Like many athletes who have reached the upper tier in their respective divisions, the Team Alpha MMA representative finds himself in a bit of a Catch-22 when it comes to how frequently — or infrequently — he has been fighting.
Song’s last appearance came in late February in Seattle, where he earned a technical decision win over two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo, which came 11 months after his decision loss to current champ Petr Yan. That fight was booked relatively quickly following his end-of-the-year win over Chris Gutierrez in December 2023, but two fights in two years for an ascending talent just entering their athletic prime feels like it’s not quite enough.
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The flipside, however, is that there are finite options for someone in Song’s position, and though he’d like to compete more frequently, waiting on this opportunity made complete sense to him.
“I want to fight more, but it’s good,” he said of his recent extended stay on the sidelines. “Long layoffs allow my body to rest a little bit, but I think this fight is good because O’Malley is a big name; he’s (worth waiting for).”