[autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] and [autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] fought for 15 minutes on Saturday night, but neither walked away the victor.
At UFC DC, Stamann (18-2-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) and Yadong (15-4 MMA, 4-0 UFC), a point deduction against Yadong made the difference as the duo fought to a majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28).
The bantamweight fight was part of the UFC on ESPN 7 main card at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. It aired on ESPN following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Controversy struck in the first round in the form of an illegal knee by Yadong. When trying to lock in a standing front choke, Yadong kneed Stamann, who was grounded, in the head. Stamann wasn’t fazed by the knee, but it’s blatancy resulted in a point deduction from referee Kevin Mulhall.
For the remainder of the fight, Stamann utilized his wrestling and strength to control Yadong. During the bout’s progression, the gap in those two departments became more and more evident. Stamann’s most dominant work during the fight came in the third round, when he was able to land hard shots from the top.
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When the scores were tallied, Stamann seemed confident he had done enough. But the judges thought otherwise. The bout was ruled a majority draw — with the 29-28 score going Stamann’s way — leaving both men without a win bonus.
Prior the fight, Stamann had split his previous two UFC appearances. Outside of a 2018 defeat to Aljamain Sterling, Stamann hasn’t suffered a loss since April 2014.
With the draw, Yadong’s unbeaten streak stays alive. Entering UFC on ESPN 7, Yadong had defeated Felipe Arantes, Vince Morales, and Alejandro Perez in his promotional tenure.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 7 results include:
- Cody Stamann vs. Song Yadong declared majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
- Rob Font def. Ricky Simon via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Tim Means def. Thiago Alves via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:38
- Billy Quarantillo def. Jacob Kilburn via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:18
- Bryce Mitchell def. Matt Sayles via submission (twister) – Round 1, 4:20
- Joe Solecki def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Virna Jandiroba def. Mallory Martin via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:16
- Makhmud Muradov def. Trevor Smith via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 4:09
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