Yadong Song Stuns Umar Nurmagomedov in Shanghai Upset

UFC Shanghai promised a showcase. It delivered a shockwave.

On a night loaded with violent finishes, local favorite Yadong Song authored the moment that will live longest in the memory, starching heavily favored Umar Nurmagomedov with a thunderous right uppercut in the second round of the main event. The arena didn’t just erupt; it shook.

By the time Nurmagomedov’s unbeaten UFC aura lay in pieces on the canvas, Shanghai had already witnessed a card drenched in knockouts, brutal body work and statement-making debuts. But nothing matched the roar when China’s leading bantamweight hope folded one of the division’s most hyped contenders.

Song flips the script on Nurmagomedov

For five minutes, the main event looked like the fight many expected.

Nurmagomedov found his range with kicks, then did what his surname suggests: he changed levels, drove through a double-leg and put Song on his back. From half guard, the Russian chipped away with measured punches and elbows, controlling position, controlling tempo, banking the kind of work that usually leads to a slow suffocation over five rounds. Song scrambled free late, but the frame belonged to Nurmagomedov.

Then the script burned.

Early in Round 2, Nurmagomedov chopped at the inside leg and flashed a high kick. A clash of heads split Song open above the right eye, a nasty cut that could have changed everything. Instead, it changed him.

Nurmagomedov stepped in. Song stood his ground and uncorked a savage right uppercut behind the ear. The favorite crumpled instantly. Song chased him to the mat with follow-up punches and hammerfists, but the job was already done. Marc Goddard dove in at 1:48 of the round, the arena in full delirium.

On a night full of finishes, this was the one that rewired the division.

Gomes silences Shanghai with a ruthless elbow

If the main event was the loudest moment, the co-main produced the quietest.

Denise Gomes walked into enemy territory against former title challenger Xiaonan Yan and left with a chilling first-round knockout that hushed a partisan crowd in an instant.

Yan started well, as she often does—chopping low kicks, stabbing side kicks to the body, then finding her rhythm with the jab and counters. Gomes answered with heavy kicks of her own and began to time overhand rights, wobbling Yan more than once but refusing to rush.

The exchanges grew nastier. Yan cracked Gomes with right hands over the top; Gomes fired back with her own power shots. Then came the turning point.

In the center of the cage, Gomes stepped in and smashed Yan with a crushing right elbow. Yan’s legs gave way. She dropped to her knees, helpless, as Gomes poured on punches. Herb Dean had seen enough at 4:49 of the opening round.

One elbow. One of the division’s most respected veterans flat on the canvas. One very loud statement from Gomes about where she belongs at 115.

Asakura announces himself with a head kick from hell

Kai Asakura’s UFC run has been uneven. This performance was anything but.

After a cautious first round against Qileng Aori—one he edged with sharp leg kicks, a slick left hook to the body and tidy boxing—Asakura walked out for Round 2 and detonated the fight in 34 seconds.

Aori opened with a front kick to the body. Asakura answered with a right to the midsection and an overhand left, then whipped a head kick up high that staggered the hometown favorite. Aori tumbled backward into a defensive shell on the mat. Asakura didn’t hesitate.

He swarmed with punches, then drove knees into the body until Vitor Ribeiro stepped in. Officially a TKO via head kick and punches. Functionally, a notice of arrival.

Mudaerji outpoints Perez in tactical rematch

Su Mudaerji and Alex Perez promised a clash of styles. They got one.

In their flyweight rematch, Mudaerji used his kicking game and jab to build an early lead, then survived Perez’s grinding wrestling in the middle frame before reasserting control down the stretch.

Round 1 belonged to the Tibetan striker. He hacked at Perez’s inside leg, dropped him with one of those kicks and peppered the body with front kicks. Perez answered with right hands and secured a takedown, but Mudaerji neutralized him from guard and even threatened a guillotine before the horn.

Perez made his move in Round 2. He timed the entries, chained takedowns, and once he got Mudaerji down, he stayed glued to him—short punches, elbows, knees to the glute, just enough offense to keep Goddard out of it and the fight on his terms.

With a round apiece, the final five minutes were there for the taking. Mudaerji took them.

He snapped Perez’s head back with jabs, chewed up the leg again and repeatedly stuffed takedown attempts along the fence. When Perez did clinch, Mudaerji sneaked in knees and even reversed position in a late scramble. A flying knee and spinning wheel kick missed at the horn, but the message was clear.

All three judges saw it 29-28 for Mudaerji, a composed, mature win over a seasoned contender.

Liu detonates Rodrigues with a walk-off bomb

Ce Liu fought like a man who wanted to make sure no one forgot his name.

The light heavyweight prospect attacked Levi Rodrigues’ legs from the opening bell, chopping with low kicks and slamming body kicks into the ribs. Rodrigues fired back with heavy combinations and even pressed Liu to the fence for a spell, but the Chinese striker’s jab and right hand kept finding the target.

Then the tide turned violently.

Liu floored Rodrigues with a big overhand right, sending the Brazilian scrambling back to his feet on wobbly legs. Sensing blood, Liu doubled up on the jab, chased with another right and unloaded against the fence. Rodrigues tried to answer, but the exchanges were going one way.

A savage right hook finished it—Rodrigues face down, out cold at 4:26 of the first round. A highlight-reel knockout on home soil, the kind that fast-tracks a career.

