What’s next for Song Yadong and Chris Gutierrez after UFC Vegas 83?

In the main event of UFC Vegas 83, ranked bantamweight collided as Song Yadong took on Chris Gutierrez.

Yadong entered the fight coming off a TKO win over Ricky Simon to return to the win column after a TKO loss to Cory Sandhagen. Gutierrez, meanwhile, returned to the win column last time out with a decision win over Alatengheili after losing to Pedro Munhoz.

Ultimately, it was Song Yadong who cruised to a decision win over Chris Gutierrez to extend his win streak to two. Now, following the UFC Vegas 83, here is what I think should be next for both fighters involved in the main event.

Song Yadong

Song Yadong picked up a dominant decision win over Chris Gutierrez, but he wasn’t able to get the stoppage win he was after.

Yadong is now 10-2-1 and one No Contest in the UFC and should get someone ranked ahead of him after fighting back-to-back opponents ranked below him. A logical next fight for Yadong is to face Petr Yan in a Fight Night main event sometime in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2024.

Song Yadong and Petr Yan were rumored to fight on this card but it never came to fruition. Now, the timing is perfect for the fight to happen, especially after Yadong called him out.

Chris Gutierrez

Chris Gutierrez struggled to get anything going against Song Yadong and is now 1-2 in his last three, with both losses coming to fighters ranked ahead of him.

After losing to someone ranked ahead of him, Gutierrez will likely need to face someone ranked behind now. With that, Gutierrez should fight the winner of Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher which takes place this Saturday at UFC 296.

If Garbrandt wins, it would be another big-name opponent for Gutierrez while it would be a top-15 opponent for the former champion to try and return to the bantamweight rankings.