Yadong Song Upsets Umar Nurmagomedov in Shanghai Showdown

UFC Shanghai promised a showcase. It delivered chaos.

On a night loaded with violent finishes, hometown star Yadong Song tore up the script in the main event, knocking out heavily favored Umar Nurmagomedov in the second round and blowing the roof off the arena.

This was supposed to be Nurmagomedov’s march toward a title shot. It turned into Song’s defining statement.

Song flips the script on Nurmagomedov

Nurmagomedov started like a man intent on draining all jeopardy from the contest. He kicked the legs, circled safely, then did what everyone expected: changed levels, dumped Song to the mat and went to work.

From top position he slid to half guard, dropped measured punches and elbows and looked every bit the smothering technician his surname suggests. Song scrambled free late in the round, but the message was clear: if this became a wrestling match, it was Nurmagomedov’s fight.

Then came Round 2.

Song began to find the body with kicks, stuffing an early shot and forcing Nurmagomedov to play more on the feet. A slapping head kick from the Russian landed, the two clashed heads, and a nasty cut opened above Song’s right eyelid. Blood trickled. The crowd tensed.

Song didn’t back off.

He stepped in and detonated a right uppercut behind Nurmagomedov’s ear, a short, brutal shot that shut the lights off instantly. The Russian crashed to the canvas, already unconscious, as Song followed with hammerfists before Marc Goddard could intervene at 1:48 of the second round.

Nurmagomedov lay still. Song roared. Shanghai erupted.

A supposed coronation had turned into a coup.

Gomes silences Shanghai with savage elbow

The co-main event was built as Xiaonan Yan’s homecoming showcase. Denise Gomes turned it into a cold interruption.

Yan opened sharply, chopping at the legs and body with side kicks, trying to control distance. Gomes answered with a head kick that snapped the Chinese contender’s attention, then swarmed with heavy punches. Yan steadied herself, fired back with hooks and jabs, and soon both women were trading in the pocket with bad intentions.

Yan landed clean rights over the top. Gomes answered with her own overhand right and refused to yield ground. The pace climbed. So did the risk.

Then Gomes found the shot that changed everything.

In the center of the cage, she drove a crushing right elbow straight through Yan’s guard. Yan crumpled to her knees, stunned and defenseless. Gomes poured on punches until Herb Dean stepped in at 4:49 of the first round.

The pro-Yan crowd fell into an eerie hush. Gomes walked away with a statement knockout and a foothold in the strawweight title conversation.

Asakura detonates Aori early in Round 2

Kai Asakura arrived in Shanghai with a reputation for chaos. He lived up to it.

The opening round against Qileng Aori was measured, almost cautious. Asakura circled, chopped at the inside leg and mixed in body work, while Aori answered with right hands and a stiff front kick to the midsection. They traded clean shots but largely neutralized each other, with Asakura’s variety and leg kicks edging the frame.

The second round lasted just 34 seconds.

Aori stepped forward with a front kick. Asakura answered with a right to the body and an overhand left. Then he whipped a head kick around the guard that staggered Aori badly. Smelling blood, Asakura swarmed, driving him to the mat and battering him with punches and knees to the body until Ribeiro jumped in.

A measured first round. A ruthless finish. Classic Asakura.

Mudaerji outpoints Perez in tactical rematch

Su Mudaerji and Alex Perez ran back their flyweight meeting with far more tactics than chaos, and this time the Tibetan striker walked away with the decision.

Mudaerji’s game plan was clear from the opening bell: brutalize the inside of Perez’s lead leg and stab the body with front kicks. He knocked Perez off his feet with a calf kick in the first round and largely shut down the American’s early wrestling, stuffing a takedown and neutralizing Perez from guard when it did hit the mat.

Perez adjusted in Round 2, driving through on takedowns and chaining his attempts. He planted Mudaerji on his back multiple times, grinding from full guard and half guard with short punches and elbows. The damage wasn’t spectacular, but it was enough to level the score.

With the fight still hanging in the balance, Mudaerji took control in the third. The jab snapped Perez’s head back repeatedly, the inside leg kicks piled up, and every shot Perez took ran into strong defense and the fence. Mudaerji even reversed a late scramble, flurrying with punches before missing on a flying knee and spinning kick at the horn.

All three judges saw it 29-28 for Mudaerji, a composed win over a former title challenger and a crucial step forward at 125 pounds.

Liu delivers walk-off thunder at light heavyweight

Ce Liu fought like a man determined not to leave his debut to the scorecards.

He hacked at Levi Rodrigues’ legs early, then thudded a body kick into the Brazilian’s ribs. Rodrigues answered with power combinations and a takedown attempt, but Liu punished him with elbows in the clinch and kept the exchanges honest with stiff jabs and an overhand right.

Then Liu found his moment.

A clean overhand right dropped Rodrigues, who somehow scrambled back to his feet on wobbly legs. Liu didn’t let him off the hook. He doubled up on the jab, slammed home another right hand and pinned Rodrigues to the fence with a barrage of power shots.

Rodrigues fired back on instinct, but his defenses were gone. Liu uncorked a savage right hook that left him facedown and unconscious at 4:26 of the first round.

One chance on home soil. One emphatic knockout.

