion. He saved China's night. And he did it with a choke that his gym has been perfecting since before he was born.

Set the alarm next time.

Thanks for riding with CageLore. Stay locked in!

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Song Yadong win at UFC Macau?

Song Yadong defeated Deiveson Figueiredo by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:42 of round two. Figueiredo shot for a takedown and Song locked in a Team Alpha Male guillotine choke that forced the tap.

Was Song the only Chinese fighter to win at UFC Macau?

Yes. All six other Chinese fighters on the main card and prelims lost or had their fight end in no contest before Song's main event. Zhang Mingyang, Ding Meng, Su Mudaerji, Aoriqileng, Xiong Jing Nan, and Zhu Kangjie all failed to get a win on the night.

What is Song Yadong's record now?

Song improved to 23-9-1 with the submission victory. He is ranked #5 at bantamweight and trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California.

How did the other main card fights go?

Pavlovich KO'd Teixeira in 39 seconds. Asakura KO'd Smotherman at 1:50 of round one. Menifield TKO'd Zhang Mingyang at 4:15 of round one. Matthews beat Harris by unanimous decision. Perez vs Su Mudaerji ended in a no contest from an accidental groin strike.

What happened to Figueiredo?

Figueiredo dropped to 25-7-1 and has now lost four of his last five fights at bantamweight since moving up from flyweight. His last fight in Macau was also a loss (to Petr Yan in November 2024).