Welterweights Song Kenan and Ricky Glenn faced off on the early preliminary card of UFC 305 in Perth, Australia on Saturday.
Both men were looking to get back in the win column, with Kenan coming in off a loss to Kevin Jousset. The Chinese fighter was 1-3 in his last four fights, while Glenn was 0-2-1 in his past three, last competing in October 2023 in a loss to Drew Dober.
The fight began with the two fighters exchanging leg kicks before immediately getting down to business. Glenn was able to clip Song with a left hand and sat him down. Song found his feet a short time later and the two fighters exchanged some dirty boxing in the clinch. Glenn again waded in, led with the left hook and reengaged with the clinch against the fence.
Song attempted to gain the upper hand and tried to get off the fence firing off some short shots in the meantime. But Glenn kept the pressure up against the fence in the clinch. Two minutes into the round and Song was finally able to disengage from the clinch. Both men looked a bit fatigued as they moved back into space. Midway thru the round and Song started to throw his hands more and landed some solid strikes. Glenn tried to clinch up and looked a little frantic, but Song was able to keep distance and clip his opponent.
Ricky desperately looked for a single leg which Kenan defended. Ricky turned it into a body lock and was able to successfully suck Song into the clinch once again. Glenn wasn’t able to land anything meaningful in the position, however. And after disengaging from the clinch, with half a minute left in the round, Kenan landed another stunning punch in the standing exchange to end the round.
To start round two Glenn landed an inside leg kick and narrowly evaded a head kick from his opponent. Song landed a pair of solid body kicks and forced a shot out of Glenn. Song was able to defend the shot and the one that followed and uncorked a huge 1-2 combination against the fence. Some of the cleanest shots of the fight. Glenn started to duck his head obviously reacting from the punches. Ricky was able to survive the storm momentarily and clinched against the fence.
As the two moved back into space Glenn’s face looked a mess. Ricky returned to the clinch again, but this time ate an elbow from Song which caused him to disengage again. A few seconds later, Song uncorked another multi-strike combination that stung his opponent from all angles. With nearly a minute left in the round Kenan defend yet another halfhearted takedown. Song looked like he couldn’t miss any of the punches that he was throwing and kept his hands down while fending off another desperate takedown to end the round.
To start the final round Ricky’s massive hematoma on his forehead was clearly visible. Song went right at Glenn landing a short vicious punch and elbow laced combination and hip tossed his foe. Ricky was able to work back up to his feet ate a knee. The moment Glenn got free he shot for an unsuccessful double leg against the cage. As the two fighters moved back to space Song returned his hands to his sides. Glenn attempted another takedown and ate a well-timed knee to the body on the way in. Song was landing everything in space, sidekicks and single punches as well as combos.
With two minutes left in the round Ricky opened up threw a couple strikes and was again stung by Song. Kenan landed a glancing jumping knee that Glenn shook his head at as he continued to move forward. With a minute left in the fight Song partially landed a head kick as Ricky kept coming forward with looping strikes. With 24 seconds left in the fight Glenn took an eye poke from Song which caused a momentary pause in the action. As the fighters reengaged Glenn struck into the clinch and forced Song to the cage. Song returned with short punches and elbows that blasted Glenn out of the clinch adding an exclamation mark on his performance as the final bell sounded.
Official Result: Song Kenan def. Ricky Glenn by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 20-26, 29-28)