Hasan announces himself with ruthless precision

Two undefeated flyweights opened the main card. Only one left with that “0” intact, and Bilal Hasan made sure of it with a performance dripping with menace.

From the start, Hasan battered Nilson Rojas’ lead leg and body with kicks, then cracked him with a counter right hand that wobbled the Colombian. A front kick to the midsection folded Rojas over and forced him backward. Hasan followed, secured a takedown from the clinch and went to work with sharp, accurate ground-and-pound.

Rojas’ nose began to pour blood. Hasan stayed composed, picking his shots and punishing every attempt to stand with knees and punches.

Round 2 brought more of the same brutality, but with a finish attached. Rojas tried to turn the tide, pressing forward and landing to the body and head. Just as he seemed to be clawing his way back, Hasan stepped in and detonated a right hand over the top that sent Rojas crashing to the mat. A single follow-up left hand forced Ribeiro to step in at 2:28 of the second round.

A cold, clinical stoppage from a flyweight who looks anything but tentative on the big stage.

Lima drags Batbayar into deep water, then drowns him

Andre Lima’s flyweight clash with Namsrai Batbayar was a slow burn that ended in a sudden choke.

Lima dominated the first two rounds with pressure and leg kicks, marching Batbayar down and battering his lead leg and body. The Mongolian prospect spent long stretches circling with his back near the fence, eating jabs, body kicks and low kicks as Lima calmly built a lead.

Batbayar pushed harder in the third, landing leg kicks of his own and finally committing to combinations. The momentum flickered his way for a moment.

Then Lima shut the door.

Catching Batbayar out of position, he snatched a guillotine, wrapped him in full guard, rolled smoothly into full mount and tightened his grip. There was no escape. The tap came at 3:03 of the final round, the culmination of two rounds of attrition and one clean technical finish.

Tsuruya mauls Borjas on the mat

Rei Tsuruya wasted no time reminding everyone why his grappling reputation travels ahead of him.

He touched gloves with Kevin Borjas, immediately shot in and drove the Peruvian to the mat, settling in half guard. From there it was one-way traffic. Tsuruya pinned Borjas to the fence, punched the body, dropped elbows and controlled every scramble.

Each time Borjas worked to a seated position, Tsuruya dragged him back down and kept punching. When Borjas finally stood, Tsuruya slipped behind him, hit another takedown and slid his arm under the chin.

The rear-naked choke was textbook. The tap came at 4:14 of the first round. Efficient, ruthless, and exactly the kind of performance that keeps his name circling near the division’s future.

Woodson edges Jenkins in razor-thin striking duel

Sean Woodson and Jack Jenkins delivered a high-level featherweight chess match that swung on inches and interpretation.

Woodson used his 10-inch reach advantage early, stabbing Jenkins with jabs, chopping the body with front kicks and punishing the legs. A late one-two in the first dropped Jenkins to a knee and banked Woodson a clear opening frame.

Jenkins responded in the second with pressure and persistence. After being swept off his feet by a low kick, he reversed Woodson on the ground, took the back and threatened the neck before settling into top position. From half guard and then full guard, he peppered Woodson with punches and rode out the round on top.

The third was a blur of momentum swings. Jenkins hammered the lead leg, landed a slapping head kick and worked the body with combinations, while Woodson fired back with jabs, overhand rights and body shots. Jenkins drove him to the fence repeatedly, shooting and breaking with punches, as Woodson answered with sharp counters and elbows in tight.

After three tense rounds, the judges split: 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Woodson. Not a robbery, not a rout—just a razor-close fight that will follow both men into their next booking.

Nuzzi, Santiago, Polastri and others bring the violence

The undercard in Shanghai was unforgiving.

Cameron Nelson opened the night by grinding out a unanimous 29-28 decision over Meng Ding, leaning on takedowns, heavy top control and timely ground-and-pound. Ding rallied late, stuffing shots and attacking the body, but Nelson’s early work on the mat carried the day.

Julia Polastri didn’t need the judges. After a competitive start against Jingnan Xiong, she timed a lull in Xiong’s defense and uncorked a brutal head kick that ended the fight instantly at 3:06 of the first round. Xiong collapsed on impact. No follow-up required.

Hector Santiago introduced himself to the UFC with pure violence, dismantling Lawrence Lui over a round and change. He hammered the body, swelled Lui’s right eye, then dropped him with a surgical straight right in Round 2 and finished with standing-to-ground punches at 0:53.

Francesco Nuzzi needed just one minute to flatten Long Xiao. After an early eye-poke delay, Nuzzi walked through a flying knee attempt, answered an inside kick with an overhand left, then swarmed with a flurry that dropped Xiao and forced Herb Dean to wave it off as the Chinese bantamweight staggered around the cage in a daze.

Rei Tsuruya, Andre Lima, and Bilal Hasan all found finishes that felt less like opportunities and more like inevitabilities once they took control. Each left Shanghai with a submission or knockout and a clear bump in stock.

On a card built to showcase local talent, Shanghai got everything: hometown heroes, brutal silencing acts, and one main-event shock that will echo through the bantamweight division for months.

Yadong Song didn’t just beat a Nurmagomedov. He knocked him out cold in front of a roaring home crowd.

Where does he go from here—and how many contenders now have to rethink their path to the title with a Chinese finisher standing in the middle of it?