Does UFC Legend Urijah Faber Coach Song Yadong? Gym, Teammates, and More

Nicknamed ‘The Kung Fu Kid’, it seems Song Yadong was always destined to be a martial artist. Raised by a single mother in Heilongjiang, China he trained in Sanda (Chinese boxing) from age nine and never looked back since. Having fought since the age of 16, the #8-ranked bantamweight star now lives with his wife and son in sunny California.

An ardent admirer of Bruce Lee much like his Chinese contemporaries in the UFC, Yadong worked as a street vendor—particularly during the Beijing Olympics, when ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ sold souvenirs, while his UFC Seattle opponent Henry Cejudo was winning his Olympic gold medal. Now he’s going to face the very man who found glory in his home country. But who is behind the Song Yadong’s success inside the Octagon? In other words, who does he train with?

Who coaches Song Yadong?

Yadong is beginning his 8th year in the UFC roaster with a main event showdown against none other than 16-4-0 former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. He is coming off his most prolonged time away from the Octagon since debuting in the cage.

The last time the 27-year-old walked into the cage was at UFC 299 in Miami against Petr Yan. He lost the fight which ended his 2 fight winning streak. A long dry spell followed which caused the UFC star to be quite restless. “For me, it’s hard to spend the time (not fighting),” Song said to UFC. “My opponent got injured, it was not the right time. The UFC wanted me to fight in Macau, but no one wanted to fight me over there. This week is what I want: I want to fight Henry and I’m not thinking about (last year too much), but it was hard.”

However, this long break resulted in a lot of training with his coach and 35-11-0 bantamweight UFC Hall of Famer  Urijah Faber.  ‘The California Kid’ has had a lot of faith in Yadong and even called him ‘the next champion’ as Yadong stated in 2019 at the UFC 239 pre-fight presser. In fact for the recent fight against Cejudo, Faber is confident that Yadong would be a threat to ‘Triple C’.

“I like Cejudo, too, so I wouldn’t like to see that for Cejudo because I think Song would whoop him,” Faber conveyed to MMA Junkie. “Nobody wants to fight Song,” Faber said. “It’s like the whisper campaign to stay away from Song Yadong, and there’s a good reason for that. That belt will be back in the gym, hoisted high in China and California, so whoever is next, let’s do it.” 

Not just Urijah Faber as the head coach, but the gym that Yadong trains at has a roster of high-level MMA fighters. So where does Song Yadong train and who are his teammates?

Where does ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ train? Gym and teammates

Song Yadong has been with Team Alpha Male ever joining the UFC in 2017, and moving to America. He trains under the tutelage of coaches Dave Rowan, Dustin Akbari, Fabio Prado, and Urijah Faber (owner). His team also includes incredible fighters like Joseph Benavidez, Raulian Paiva, Josh Emmett, and Xiaonan Yan among others.

Team Alpha Male has also been the home to champions such as TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt. It’s safe to say that ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ trains at one of the best gyms in all of MMA, especially for fighters competing in lower weight classes.

“I am so excited about this fight in Seattle,” began the Team Alpha fighter, who has a 10-3-1 record in UFC. “There are a lot of Chinese people here, and I’m the main event; I’m so happy about that.” He also mentioned that he was honoured to be fighting against Henry Cejudo who a two-division UFC champ and an Olympic Champ. “He’s a legend, so if I win this fight, I have another chance to challenge for the Top 5 and then to get the title, so I have to win this one,” he added. “It’s motivating for me.”

But Yadong is a well-known fighter in his own right, being one of the few Chinese MMA fighters in the promotion. With 30 fights under his belt, it’s easy to forget that he is only 27 years old. So with a possible win over Henry Cejudo, will we see Song Yadong compete for the title soon? Share your thoughts in the comments below.