UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Figueiredo Live Winners and Losers
If you like KOs and tap-outs with your coffee and cereal, this was your Saturday.
The UFC took its production apparatus to another hemisphere for a 13-bout Fight Night card that went live at 4 a.m. ET from Galaxy Arena in Macau, China, and featured a pair of desperate bantamweight contenders in its main event.
Two-time flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo hadn't found the same level of success since moving to 135, losing three of his last four fights heading into a scheduled five-round duel with Chinese fan favorite Song Yadong.
Figueredo was ranked seventh in the weight class, two spots behind Yadong, who was 5-0-1 through his first six octagonal appearances but had since lost four of his last 10 overall and two of his last three since the start of 2024.
Both men had last competed on the UFC 324 show in January in Las Vegas, where Figueiredo lost a decision to No. 2 contender Umar Nurmagomedov and Yadong was beaten on the scorecards by former champ Sean O'Malley.
B/R's combat team was in position to take in the action and delivered a definitive, real-time list of the show's winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Loser: Foiled by Familiarity
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It's one thing to lose. It's another when it comes via your own weapon.
Figueiredo had wrapped up five of his nine career submissions—including two of four in the UFC—by guillotine choke submission, so it's no surprise that the main event with Yadong ended by that finishing sequence.
But that it was him and not his Chinese rival tapping in the guillotine at 4:42 of the second round was competitively jarring while sending the partisan crowd into a frenzy.
"That's actually a Figueiredo signature move," analyst Laura Sanko said. "This particular ending is wild."
Yadong began the sequence with a hard kick to Figueiredo's lead (left) leg that prompted the Brazilian to immediately try and take the fight to the ground with a takedown. Yadong anticipated the move, though, and quickly seized the ex-champ's neck with his left arm, locking in the move and drawing a rapid surrender.
"It has been eight years for me to wait for this moment," Yadong said. "(Coach) Urijah Faber taught me a lot. Team Alpha Male has the best BJJ skills in the world."
Loser: Quickly Quiet
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The contrast was stark.
Halfway through a chaotic first round pitting domestic hero Zhang Mingyang against American interloper Alonzo Menifield, amid a particularly effective surge by the Chinese favorite, the crowd at Galaxy Arena neared deafening levels.
And then, as Menifield landed a counter and followed it with a series of decisive shots that rendered Mingyang horizontal and unable to continue, it suddenly went library quiet.
"He just sucked all of the air out of this arena," Sanko said.
Indeed, the TKO victory at 4:15 of the opening round was Menifield's 11th across 14 career fights that have ended inside of five minutes. Mingyang, meanwhile, had scored each of his 19 career victories in one round but lost for the fourth time in rapid fashion.
"This is what you're supposed to expect. I laid him down," Menifield said. "You dang right that was the g-----n plan. I came here and I fought him and I got him."
Winner: Promises (Not) Kept
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Third-ranked heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich arrived in China off two straight decision wins and pledged to approached towering Brazilian foe Tallison Teixeira with requisite caution.
And then he didn't.
Instead, the Russian was immediately on the front foot, drove his 6'7" opponent to the floor with three overhand rights, then finished it with a series of powerful ground strikes that yielded an intervention from referee Lukasz Bosacki after just 39 seconds.
"He said in the meetings this week that he was going to take his time that he'd learned to slow things down," analyst Michael Bisping said. "The man's a liar."
It was his ninth win in 12 UFC fights and left him calling for a fight against the winner of the upcoming interim title match between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane.
"Give me a title shot," Pavlovich said, "or at least give me a contender fight."
Winner: Redemption Song
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More than anything, Kai Asakura needed a win.
The hyped Japanese striker arrived in the UFC after a long championship run in the Rizin Fighting Federation promotion but found himself winless after submission losses to then-champ Alexandre Pantoja and respected veteran Tim Elliott at flyweight.
So, he moved 10 pounds up the weight-class ladder to bantamweight and instantly made an impact in the form of a devastating first-round KO of Cameron Smotherman.
"That is the version of Kai Asakura that all the UFC fans were expecting to see in the last two fights," Bisping said. "The bantam version, this guy just hits different."
Asakura dropped Smotherman with a right, moved forward as his foe climbed to his feet, and dumped him again with a left hook that ended matters at 1:50.
"I lost two fights. I wanted to show how strong I am in this fight," an emotional Asakura said, while wiping tears. "My striking is the best in the world. I can fight anyone, anywhere. As soon as possible."
