Chinese bantamweight Song Yadong thrilled the home crowd with a stunning upset of Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Shanghai.
A 5-1 underdog against the former title challenger from Russia, Song (24-9-1, 1 NC) knocked out Nurmagomedov (20-2) with a right uppercut that stopped the fight at 1:48 of Round 2.
“I believe in myself, and my team believed that I would win this fight,” Song said through an interpreter. “They told me I would knock this guy out, and I did it.”
It was Song’s first knockout win since 2023 and his first appearance in Shanghai since his 2017 UFC debut at age 19.
“Nine years ago, I wanted to show I could walk in this Octagon,” he said. “Nine years later, I want to prove I am the best in the world. I am the best Chinese fighter in the world.”
Nurmagomedov’s only previous loss came by unanimous decision in a title match at UFC 311 against Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili on Jan. 18, 2025 in Inglewood, Calif.
As Song was celebrating inside the cage, he nearly ran into lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, who was there to check on his brother. Usman Nurmagomedov appeared to throw an elbow that didn’t connect with Song, who collected a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Denise Gomes knocked out Yan Xiaonan with an elbow and punches at 4:49 of Round 1 in a women’s strawweight bout.
Other matches decided by knockout included light heavyweight Liu Ce’s first-round win against Levi Rodrigues Jr., and flyweight Bilal Hasan’s second-round defeat of Nilson Rojas.
Bantamweight Kai Asakura defeated Aori Qileng by TKO early in the second round and Su Madaerji won a flyweight clash with Alex Perez by unanimous decision.
Two other flyweight battles were ended by submission, with Andre Lima’s guillotine choke against Namsrai Batbayar in the third round and Rei Tsuruya’s rear-naked choke against Kevin Borjas in the fourth round.
The UFC heads to Paris next Saturday for Fight Night, with a main event pitting lightweights Dan Hooker and Salahdine Parnasse.
–Field Level Media
