“The Kung Fu Kid” is ready for gold.
No. 6-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight contender Song Yadong returns to action against former title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC Shanghaithis weekend (Sat., Aug. 29, 2026) inside Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China.
Song will make his third appearance of 2026 this weekend, marking his most active calendar year since 2021. A major reason for that increased activity is the opportunity he believes Nurmagomedov
presents: a shot at UFC gold.
So, when UFC came calling, Song immediately jumped at the opportunity.
“One week after my last fight, UFC called me to fight Umar, and I said yes,” Song told UFC.com. “This is a big opportunity for me. With this fight, I will get a title shot. I feel good. This year, I feel very healthy mentally and physically. I have another new coach and a new nutritionist. This is the reason why I’m able to fight so much this year.”
Even if Song pulls off the upset, however, a title shot is far from guaranteed.
Current Bantamweight champion Petr Yan defeated Song by unanimous decision in 2024, while former champion Sean O’Malley beat him at UFC 324 earlier this year and is already waiting in the wings for the winner of Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili. If Dvalishvili gets past Yan in their trilogy fight at UFC 333, then Yadong could have a shot.
In other words, Song faces an uphill climb even with a victory Saturday.
Nevertheless, he must first get past Nurmagomedov — something only Dvalishvili has accomplished thus far. Despite Nurmagomedov’s reputation as one of the division’s best grapplers, Song believes his own ground game is more than good enough to survive.
“Umar is a very tough guy. I said he’s going to be very easy for me, but every fighter has to say whatever they’re going to say,” Song said. “It’s going to be a big challenge. Everyone knows he’s a very good grappler, but I’ve trained grappling for 15 years. I just prefer to knock people out. If you want to grapple, let’s grapple.”
Song also traveled to Georgia before beginning his training camp to work with Olympic and world champion wrestlers familiar with the system used by Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team.
“Before camp started, I went to Georgia to train with Olympic champs and world champs,” Song said. “They taught me a lot, and they know what Khabib’s team does, so they taught me some tricks. I feel super ready for this fight.”
Song believes beating Nurmagomedov will be enough to secure his first UFC title opportunity. With Yan, Dvalishvili and O’Malley all hovering around the championship, however, “The Kung Fu Kid” may need to do more than win — he may need to make himself impossible to overlook.
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