Winner: Violent Virtuosity
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Jake Matthews was persistent, precise and punishing.
And after 15 minutes of one-way striking traffic against defensively porous welterweight foe Carlston Harris, the buildup of perpetual violence was decisive.
Beaten eight months ago after a three-fight win streak bridging 2024 into 2025, Matthews got back on the positive side of the ledger with a clear unanimous decision in which one judge gave him a five-point edge, and the others saw it 30-27.
Matthews dominated on the feet with fluid combinations in the first round, then responded to an early Harris takedown with better than four minutes of control time in the second.
A hard punch yielded a knockdown in the opening seconds of the third and allowed Matthews to briefly chase a rear-naked choke before settling for more lands via ground strikes as Harris maneuvered to avoid a first career loss by submission.
"I guarantee if I'd have gotten the fight back on the feet, Dana would be sending me 100K," Matthews said. "But maybe next fight."
Loser: Painful Protection
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It wasn't the way Alex Perez wanted to protect a top-15 ranking.
The American flyweight was on the painful end of an accidental groin strike courtesy of opponent Sumudaerji's left foot, leaving him unable to continue and leading to referee Mark Craig's no-contest declaration in the main card opener.
Perez had been effectively aggressive in the opening round but began the second by taking an eye poke from Sumudaerji in the opening minute, then the low kick that left him retching into a bucket in the center of the mat.
A five-minute delay had nearly reached its end when it became clear that Perez would not continue, and Craig issued his ruling after speaking with colleague Marc Goddard.
The official time was 1:45 of Round 2.
Winner: Early But Inevitable
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It may have been a touch quicker than necessary.
But there was little to suggest that the TKO scored by Luis Felipe Dias over Yi Sak Lee at 3:40 of the first round wouldn't have come anyway.
Still, Lee, his team and some in the crowd seemed annoyed when Bosacki pulled the plug after Dias dropped Lee with a right hand and followed with four ground strikes as Lee covered up but didn't seem to lose consciousness or awareness.
"If you hit the canvas that hard and you're not moving, not rolling, not trying to defend the shots, the referee is going to make the call," said Bisping, who was backed up by Sanko saying, "Good stoppage."
Dias, a burly Brazilian middleweight labeled "The Tank," consistently moved forward with low kicks before landing the hard shot that triggered the finishing sequence.
"That was the plan, I wanted to exchange punches," he said. "I like to get into a fight."
Loser: Iffy Inkling
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Bisping was impressed with Ding Meng's effort across most of his prelim welterweight scrap with lanky striker Jose Souza but chose not to commit to a winner just before the official cards were read.
The Hall of Fame fighter-turned-analyst clearly knew what was coming.
Though Meng's concentrated attack to Souza's legs compromised the Brazilian's ability to sharp shoot from distance, the judges chose the opposite direction and awarded Souza a dubious split decision in which one judge somehow gave him all three rounds.
The other two scorecards were 29-28 in either direction, giving Souza his ninth win in 10 career fights and a successful return from a Contender Series loss in 2022.
B/R's card had it 29-28 for Meng after giving him rounds one and two, the second of which was followed by Souza saying "It doesn't feel like I'm winning" in his corner.
"Remember my name," Souza said afterward. "I will be champ."
Winner: All-Around Awesome
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Cody Haddon's fight performance was superb, if not better.
But the 27-year-old Australian import saved his best for the microphone.
Moments after dispatching Chinese veteran Aoriqileng by clinical second-round TKO, Haddon used a post-fight chat with Bisping to get himself over.
First, he credited the "Mongolian Murderer" with instilling the fear that drove his performance, suggesting that visions of the 32-year-old turned him into "a panic wrestler." Then, he made an unapologetic plea for a performance bonus, following claims that he was "broke" by simply saying "please let me be compensated."
The win came in his first appearance since October 2024 and boosted his UFC record to 2-0 while upping his overall pro mark to 9-1.
"I feel maybe I respected Aoriqileng too much," Haddon said. "I feel like you haven't seen my striking yet. I like to fight openly but as soon as we started I was like 'F--k, I've got to get this to the ground."
Loser: Fast Follow-Up
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To suggest Luis Gurule was in tough was an understatement of one-sided proportion.
The 32-year-old journeyman was a first-time UFC winner just 14 days ago in Las Vegas but tried to keep the mojo going with a short-notice date in Asia against a foe in Rei Tsuruya who'd gone three rounds with now-champion Joshua Van just 14 months ago.
