UFC Fight Night 223, which features a five-round bantamweight main event between Song Yadong and Ricky Simon, takes place from the UFC Apex on Saturday afternoon. MMA Sucka has you covered with live, up-to-the-minute results from what should be another action-packed day of fights.
Fight fans can catch UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon streaming live on ESPN+ and ESPN beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT for the preliminary fights. The main card will get underway at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and will stream exclusively on ESPN+.
11 fights slated for today’s card, folks!
Drop your #UFCVegas72 predictions below ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/EbCP4clmRg
— UFC (@ufc) April 29, 2023
Main Event — Song vs. Simon
Simon enters Saturday’s Apex headliner on a five-fight run after consecutive defeats to ranked bantamweight Rob Font and Urijah Faber, who also happens to be Song’s coach. Saturday will mark Simon’s first UFC main event, but if his recent history is anything to go off of, he should have the cardio to have sustained success. He did go the distance in a five-round fight to win the LFA title against Chico Camus back in 2017, and should be able to keep pace with Song.
Song, meanwhile, is coming off a loss to Cory Sandhagen where he gave a reasonably good account of himself before the cageside doctor put a stop to the contest due to a brutal facial laceration. China’s Song is 4-2-1 in his last seven fights and has shown fight-over-fight improvement as a pupil of Faber’s. He has all the tools to be successful at the top, and if he can defeat Simon he will show he is without a shadow of a doubt a top-10 fighter in MMA’s most stacked division.
Rest of the Card
Saturday’s show will feature a number of other exciting fights littered throughout the main card and prelims. Caio Borralho meets Poland’s Michal Oleksiejczuk in the co-main event. Borralho is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who has used his strength and grappling to coast to wins in each his fights in the organization thus far. Oleksiejczuk, on the other hand, is a striker with knockouts in eight of his last nine wins. The fight will likely come down to whether or not Borralho is able to execute his grappling, though he has shown more than capable on the feet as well.
Rodolfo Vieira faces Cody Brundage in a battle of grappler vs. wrestler. Julian Erosa will look to trade shots with Mexican newcomer and former Fury FC standout Fernando Padilla. Waldo Cortes-Acosta is also looking to stay unbeaten when he takes on Brazilian brawler Marcos Rogerio de Lima. The main card will be opened by a welterweight bout between Trey Waters and Josh Quinlan. Waters is just two weeks removed from winning the LFA welterweight championship against Jalin Fuller, but will look to make a positive impression in his UFC debut on short notice.
The prelims will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Martin Buday and Jake Collier and will also feature another fight of the night contender when Cody Durden meets Charles Johnson.
UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon Results
Main Card
Song Yadong def. Ricky Simon via TKO (Punches) at 1:10 of Round 5
Caio Borralho def. Michal Oleksiejczuk via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:49 of Round 2
Rodolfo Vieira def. Cody Brundage via Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 1:28 of Round 2
Fernando Padilla def. Julian Erosa via TKO (Punches) at 1:41 of Round 1
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Waldo Cortes-Acosta via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Trey Waters def. Josh Quinlan via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card
Martin Buday def. Jake Collier via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cody Durden def. Charles Johnson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Irina Alekseeva def. Stephanie Egger via Submission (Kneebar) at 2:11 of Round 1
Marcus McGhee def. Journey Newson via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:03 of Round 2
Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Hailey Cowan via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
