Song vs Nurmagomedov touted for next Shanghai Fight Night

Now that the Shanghai return is official, let the verbal jabs fly and hostility escalate.

Although no card has been confirmed, just days after it was announced that the Ultimate Fighting Championship will host a second Fight Night in Shanghai following last summer's sold-out success, rumor and speculation are rife across China's mixed martial arts community.

Song Yadong of China celebrates after winning the bantamweight bout of main card match against Deiveson Figueiredo of Brazil at UFC Fight Night in Macao, south China, May 30, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

A potential, mouth-watering matchup between China's top bantamweight contender Song Yadong and vicious Russian wrestler Umar Nurmagomedov is being touted on social media, with fans and MMA pundits pitching it as the probable main event at the Aug 29 Fight Night.

Both fighters seem quite eager to finally lock horns in the Octagon in the East China metropolis, after multiple earlier attempts at booking them a bout failed to materialize.

And the back-and-forth exchange of trash talk is already in full swing.

"If I fight Umar, it's an easy fight for me. I am so confident," Song, the UFC's current sixth-ranked bantamweight title contender, said during a recent interview with Inside Fighting.

"I have some special tools for him, which I won't tell you guys about now, but you will see in the fight," said Song, who just came off a victorious Fight Night Macao with a bonus-winning submission win over former world champion Deiveson Figueiredo on May 30.

Nurmagomedov, as expected, hit back in a cocky tone, dismissing Song's status as a serious title challenger in the competitive division currently ruled by his compatriot belt holder Petr Yan.

"Of course, I'm interested," Nurmagomedov said of the potential showdown with Song during a translated interview with MMA YouTuber Adam Zubayraev last week.

"He's a punching bag ... I don't consider him a top-class fighter, honestly. The only thing he has is that one punch. That's it," said Nurmagomedov, a younger cousin of retired former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov, as the division's No 2 contender, was originally scheduled to fight 7th-ranked David Martinez at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25 for a shot at Yan's title. However, Martinez was forced to withdraw due to injury.

The Fight Night's return to Shanghai, which was confirmed on Friday by the UFC, has emerged as an ideal and timely alternative for Nurmagomedov to get a fight this summer as planned.

Song, who, with the Macao victory, improved his career MMA record to 23 wins and nine losses, 12-5 in UFC, is also embracing the second home Fight Night in just three months as a critical stepping stone to elevate his title-challenging credentials in the division.

The 28-year-old Heilongjiang native said he's injury-free coming off the win over Brazil's Figueiredo, a former flyweight titleholder, at the special administrative region's Galaxy Arena, and has already started training.

"For sure, that's why I am going to train," Song said of his expectation for the Shanghai Fight Night, despite a shorter-than-average three-month gap from his Macao bout.

"I am going to train with coach Valentin (Kalika), who used to be on the US Olympic wrestling team. I will train with him in Georgia for a month, and then come back to Team Alpha Male to prepare for Shanghai," said Song, who's been training at TAM in Sacramento, California, for years.

"I am very healthy right now, I'm staying in shape and (my goal is to) get the next win — and a shot at the title."

Sure, Song has to improve his craft on the ground, and training with the legendary wrestling guru Kalika will help him match his exceptional striking prowess.

Nurmagomedov, who's kept a dominant 20-1 pro record, built his reputation as a tough wrestling specialist by going undefeated in his first six UFC outings, before suffering his lone loss in a failed title challenge against then bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili in January last year.

The ferocious wrestler then came back strong with two straight unanimous decisions over Mario Bautista of the United States in October and Figueiredo in January to get his title ambition back on course.

Song, however, also showed great resilience, and more versatility in his arsenal, by submitting Figueiredo with a guillotine choke early in the second round of their Macao bout, proving that he's become a more complete MMA fighter.

Pitting elite striking precision against world-class wrestling dominance, this potential five-round main event between Song and Nurmagomedov would turn heads across the MMA world, should the UFC decide to make it happen.

The second straight Shanghai Fight Night will have plenty more to be excited about, anyway.

Ahead of the main card on Aug 29, the semifinals of the Road to UFC Season 5 will take place on Aug 28 at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in the city's Pudong district, where up-and-coming fighters advancing from the opening round in Macao last month will continue vying for final round spots and opportunities to sign multi-bout contracts with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Three Chinese fighters, led by women's strawweight striker Meng Bo, have reached the semifinals with respective wins in Macao, and are expected to enjoy even stronger home support for their RTU progression in Shanghai.

The UFC has not yet hinted at any preferential matchups for the main card, despite high expectations from fans to see their beloved female star Zhang Weili, former two-time strawweight titleholder, and popular men's welterweight veteran Li Jingliang lace up for a home fight.

The one guaranteed winner will be Shanghai. Tickets to last year's Fight Night at the 13,000-seat Shanghai Indoor Stadium sold out within a minute, while overall fan consumption contributed to 128.4 million yuan ($18.8 million) in ticketing, accommodation, catering and tourism revenues, according to the Shanghai Municipal Sports Bureau.