Not surprisingly, it didn't turn out so well.
Gurule was quickly dropped with a punch and soon found Tsuruya on his back and chasing a finish that he ultimately got by a brutal rear-naked choke at 3:19 of the first round.
It was Gurule's fourth loss in five fights since a successful Contender Series arrival in 2024 that followed a 9-0 run in other promotions after he debuted as a pro in 2022.
"People might say you're not going to tap to a face crank. Yes you will, if it's applied properly," Sanko said. "The way that (Tsuruya) had the forearm against the jaw. You can't breathe and it's incredibly painful."
Winner: Not Acting Her Age
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She's on the far side of 40. And she was certainly not the crowd favorite.
But if either disadvantage bothered Angela Hill, she kept it to herself.
The 41-year-old American shook off a recent competitive skid with a vintage striking performance on the way to a shutout decision over UFC newcomer Jingnan Xiong.
"This is the best she's looked in a while," Sanko said. "There's a viciousness to her."
Indeed, Hill stretched existing octagonal records for the most fights (now 29) and the most wins (now 13) in the strawweight division and joined Max Holloway and Sean Strickland as the only UFC fighters to land more than 100 significant strikes in nine fights.
"I felt like last year I was a little off. So, I dug deep into myself and figured out how I wanted to fight. This was the perfect matchup for me to figure that out," said Hill, who'd lost two in a row and three of her last four. "I feel good. I train with people younger than me. I'm in the room with women with people who can beat me up but I'm able to do my thing."
Winner: Denying Dissension
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Rodrigo Vera could have taken the bait. Be he chose the high road.
Vera was recently denied a spot on The Ultimate Fighter by coaches Bisping and Daniel Cormier, so, when Bisping approached for a post-fight chat after the Peruvian had erased local Chinese favorite Zhu Kangjie by TKO in 110 seconds, he had an opportunity.
Instead, Vera chose to shake hands and not dwell on the disappointment, instead reveling in a successful octagonal debut that prolonged a now-13-fight win streak that stretches back to 2019.
"I really appreciate this moment," he said. "I've been fighting for a long, long time to be here."
Vera made the most of the moment with a precise left hook that beat Kangjie's to the button by an instant and set up a subsequent flurry that left Kangjie semi-conscious and prompted a Bosacki intervention at 1:50 of the first.
"Don't blink," he said. "I'm a well-prepared fighter. I have strong hands, man. It's part of the game. You have to figure your tools to get the win."
Winner: Quick to the Hunt
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Even in an early prelim fight, Jaqueline Amorim was a known commodity.
A 30-year-old jiu-jitsu ace from Brazil, Amorim had finished all four UFC opponents whom she'd beaten, including three by submission and two inside of a first round.
So, when she got to the ground early and immediately started chasing a quick ending, it was no surprise to anyone in the building, or to Loma Lookboonmee.
"I was prepared for three rounds. We were ready for a war here," Amorim said. "But a quick submission is always welcome."
Amorim began the hunt with a pursuit of Lookboonmee's leg, then quickly shifted to the upper portion of her body and prompted a tap at 4:04 with a gruesome armbar that had the Thai veteran's elbow wrenched in a hard-to-watch direction.
"I want a top-15 opponent," Amorim said. "I think I proved to the UFC that I'm up to the challenge."
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Song Yadong def. Deiveson Figueiredo by submission (guillotine choke), 4:42, Round 2
Alonzo Menifield def. Zhang Mingyang by TKO (punch), 4:15, Round 1
Sergei Pavlovich def. Tallison Teixeira by KO (punch), 0:39, Round 1
Kai Asakura def. Cameron Smotherman by KO (punch), 1:50, Round 1
Jake Matthews def. Carlston Harris by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)
Alex Perez v Sumudaerji declared no-contest (accidental foul), 1:45, Round 2
Preliminary Card
Luis Felipe Dias def. Yi Sak Lee by TKO (punch), 3:40, Round 1
Jose Souza def. Ding Meng by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Cody Haddon def. Aoriqileng by TKO (knee), 2:11, Round 2
Rei Tsuruya def. Luis Gurule by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:19, Round 1
Angela Hill def. Jingnan Xiong by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rodrigo Vera def. Zhu Kangjie by TKO (punches), 1:50, Round 1
Jaqueline Amorim def. Loma Lookboonmee by submission (armbar), 4:04, Round 1
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