Dana White and Co. are bringing back the action this weekend with a packed UFC Seattle card, featuring Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong as the headliners. The former double champion has found it difficult to get his bearings inside the Octagon ever since he made his return from retirement in 2023. On the other hand, Yadong has been steadily making his climb up the rankings and now has a chance to make a real statement if he can beat the former dual-weight champion.

Recently, Song Yadong opened up about his difficulties getting a fight amid his aim to stay active. The Chinese native will be making his return after 11 months in what will arguably be his biggest fight ever. But how will he fare against Henry Cejudo? Let’s take a deeper dive into that aspect with a look at their respective statistics first.

UFC Seattle: Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong stats

Song Yadong’s build and frame can prove to be pretty advantageous in what is the most important fight of his career this weekend. In terms of height, the Chinese star towers four inches over Henry Cejudo, standing at 5′ 8” tall. The Team Alpha Male fighter has a reach advantage as well at 67″; about 3 inches more than ‘Triple C’. But their records have a different story to tell.

Henry Cejudo didn’t start his career as an MMA fighter, as he’s an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. Post his wrestling career, the Arizona native transitioned to MMA and racked up 16 wins at the expense of 4 losses, with a winning percentage of 80 percent. Song Yadong has an advantage here as well, i.e, experience. He has a few more fights under his belt than his veteran rival, and guess what? His record is an impressive one, too. So far, Yadong’s record has 21 wins at the expense of 7 losses and 1 draw. But the only catch is that Yadong’s winning percentage is a bit lower than Cejudo’s as it stands at 72.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Cejudo has 8 career wins by knockouts, but Yadong has 12 finishes to his name, with 9 of them being knockouts and 3 coming via submissions. This is kind of surprising since Henry Cejudo has a more wrestling-based style than Yadong, who’s literally called ‘The Kung Fu Kid’. But the stats don’t really give us a clear picture, so let’s break down their fighting styles and recent performances to arrive at a prediction.

Cejudo vs. Yadong breakdown and prediction

Artificial Intelligence recently gave its verdict on the main event of UFC Seattle. AI has really taken over the MMA community in recent months, and the fans would be intrigued to know that it has suggested two possible endings to Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong. What’s more? Both of them seem to favor the former double champion. The first possible outcome sees ‘Triple C’ adding a 9th career knockout win over his younger counterpart, while the second outcome sees Cejudo emerging as the winner again, but via decision.

While AI seems to be backing Henry Cejudo, the oddsmakers aren’t. They have listed him as a +240 underdog, as Song Yadong is the -280 favorite to defeat the former champion. It’s understandable why ‘Triple C’ doesn’t get the nod here. He’s on a 2-fight losing streak after all and has yet to register a win since his return. Song Yadong, meanwhile, may have lost his last fight to former champion Petr Yan, but he’s young and has beaten some of the most credible 135-ers, including Chris Gutierrez, Marlon Moraes, and Ricky Simon.

The 27-year-old Chinese star has also proven how deadly he can be on his feet and has even submitted his opponents, which isn’t something Henry Cejudo has done. So, it looks like Yadong has a real chance to make a big jump in the rankings this weekend.

Who do you think will win? Will it be the Mexican-American former two-weight champ of the Chinese phenom? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.