The Octagon travels back to Galaxy Arena in Macau this Saturday with a five-round main event at 135 pounds between top-10 contenders Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo.
In the UFC’s stacked men’s bantamweight division, every win is crucial to keep your title hopes alive, making this a key bout that will determine whether Song and Figueiredo can remain in title contention or if they fall out of it.
For the 28-year-old Song, this is as close to a hometown fight as the Heilongjian, China native will ever get. Song has been in the UFC since 2017, and holds an impressive 11-4-1 record in the Octagon with notable wins over Henry Cejudo, Marlon Moraes, and Marlon Vera just to name a few.
But despite all his success in the UFC, Song has never fought for the bantamweight title, as he has always lost that one big fight that would propel him into the true elite of the weight class.
Song is No. 5 in the official UFC rankings and coming off a unanimous decision loss to former champion Sean O’Malley in his last bout. Had he won that fight, Song would be ranked in the top three considering O’Malley is currently No. 2, but Song lost the bout fair and square, and thus, he fights Figueiredo in China instead of fighting Aiemann Zahabi at UFC Freedom 250 in a No. 1 contender fight like O’Malley is set to next month.
-
Get the skills to pay the bills
Skilled Trades College is where hands-on training meets real-world opportunity, helping students build in-demand skills and take the next step toward lasting careers in the trades.
The O’Malley fight isn’t the only key bout Song has lost in his UFC career. He also fell short in big fights against Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen a few years ago that would have also pushed him into the division’s elite. His loss to Yan was a two-rounds-to-one decision just like his loss to O’Malley and his fight with Sandhagen was a doctor’s stoppage due to a cut.
Despite those defeats, he’s still only 28 years old so time is on his side.
A win over Figueiredo, especially if it’s a finish, keeps Song within striking distance of a title shot at the very least. A loss, however, would likely crush his hopes and dreams.
Speaking of titles, Figueiredo is, of course, the former two-time UFC men’s flyweight champion. At 38 years old, he can no longer make 125 pounds and a few years ago he moved up to 135 pounds where he has had inconsistent results as a bantamweight.
Figueiredo is only 4-3 in the weight class but that record at 135 pounds is somewhat deceiving, as the Brazilian won his first three bouts in the division before losing three of his past four – one of which was a five-round decision to Yan in a Fight Night main event in Macau late 2024.
Still, Figueiredo is consistently fighting the best of the best win or lose. His most recent loss was by decision to Umar Nurmagomedov, who’s widely considered to be a future UFC champion in his own right, so it’s not like Figueiredo has been losing to nobodies.
If Figueiredo, the No. 7-ranked bantamweight contender, wants to keep his spot in the top 10 and retain his hopes and dreams of becoming a two-division UFC champion, then he absolutely needs to beat Song. A loss would be a detrimental setback if he wants to make another title run.
According to the betting odds, Song is a huge favorite to win this fight, and rightly so, given he is a full decade younger, fighting at home, and is the more well-rounded and dangerous fighter. Still, Figueiredo is a former UFC champ for a reason, and he has pulled off several upsets during his MMA career, so you can’t completely rule him out of winning this fight as the underdog.
Of course, Song vs. Figueiredo is one of only a handful of extremely intriguing bantamweight fights coming up. If you ask most hardcore fans, this division is one of the best weight classes in the sport right now, and all of these upcoming key matchups exemplify why.
As mentioned above, O’Malley takes on Zahabi at the White House card next month in what will likely be a title eliminator bout at 135 pounds. O’Malley is the former champion and everyone knows how much the UFC loves him. If he beats Zahabi, it likely puts him right back in the thick of things when it comes to the next title shot.
As for Zahabi, the Canadian has won seven straight fights, including massive victories over Vera and UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo in his last two bouts. At 38 years old, the time is now for the French-Canadian fighter, who is ranked No. 6 in the weight class, to make a title run, and if he can go out there and upset O’Malley as a huge underdog, he will surely call for a title shot.
Speaking of the title, current champion Yan is currently recovering from a back injury, though when he returns, the promotion will likely book a trilogy fight against former champ Merab Dvalishvili, who deserves it after successfully defending his belt three times before losing it to Yan in a bit of a stunner at UFC 323 in December.
Those aren’t the only key bouts at bantamweight that are coming up. This weekend, former UFC flyweight title challenger Kai Asakura moves up to 135 for the first time in the Octagon when he battles Cameron Smotherman. Although Asakura is 0-2 in the UFC so far, a big win over Smotherman could certainly propel him into the 135-pound rankings. Asakura was a RIZIN champion at 135 pounds and holds notable stoppage wins over former Bellator MMA champions Kyoji Horiguchi and Juan Archuleta.
You also have the No. 4 contender Sandhagen taking on No. 8 Mario Bautista at UFC 329 in July in what should be an amazing fight with high stakes in the weight class. No. 9 David Martinez is another bantamweight fighter on the rise, as is No. 15 Farid Basharat, who takes on rising star Ethyn Ewing at UFC 329 in what should be an incredible matchup between two top bantamweight prospects. There’s also No. 10 Payton Talbott, who keeps improving every time we see him step into the Octagon.
Finally, don’t forget Canadian Charles Jourdain, who is 3-0 with three bonuses since he moved down from 145 pounds. At only 30, Jourdain is in the prime of his career, and the Quebecer is on the verge of breaking into the rankings after taking out veteran Kyler Phillips at UFC Winnipeg in April.
The UFC men’s bantamweight division has been one of the deepest and most exciting weight classes for quite some time, and it feels like it’s peaking right now.
With so many incredible fighters battling it out for position in the rankings, and many more on the rise looking to break into the top 15, bantamweight is as strong as it’s ever been. The next wave of meaningful action starts this weekend at UFC Macau, when Song takes on Figueiredo in a featured bout that has the potential to be something truly special when these two top-10-ranked fighters lock horns.