Song Yadong has claimed he had "triple vision" after being defeated by Cory Sandhagen when he suffered a nasty cut which saw the fight stopped.
Yadong was taking another step up at bantamweight by facing fellow contender Sandhagen in the main event of a UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex earlier this month. His rival opened up a nasty cut above his eye during the second round after landing a clinical elbow, but the 'Kung Fu Kid' continued to fight on despite the wound worsening with every minute.
In the fourth round, UFC doctors stepped in to take a look at the gruesome cut and deemed he was unable to continue, which saw Sandhagen halt his two-fight losing streak. Yadong has detailed the impact his devastating injury had on his performance, revealing he will now have surgery on the damage.
He tweeted: "Since round 2, I was seeing triple vision because of this orbital fracture, I was facing three Cory in front of me. A titanium piece will be put in for me next week, will come back tougher with the metal."
Yadong attached a picture of an X-ray to his social media post which showed the extent of the orbital fracture that he bravely battled through for a further six minutes, before the contest was brought to a premature close. The bantamweight star was trying to push the pace of the fight despite the injury, putting pressure on Sandhagen during the war of attrition.
The American admitted after the fight that he felt upset for his opponent, but was grateful that it saw him over the line and on to victory. “I honestly didn’t think about the cut,” Sandhagen said at his post-fight press conference. “I could see the blood going into his mouth. He’s kind of a freaky dude. He’s smiling and enjoying it, getting the blood in his mouth. He’s kind of one of those guys.
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“I noticed that, but outside of that, it was stick to the game plan and make sure I don’t get my a** knocked out by him. These people that I'm fighting, I feel like I have more in common with them than I do most people. So when I see something kind of upsetting happen to them, and the fight is over, I have a lot of compassion for that person.
"I know that I would be pretty bummed if I just had that happen to me, so I feel a little bummed for Song. Song is a hell of a fighter. I knew that he was going to be super tough. I TKO’d him so no [I’m not interested in a rematch], not really. I kind of want to fight up in the rankings now.”
