Song Yadong vs. Umar Nurmagomedov squared off in a Bantamweight bout earlier this morning (Sat., Aug. 29, 2026) inside Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China for UFC Shanghai. In a shocking upset, Yadong scored a monstrous knockout.
The fight began with an exchange of low kicks, as well as an early Yadong counter right hand. 90 Seconds into the fight, Nurmagomedov grabbed onto a low kick and converted it into a double leg takedown. He avoided a guillotine attempt and settled into half
guard. Nurmagomedov didn’t land much from top position, but it took Yadong a couple minutes to escape with a slick deep half guard maneuver. Before the round ends, Yadong hit the body with a right, then Nurmagomedov countered with a nice uppercut.
After a quick trade of kicks to start round two, Yadong stuffed Nurmagomedov’s second shot of the fight. The Russian stepped forward with a sharp 1-2, then Yadong hit the body. Suddenly, a Yadong uppercut SMASHED Nurmagomedov!
Out of nowhere, the Russian great was OUT COLD!
The Shanghai crowd exploded, and Yadong ran out of the cage into the crowd. After a rough night of results for the local athletes, Yadong absolutely came through in the main event with an incredible upset knockout! It’s one of the biggest statistical upsets of the year.
More than the stats, Yadong performed really sharply here. He did well to negate the wrestling of Nurmagomedov, hit the body, and then countered a takedown attempt with a blistering right — what more could you ask of “The Kungfu Kid?”
He may have just locked up his first UFC title shot.