Hasan passes the undefeated test in style

Two unbeaten flyweights walked in. Only one walked out with his record intact.

Bilal Hasan brought pressure, variety and venom against Nilson Rojas, punishing the body and legs early and never letting the Brazilian settle. He buckled Rojas with a head kick in the opening round, hurt him with a front kick to the body and even mixed in a clean takedown to underline his dominance.

Rojas had his moments—most notably in Round 2, when he sat Hasan down with a push kick to the chest and then charged forward with power shots. For a brief stretch, it looked like momentum might be turning.

Hasan ripped it back with one punch.

As Rojas stepped in again, Hasan uncorked a devastating right hand over the top that folded him. A standing-to-ground left sealed the deal at 2:28 of the second round, forcing Vitor Ribeiro to wave it off.

Undefeated no more—for Rojas. For Hasan, the perfect record now comes with a signature knockout.

Lima and Tsuruya squeeze the life out of their foes

On a card full of striking finishes, two flyweights reminded everyone that submissions can be just as cruel.

Andre Lima spent two rounds walking down Namsrai Batbayar, battering his legs and body with kicks, jabbing his head back and keeping the Mongolian in constant retreat. Batbayar fired back in spots, landed his own low kicks and hooks, but he never really shook Lima’s pressure.

When Batbayar finally shot in desperation in Round 3, Lima snatched his neck. He wrapped up a guillotine, pulled guard, rolled into mount and cinched down until the tap came at 3:03 of the final frame.

Earlier, Rei Tsuruya had been even more merciless.

He needed just one takedown to put Kevin Borjas in deep water. Once he drove the Peruvian to the mat in Round 1, Tsuruya pinned him against the fence, grapevined the legs and went to work with relentless ground-and-pound. Every time Borjas stood, Tsuruya dragged him back down.

When the back opened, Tsuruya pounced—sliding his arm under the chin, locking in the rear-naked choke and forcing the tap at 4:14 of the first. Clean, clinical dominance.

Woodson edges Jenkins in a razor-close chess match

Not every fight in Shanghai was a demolition. Sean Woodson and Jack Jenkins went the other way: three rounds of adjustments, momentum swings and tight margins.

Woodson used his enormous reach advantage early, stabbing Jenkins with jabs, front kicks and low kicks. He sat Jenkins down briefly with a crisp one-two late in the first, banking a clear round on the cards.

Jenkins responded with grit and grappling in Round 2. After Woodson swept him with a low kick and dropped into side control, Jenkins reversed, took the back and threatened the choke. He spent most of the frame on top, peppering with left hands and controlling position.

With everything level, Round 3 turned into a sprint. Jenkins hammered the lead leg, landed a slapping head kick and drove Woodson to the fence with combinations and takedown attempts. Woodson answered with sharp counters, body work and elbows in the clinch. Both men swung to the horn.

The judges split—29-28, 28-29, 29-28—narrowly siding with Woodson in one of the evening’s few decisions.

Violent debuts and brutal head kicks on the undercard

The prelims set the tone: fast, ruthless, unforgiving.

• Cameron Nelson vs. Meng Ding: Nelson walked into hostile territory and leaned on his wrestling to spoil the party. After surviving some early stance-switching and body work from Ding, the Niagara Top Team product dragged the veteran to the mat in each of the first two rounds, piling up ground-and-pound and positional control. Ding rallied late, stuffing takedowns and ripping the body in Round 3, but Nelson’s final-minute takedown sealed a unanimous 29-28 win.
• Julia Polastri vs. Jingnan Xiong: One mistake, one kick, lights out. Xiong started aggressively to the body, but she left her hands low after a flurry. Polastri made her pay with a brutal head kick that shut her off instantly at 3:06 of the first round. No follow-up needed. One of the cleanest knockouts of the night.
• Hector Santiago vs. Lawrence Lui: Santiago mauled Lui from the opening bell, punishing the body with hooks and combinations and swelling the right side of Lui’s face. Early in Round 2, a surgical straight right sent Lui crashing to the canvas. Santiago followed with standing-to-ground rights until the stoppage at 0:53.
• Francesco Nuzzi vs. Long Xiao: Xiao opened with a flying knee to the chest, but Nuzzi’s answer was far more decisive. After an early eye poke pause, the Italian stepped in behind an overhand left, then unleashed a blistering flurry that dropped Xiao to a knee. A series of savage left hands forced Herb Dean to step in at the one-minute mark, leaving Xiao so dazed he nearly walked out of the cage.
• Rei Tsuruya vs. Kevin Borjas: Total grappling suffocation capped by a rear-naked choke at 4:14 of Round 1, as detailed above.
• Andre Lima vs. Namsrai Batbayar: Relentless pressure, vicious kicks and a late guillotine finish at 3:03 of Round 3, closing out the prelims in style.

Shanghai wanted a showcase of Chinese MMA. It got that—and something bigger.

It watched local prospects like Ce Liu and Bilal Hasan announce themselves with violent clarity. It saw veterans like Su Mudaerji steady the ship with measured wins. It endured the heartbreak of Xiaonan Yan’s collapse and the shock of Jingnan Xiong’s head-kick defeat.

And at the end of a wild, unforgiving night, it watched Yadong Song stand over a fallen Nurmagomedov and roar into a future that suddenly looks wide open at 135 pounds.