What’s next for Song Yadong and Ricky Simon after UFC Vegas 72?

In the main event of UFC Vegas 72, top-15 bantamweights threw down as Song Yadong took on Ricky Simon.

Yadong entered the fight coming off a main event loss to Cory Sandhagen as he suffered a fourth-round stoppage loss. Prior to that, he was on a three-fight win streak with wins over Marlon Moraes, Julio Arce, and Casey Kenney.

Simon, meanwhile, was riding a five-fight winning streak and coming off a submission victory over Jack Shore. The bout marked  his first UFC main event slot.

Ultimately, it was Yadong winning by fifth-round TKO in a scrap he dominated from start to finish. Now, after UFC Vegas 72, here is what I think should be next for both fighters involved in the main event.

Song Yadong

Song Yadong made good of his second UFC main event as he dominated Ricky Simon from start to finish at UFC Vegas 72 on Saturday. The 25-year-old showed off good takedown defense to keep it standing and on the feet, he was landing the better shots and had hurt Simon numerous times before he got the stoppage.

Now, following the win, Yadong put himself back in a position to fight ahead of him. After the victory, he also called out Marlon Vera, Petr Yan, and Rob Font. All three make sense, and the UFC can’t go wrong by booking any of those four against each other, but I think the UFC makes Vera-Yan and Yadong-Font as Fight Night headliners in the late summer.

Ricky Simon

Ricky Simon entered his first UFC main event with a ton of hype as he handed Jack Shore his first career loss and was the betting favorite in this one. Yet, Simon could never get the momentum on his side as Yadong came out firing on all cylinders and put on a dominating performance.

After the loss at UFC Vegas 72, Simon will need to fight someone behind him and I like a matchup against Jonathan Martinez who’s ranked 13th and coming off a win over Said Nurmagomedov. It’s another striker for Simon to face and the winner can then get a top-10 opponent next time out.

What do you think should be next for Song Yadong and Ricky Simon after UFC Vegas 72?