Umar Nurmagomedov is already looking ahead after a disappointing loss at the hands of Song Yadong at UFC Shanghai.
Song shook up the bantamweight rankings in Saturday’s main event with a shocking second-round knockout of Nurmagomedov, who was finished for the first time in his career. Nurmagomedov was on a two-fight win streak and was working towards another championship opportunity, but now its Song who takes his place in the contender line.
Shortly after the conclusion of UFC Shanghai, Nurmagomedov
released a statement to social media.
“Everything is fine with me,” Nurmagomedov wrote in Russian (English translation via Instagram). “Alhamdulillah. Thank you so much to everyone who writes. I will work on the mistakes. And I will be back.”
Nurmagomedov (20-2) has now lost just twice as a pro, with his first defeat occurring at UFC 311 when he challenged Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title. Dvalishvili won a hard-fought decision, and Nurmagomedov bounced back with wins over Deiveson Figueiredo and Mario Bautista. However, Song’s incredible knockout now leaves Nurmagomedov in limbo as a win could have positioned him to face the winner of the upcoming UFC 333 main event trilogy bout between current champion Petr Yan and Dvalishvili on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi.
