Yadong Song Wants Top 5 Foes, Claims UFC is ‘Protecting’ Sean O’Malley

Yadong Song was impressive against Ricky Simon at UFC Fight Night 223, but he would have preferred to put his opponent away earlier than the fifth round.

“I feel my performance was OK,” Song said at the post-fight press conference. “Not very good. I could’ve ended the fight in the earlier rounds. It was five rounds. He’s a very tough opponent. I wanted to be patient in the fight. I had a lot of chances to finish the fight earlier.”

The Team Alpha Male product has won four of his last five UFC appearances and has designs on moving up in the rankings. In the aftermath of his latest triumph, targeted matchups against the likes of Sean O’Malley, Petr Yan, Rob Font and Marlon Vera.

“I want to fight Top 5 fighters,” Song said. “Even Font – he’s No. 6. He’s OK. ‘Chito’ Vera and Sean O’Malley – but they probably won’t give me Sean O’Malley. They want to protect him. Whatever. Just top five. My goal is to fight top-five fighters this year.”

O’Malley hasn’t competed since taking a controversial split decision over Yan at UFC 280 in October. While Aljamain Sterling is slated to defend his bantamweight title against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, O’Malley recently stated that he has been assured that he will receive the next championship opportunity.