The only problem with all of Song’s non-fight hobbies is that, even by his own admission, he doesn’t do any of them very much.
“I feel like I need to listen to my coach when he tells me to be more relaxed. Just do more fun stuff in life. It will get me more mentally relaxed, and this will help me in my training.”
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The only problem with all of Song’s non-fight hobbies is that, even by his own admission, he doesn’t do any of them very much.
“I feel like I need to listen to my coach when he tells me to be more relaxed. Just do more fun stuff in life. It will get me more mentally relaxed, and this will help me in my training.”
And there it is again, the training. Even the fun things lead right back to the training.
For what it’s worth, as he sits in Las Vegas this week ahead of Saturday’s bout against Julio Arce that opens the main card of UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Rodriguez, Song is as relaxed as any of us on the UFC staff recall seeing him. He attributes at least some of this to remaining in the U.S. after his last fight, a split decision nod over Casey Kenney in August at UFC 265.
“I’ve been training in the States the past few months. The weight cut has been going well.
The whole process has been really convenient just staying over here. I have a lot of friends coming over that have to deal with visa issues and the time difference and stuff like that. It feels good to just stay over here and train.”
Again with the training.
To his credit as a fighter, Song is his own harshest critic. He suffered his first pro loss since 2016 last March in a war with Kyler Phillips, and despite washing that sting away with the Kenney victory, Song isn’t satisfied.
“I feel kind of ashamed because I feel like if I had pushed him a little more, I would have been able to knock him out in the third round.”
Shame shouldn’t enter into the equation. Song looked his usual dominant self, and large swaths of fans and sports media had it scored as a more one-sided affair than the judges did. But Song takes no particular satisfaction in that.
