Shanghai Surprise: how Umar Nurmagomedov lost an important fight in China
Russian Umar Nurmagomedov lost to Chinese Song Yadong in the main fight of the UFC Fight Night tournament in Shanghai. Yadong knocked out Nurmagomedov in the second round. The painful defeat of Usman, which greatly postpones his title fight. Read more about the duel in the Izvestia article.
Different paths
On August 29, the main event of the UFC Fight Night tournament took place in Shanghai — the bantamweight bout between Russian Umar Nurmagomedov and Chinese Song Yadong. The match at the Oriental Sports Center arena was of great importance for the championship race: Nurmagomedov took the third place in the division ranking, Song — the sixth. For both of them, victory could be the most important argument in the fight for a new chance to get to the belt, which is now owned by Russian Peter Yan.
The 30-year-old Nurmagomedov has 21 professional MMA fights under his belt — 20 wins and only one loss. Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin debuted in the UFC in January 2021 and went a long time without misfires. The Russian went from a promising rookie to one of the main contenders of the division, and in the summer of 2024 he won the biggest victory of his career at that time, beating Corey Sandhagen in five rounds. Already in January 2025, Umar won a championship fight against Merab Dvalishvili, but lost to the Georgian by unanimous decision — this defeat is still the only one in his professional career. After the setback, Nurmagomedov quickly returned to the race: in October 2025, he stopped Mario Bautista's long winning streak, and in January 2026, defeated former UFC light heavyweight champion Daveson Figueiredo. The Russian came to the meeting with Song with a 20-1 record and eight wins with one loss in the UFC.
Song Yadong is much more experienced than his opponent in terms of the number of fights he has fought — the 28-year-old Chinese had 23 wins, nine losses and one draw, and another fight was declared invalid. He made his UFC debut back in November 2017, when he was just 19 years old, and it happened in Shanghai. Then Song strangled Bharat Khandare in the first round. Over the years, the Chinese has become one of the best fighters in the lightweight division: he defeated Marlon Vera, Marlon Moraes, Ricky Simon, Chris Gutierrez and former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo. At the same time, on the way to the top, he often lacked the last step — Song lost to Corey Sandhagen, Peter Yang, and in January 2026 he lost by unanimous decision to Sean O'Malley. He managed to rehabilitate himself in May: in Macau, the Chinese unexpectedly showed his skills on the ground floor and strangled Daveson Figueiredo with a guillotine in the second round. The fight with Nurmagomedov became the highest-rated for the representative of China in recent years.
An unexpected blow
The first round began with a cautious exploration. Song occupied the center of the octagon, while Nurmagomedov moved a lot around the perimeter and chose a convenient distance to attack. About a minute and a half later, Umar scored his first successful takedown, but when he converted, he ended up in the guillotine. The Russian managed to get out of the grip and continued to control his opponent on the canvas, although it was not possible to significantly improve his position for a long time. In the fourth minute of the round, Nurmagomedov tried to take his back, but Song defended himself well, after which the fighters returned to the rack. In the end, they exchanged several blows, and then Umar pushed the Chinese away, and he lost his balance and ended up on the floor. Just before the gong, Song tried to respond with a high kick, but the kick missed the target.
In the second round, the pattern of the fight didn't change much at first. Nurmagomedov continued to work as number two, moving a lot and looking for a moment to attack. The Russian tried to get to his feet again, but Song read the episode in time, stopped the takedown and kept the fight standing. Umar gestured for his opponent to go to the exchange, but the Chinese was in no hurry to close the distance and acted cautiously.
The denouement came unexpectedly. In one of the episodes, Nurmagomedov lost concentration for a moment and missed an accurate shot. Song immediately took advantage of the mistake: he sent the Russian to the floor and immediately rushed to finish him off. The referee stopped the fight — Yadong's sensational victory by knockout in the second round!
"An unexpected defeat, because Umar has good striking technique and wrestling," one of the most decorated Russian MMA fighters, ex—Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov, told Izvestia. — But this is a sport, sometimes it happens. At this level, each fighter can knock out the other. Sometimes everything is decided by one episode. This victory is a serious bid for a title fight from Yadong. I wish Umar a speedy recovery and return to service. I am sure he will regain his positions.
Heavyweight champion Peter Yan will defend his title against Merab Dvalishvili on October 24 at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. This will be their third fight.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
