Song Yadong joins Jens Pulver and Dominick Cruz as UFC champions finished by Team Alpha Male's signature guillotine choke. Urijah Faber submitted both Pulver and Cruz with the technique, and now Deiveson Figueiredo has used it against Song.
Deiveson Figueiredo has made Song Yadong the third UFC champion to be finished by a Team Alpha Male guillotine choke, a submission that has now become one of the stable's most recognizable calling cards across more than two decades of UFC history.
The lineage of that choke traces back to Urijah Faber, the 47-year-old Team Alpha Male founder who carries a professional record of 35 wins and 11 losses. Standing five-foot-six with a 67-inch reach, Faber built his reputation as one of the sharpest submission artists in the lighter weight classes, averaging 0.8 submission attempts per 15 minutes throughout his career. He applied the guillotine to finish both Jens Pulver and Dominick Cruz during his run as a dominant force in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
Pulver, now 51 and holding a career record of 27-19-1, was the UFC's first lightweight champion. The southpaw out of the United States stood five-foot-seven with a 70-inch reach and averaged 2.12 significant strikes landed per minute over his career. Cruz, a 41-year-old orthodox fighter from the United States now competing out of Alliance MMA, owns a 24-4-0 record and remains one of the most technically accomplished bantamweights the sport has produced, averaging 3.91 significant strikes per minute with 2.82 takedowns per 15 minutes.
Why it matters
- The guillotine choke has now ended the championship runs of three UFC titleholders connected to Team Alpha Male opponents or members
- Figueiredo's finish links the current generation of UFC champions to one of the sport's most storied regional teams
- The submission underscores how a single technique refined within one gym can leave a lasting mark across multiple eras of the sport
