Apr 18, 2023

The UFC has a new main event for its card next week.

A scheduled bantamweight bout between Song Yadong and Ricky Simon will take the headlining spot of UFC Fight Night on April 29 in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Monday night. Song vs. Simon was originally scheduled for the UFC Fight Night card Saturday in Vegas.

Originally, a lightweight fight pitting Renato Moicano and rising contender Arman Tsarukyan was the planned main event, but Moicano withdrew due to an injury and the UFC was unable to find a short-notice opponent for Tsarukyan.

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"Death, taxes and nobody available to fight Arman on 2 weeks notice are the only certainties in my life right now," Tsarukyan's manager, Daniel Rubenstein, tweeted last week.

Song (19-7-1, 1 NC) is coming off a TKO loss to bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen last September. The Chinese-born fighter was on a three-fight winning streak prior to that defeat. Song, 25, is considered one of the top young fighters on the UFC roster, accumulating an 8-2-1 record in the promotion already.

Simon (20-3) has won five straight. The Oregon native is coming off a second-round submission win over Jack Shore last July at UFC Long Island. Simon, 30, is a former LFA bantamweight champion.