Both Umar Nurmagomedov and Yadong Song are expecting bantamweight title shots with a victory at UFC Shanghai this weekend in China. Unfortunately, nothing is guaranteed at 135 pounds with reigning champion Petr Yan in line for potential rematches against former titleholders Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili, who each hold a previous win over “No Mercy.”
That said, one option is clearly suckier than the other.
“If Umar goes out there and gets through Song, it makes the division even more interesting,”
O’Malley told UFC on Paramount (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “Even Song getting a big win, it’s interesting. At the end of the day, we should do what fans (want). If they want to see me against Petr rematch, I think that’s the fight that makes most sense.”
It’s already being called “the biggest fight in bantamweight history” (mostly by O’Malley).
“Song Yadong is a very, very dangerous opponent,” O’Malley said. “I actually recently watched my fight back with Song, and I was very happy with how it played out. I was pretty critical right after but looking back on that fight, I showed up. I was very focused, I did what I needed to do against a very dangerous opponent and I’m not counting Song out of the Umar fight.”
O’Malley defeated Song by unanimous decision at UFC 324 back in January.
Factoring in recency bias, a highlight-reel finish by either Nurmagomedov or Song may be hard to overlook, or should at least be enough to leapfrog O’Malley. Once considered to be the next Conor McGregor, “Suga” has seen his stock fall in the wake of lopsided losses to Dvalishvili.
