Sergei Pavlovich returned to dominant form with a 39-second finish of Glover Teixeira at UFC Macao. Song Yadong submitted Rob Font with a guillotine choke late in the second round, while Aoriqileng was knocked out by Johnny Menifee in the co-main event. The card produced nine finishes across thirteen bouts, with seven coming in the first round, and performance bonuses went to Menifee, Aoriqileng, Ricky Simon Asakura, and Yadong.
Sergei Pavlovich wasted no time in his return to the heavyweight division, stopping Glover Teixeira in just 39 seconds to headline UFC Macao on June 1. Song Yadong added a memorable submission finish later on the same card, and a nine-finish night across thirteen bouts made for one of the more action-heavy cards of the year.
Teixeira, 46, entered the main event with a 33-9-0 record and brought considerable grappling credentials to the cage, averaging 2.11 takedowns per 15 minutes across his career along with 0.9 submission attempts in the same span. The Brazilian veteran, who stands six-foot-two with a 76-inch reach, had long been one of the light heavyweight division's most durable competitors, but Pavlovich's punching power proved too much to withstand even for a matter of seconds.
Song Yadong earned a performance bonus of his own by submitting Deiveson Figueiredo with a guillotine choke late in the second round. Figueiredo, ranked fifth at bantamweight, came in at 25-6-1 and carried a reputation as one of the more technically precise strikers in the division, connecting at a 53 percent accuracy rate and averaging 1.2 submission attempts per 15 minutes himself. The finish was a notable scalp for Yadong given Figueiredo's pedigree.
In the co-main event, Johnny Menifee knocked out Aoriqileng, the 33-year-old known as The Mongolian Murderer, who carries a 26-12-0 record and had averaged 4.69 significant strikes per minute throughout his career. Both fighters received performance bonuses, as did Ricky Simon Asakura and Song Yadong.
Why it matters
- Pavlovich's 39-second finish signals an emphatic return to form in the heavyweight division and re-enters him into title conversations.
- Figueiredo's submission loss to Yadong reshuffles the bantamweight top five, where the Brazilian had been ranked fifth.
- Seven first-round finishes from thirteen bouts underscores the card's exceptional finishing rate, reflecting the caliber of aggressive matchmaking at UFC Macao.
