Six wins in a row. Not against handpicked opponents — against UFC-caliber bantamweights in the most competitive era the division has seen. Song Yadong has built one of the more underrated streaks at 135 pounds, and on May 30 in Macau, he faces the test that either validates his top-five case or exposes how far he still has to go.
His opponent: Deiveson Figueiredo. Twice a UFC flyweight champion. Now at bantamweight, looking to prove his move up the weight classes is a reinvention and not a final chapter. A finisher with elite-level credentials entering a fight he needs to win on this side of the top five.
UFC Fight Night 277 in Macau is not a title fight. It might as well be. Whoever wins this fight gets to have that conversation next.
Song Yadong’s Six-Fight Run
Song Yadong arrived in the UFC as a striking prospect from China — technically disciplined, with quick hands and the kind of pressure game that made him difficult to settle into a rhythm against. Over six consecutive wins, he has grown into something more complete: a fighter who manages distance, dictates pace, and wins rounds that other contenders find ways to lose.
The win streak has not come from soft competition. Each fight at bantamweight carries risk, and Yadong has consistently performed. He is not a volume finisher who overwhelms opponents — he is a composed, calculated fighter who picks moments and punishes mistakes. His jab is his best weapon. His lateral movement has improved. His ability to absorb pressure and continue working has been tested and has held.
Fighting in Macau on May 30 gives Yadong a factor that most of his UFC appearances have not: a home crowd. The UFC has invested deliberately in the Chinese market, and placing Song Yadong in the headlining slot at a Macau event is a signal of his standing in the promotion and of the audience that follows him. That crowd energy is real, and against a finishing-heavy opponent like Figueiredo, the psychological edge of fighting at home matters.
The question for Yadong is whether his striking game — built for composure and distance — can handle a former champion who has been finishing fighters at elite weight classes for the better part of a decade.
Figueiredo’s Flyweight Legacy and the 135-Pound Rebuild
Before this fight can be understood at bantamweight, Deiveson Figueiredo’s flyweight career needs context. He was not just a champion — he was a two-time flyweight champion who fought in one of the best rivalries in UFC history. His wars with Brandon Moreno produced fights that will appear on highlight reels long after both men are retired. He was the kind of champion who didn’t just win — he finished people, brawled when brawling was called for, and brought intensity to every fight he entered.
The move to bantamweight resets the credentials question. Being a two-time flyweight champion earns respect, but the UFC’s bantamweight division is stacked with fighters who have never competed at 125 pounds — bigger, longer, and accustomed to the different physical demands of 135. Figueiredo is rebuilding a ranking in a new weight class, and this fight against Yadong is where his narrative at bantamweight either takes shape or stalls.
What he carries from flyweight is an elite finishing instinct. Figueiredo has always been a fighter who looks for the finish from the opening minutes. He is aggressive in the clinch, dangerous on the ground, and willing to trade at range when the exchange suits him. His finishing rate at flyweight was not accidental — it was the product of a fighter who understood how to apply pressure, shorten space, and capitalize on damage accumulation.
At bantamweight, those same instincts apply. The opponents are just bigger. And Yadong, unlike some of the fighters Figueiredo has faced in his career, is technically sound enough to make the path to a finish genuinely difficult.
How the Fight Plays Out
Yadong is the cleaner striker at distance. He works behind his jab, moves laterally, and has shown the discipline to not get pulled into exchanges that don’t favor him. Against a forward-pressing finisher like Figueiredo, his ability to maintain the range and keep the fight on the outside is the central tactical question.
Figueiredo wants to close space. At flyweight, his method was to use intensity and forward pressure to drag opponents into closer range where his finishing rate was elite. At bantamweight, that same intention is present — but the opponents hit harder and recover differently. Yadong is not a fighter who collapses under pressure. He has been tested and he has stayed upright, kept punching, and kept competing.
The crux: can Figueiredo close the distance without absorbing clean counters from Yadong’s jab and right hand? If he succeeds in getting inside and turning it into a grinding, dirty fight — he wins that version. If Yadong keeps him at the end of punches for two or three rounds and controls the output, the composure and pace story starts to favor the man who has been fighting consistently at bantamweight and whose conditioning has been tested at this weight class specifically.
Neither fighter has a dominant grappling edge that dramatically changes the fight’s complexion. This is a striking contest that is likely to be decided on the feet, one way or the other.
What the Winner Gets
The bantamweight top five is not a door that opens automatically — results have to push it open. Six consecutive wins is a portfolio that deserves a ranked opponent. Two UFC title reigns is a credential that demands respect at any weight class.
For Yadong, a win over Figueiredo is the biggest win of his career on paper. Seven straight wins, the last one over a two-time UFC champion, in front of a home crowd in China — that is not a résumé that gets ignored in the ranking committee conversation. It becomes a direct argument for a top-five fight.
For Figueiredo, winning in Macau over a hot bantamweight in his home country would reframe his 135-pound narrative entirely. The move from flyweight stops looking like a reluctant exit and starts looking like a deliberate reinvention. His finishing credentials — which made him one of the most entertaining champions the flyweight division has had — would translate onto a bantamweight record with a result that matters.
For the division, the fight adds clarity. The bantamweight top five has contenders pressing from below, and every fight at this level either creates distance or collapses it. Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo are both fighting for the same real estate on the same night. Macau. May 30. Neither fighter can afford to let the other have it.
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