UFC Seattle best fights and fighters to watch - Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong

The UFC heads to Seattle, WA this weekend for a UFC Fight Night event headlined by a future Hall of Famer and top bantamweight contender.

The Main Event

The main event will see former two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo attempt to snap a two-fight skid when he meets #8-ranked bantamweight Song Yadong.

Henry Cejudo pins Merab Dvalishvili to the mat during UFC 298 at Honda Center. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Cejudo came out of retirement to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight belt in 2024 before he also came up short against current titleholder Merab Dvalishvili last year, and now “Triple C” will have to best the significantly younger Yadong if he wants to keep his hopes of another UFC title run alive.

Song Yadong fights Peter Yan during UFC 299 at Kayesa Center. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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The Co-Main Event

The night’s co-main event is a massive middleweight contest between Brendan Allen and surging contender Anthony Hernandez.

Brendan Allen fights Jacob Malkoun during UFC 275 at Singapore Indoor Stadium. | Paul Miller-Imagn Images

A seven-fight win streak had Allen on the verge of middleweight title contention before he dropped a unanimous decision to Nassourdine Imavov in September, while Hernandez enters UFC Seattle with a significant amount of momentum thanks to a six-fight win streak that includes five finishes.

Anthony Hernandez speaks with Roman Kopylov following their fight during UFC 298 at Honda Center. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Fights You Don’t Want To Miss

Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto

Font was originally supposed to meet former two-time bantamweight king Dominick Cruz in the latter fighter’s retirement bout, and now the longtime UFC veteran will face a significantly different test in the undefeated Matsumoto.

Rob Font fights Ricky Simon during UFC Fight Night at Capital One Arena. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The 25-year-old scored a pair of UFC victories last year after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, and the short-notice matchup with Font gives Matsumoto a huge opportunity to vault into the promotion’s bantamweight rankings.

Jean Matsumoto defeated Dan Argueta in his UFC debut last April. | (Zuffa LLC)

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Andre Fili vs. Melquizael Costa

Fili is well-established as a consistently entertaining fixture of the featherweight division, and this matchup with Costa could have Fight of the Night potential at UFC Seattle.

Cub Swanson fights Andre Fili during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

“Melk Cauthy” has alternated wins and losses since joining the UFC in 2023, and with Fili also looking to win back-to-back fights for the first time since 2019 both featherweights will be competing with some significant urgency when the cage door closes on Saturday.

Thiago Moises fights Melquizael Costa during UFC 283 at Jeunesse Arena. | Jason da Silva-Imagn Images

Fighters to Watch

Austin Vanderford

A short-notice addition to this card, Vanderford is set to make his UFC debut following a lengthy career with Bellator and first-round finish in LFA last October.

The 34-year-old was undefeated before a failed Bellator title bid against Gegard Mousasi and follow-up loss to Aaron Jeffery, and if he hopes to make any significant impact in the UFC’s middleweight division then Vanderford needs to win this debut matchup with Nikolay Veretennikov.

Jean Silva

One of the biggest pre-event favorites at UFC Seattle, Silva stopped all three opponent he faced last year after a unanimous decision on Dana White’s Contender Series earned him a UFC contract.

The Brazilian is returning to featherweight after defeating Drew Dober in a lightweight bout in July, and provided he makes weight with no issues fans will expect to see Silva score another highlight-reel finish when he welcomes Melsik Baghdasaryan back to the Octagon for the first time since 2023.

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Mansur Abdul-Malik

Following six-straight finishes to kick off his professional MMA career, Abdul-Malik debuted in the UFC last year and stopped longtime veteran Duško Todorović in the first round.

The undefeated talent was supposed to face Antonio Trocoli at UFC Seattle but now faces the debuting Nick Klein instead, and the current betting odds indicate that anything other than a quick finish would be a disappointment for Abdul-Malik’s second Octagon outing.

UFC Seattle Main Card

• Main Event: Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong

• Co-Main Event: Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez

• Rob Font vs. Jean Matsumoto

• Jean Silva vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan

• Alonzo Menifield vs. Julius Walker

UFC Seattle Preliminary Card

• Ion Cutelaba vs. Ibo Aslan

• Andre Fili vs. Melquizael Costa

• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Nick Klein

• Ricky Simon vs. Javid Basharat

• Nikolay Veretennikov vs. Austin Vanderford

• Nursulton Ruziboev vs. Eric McConico

• Modestas Bukauskas vs. Rafael Cerqueira

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