SEATTLE—When the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) last visited Seattle in 2013, the venue was still known as KeyArena. The Seattle Kraken was a mythical creature possibly lurking in Elliott Bay, not a professional hockey team.
Although headlined by one of the greatest fighters of all time in Demetrious Johnson (who grew up in suburban Tacoma and trained in Kirkland), that 2013 event failed to produce big dollar signs. This could explain why the UFC, and its highly financially motivated corporate leadership, steered clear from Seattle for the next 12 years.
But upon the promotion’s long-awaited return in 2025, things were different in the Emerald City. According to UFC president and CEO Dana White, 18,287 people showed up to Climate Pledge Arena on February 22 for UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song – more than double the attendance twelve years ago.
White also said that the event’s $3.84 million gate set a record for the company’s highest Fight Night (non-championship event) revenue in North America.
“Seattle folks, I hope we didn’t scare you too much,” joked a UFC PR director after the post-fight press conference. CEO White thanked Seattle for the “great experience” and swore that the UFC wouldn’t take another twelve years to return. “So glad we came back,” he said.
Climate Pledge Arena looked almost full at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, right as the card began. This early enthusiasm is not present at every UFC event, as preliminary fights tend to have less name value and audience appeal. But the fans were onto something – each of the seven prelim fights ended in an exciting referee stoppage.
Ricky Simon, a gritty wrestler who fights out of Clark County, sent the arena into hysterics with an unexpected, first-round knockout of Javid Basharat. “I had to show ‘em about that Pacific Northwest power, baby,” Simon said after the fight.
Another local name drew a big reaction from the crowd. UFC veteran Andre Fili, who was born in Federal Way, started strong against Brazilian grappler Melquizael Costa. Fili was clearly aiming for style points, touching his opponent up with his clean striking and playing to the crowd with gestures as he did so. But he made a crucial mistake in taking Costa down to the ground, where the Brazilian quickly showed off his superior jiu-jitsu, grabbing a chokehold within seconds that ended the fight.
In a touching moment, Costa spoke to reporters about his admiration for Fili. “It dawned on me that I was fighting a guy that I remember… back in the day, watching him on TV,” he said through Portuguese translator Fabiano Buskei. In 2014, from his small town in rural northern Brazil, Costa had watched Fili go to the third round with UFC legend and former champion Max Holloway in Baltimore. “I actually cried,” Costa said.
While the UFC Seattle main card didn’t deliver non-stop stoppages like the prelims, it carried more than enough action to keep the crowd screaming at a pitch that could have woken up Spokane.
While Alonzo Menifield and Julius Walker won Fight of the Night bonuses after trading slobber-knockers for fifteen minutes, several fans and media members thought that the honor should have gone to Rob Font and Jean Matsumoto, who combined for the evening’s most technically impressive bout. Font took the split decision victory thanks to his mean, accurate boxing, but the undefeated (until now) Matsumoto kept it extremely competitive with the grappling, landing several big slams on Font that swayed one of the three judges.
In the co-main event, California native Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez outwrestled Floridian Brendan Allen in a high-level grappling contest. To the delight of the crowd, the fight saw at least four reversals of position on the ground. At one point, Allen threw a head kick that Hernandez caught; Allen then attempted to climb on Fluffy’s back while his foot was suspended in the air, almost securing the position before being thrown hard into the mat.
After the fight, reporters informed Hernandez that he had set a new all-time record for most takedowns landed in the middleweight division. “I still don’t like wrestling,” Fluffy responded, as his coaches belly-laughed.
The main event, a bantamweight contender match between skilled Chinese striker Song Yadong and Olympic wrestling gold medalist and former two-division UFC champ Henry Cejudo, began as one of the tensest fights of the night. Song and Cejudo traded lightning-fast strikes on the feet, lumping each other’s faces up with each exchange. The 38-year-old former Olympian was unable to land a single takedown on the speedy Song, and the Chinese boxer began pulling ahead on the scorecards.
Unfortunately, in the third round, Song poked Cejudo in the eye during a striking exchange. The foul was ruled accidental, but Cejudo’s vision was badly affected. After taking five minutes to recover, Cejudo finished the third round but appeared compromised. Before round four, the fight was stopped on the doctor’s advice after Cejudo stated (with an expletive) that he couldn’t see.
Following the fight, Cejudo stated that the extent of his eye injury included “diplopia [double vision], soft tissue damage,” and a corneal abrasion.
Despite the event’s disappointing ending, UFC Seattle electrified viewers at the arena and at home. “This card is actually phenomenal,” one fan from Illinois told the Lynnwood Times.
A long-time employee at Climate Pledge Arena felt the same. “It’s better than a concert…. I’ve been to over 450 events here. This was unreal,” he shared.
Author: Kayvon Bumpus
