Yadong
Song's team planned for an uppercut finish throughout training
camp.

Song firmly put himself in title contention in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship with the biggest victory of his
career, finishing Umar
Nurmagomedov in the second round of the
UFC Shanghai headliner. The Chinese bantamweight's coaches
identified the route to victory long before fight night.

Yadong Song explains the preparation behind his UFC Shanghai
knockout of Umar Nurmagomedov

After his knockout victory, Song revealed he had specifically
prepared the uppercut as a counter to Nurmagomedov’s takedown
attempts. “The Kung Fu Kid†claimed that his boxing coach
identified where the Dagestani was vulnerable and they repeatedly
worked on the finishing sequence he pulled off at UFC Shanghai.

Song explained that his team anticipated Nurmagomedov shooting with
his head dipping towards the left side and worked on counters to
that movement.

“My boxing coach, Rudy Hernandez, he already told me, ‘You gonna
get the knockout tonight with uppercut,'†Song said in a post-fight
interview. “We've been working on that. We know he gonna shoot from
the left side and we find the uppercut.â€

In the same interview, Song claimed that he'd finish current champ
Petr
Yan and former champ Sean
O'Malley in rematches after they previously outpointed him. He
also fancies himself against Merab
Dvalishvili.

“I feel like I can finish everyone,†Song added. “You know, I can,
I can finish Petr. I can finish Merab, you know. So even Sean’s
fight is very close. You know, if a rematch, I can finish him
too.â€

“I feel like I can finish anyone.â€

Song Yadong (@SongYaDongLFG)
leaves Shanghai with a massive statement win as he looks to make
his case for a shot at UFC gold

Main Card Results âž¡ï¸ https://t.co/G8E8FUHUKb pic.twitter.com/RqmEBkWorf

— UFC News (@UFCNews)
August 29, 2026

Usman
Nurmagomedov has addressed his brother Umar
Nurmagomedov’s knockout loss to Yadong Song
and the discourse surrounding his immediate actions after seeing
his brother hit the canvas.

Song flatlined Umar with an uppercut in the second round of their
bantamweight clash in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. Just as Song ended the
UFC Shanghai headliner with some follow-up hammer-fists, Usman
stormed the cage to check on his brother.

Song began celebrating and briefly crossed paths with a concerned
Usman, who seemingly loaded up an instinctive elbow strike in the
heat of the moment, but didn't follow through.

Usman denies trying to hit Yadong Song after rushing toward the
cage following Umar Nurmagomedov's knockout

Usman took to social media in the aftermath of UFC Shanghai to
address his brother's first-ever professional loss via a finish and
also touched on fans accusing him of trying to hit a celebrating
Song. The
Professional Fighters League star first downplayed the
magnitude of Umar's loss by putting things into perspective.

“People are making such a huge tragedy out of this, they should
just calm down,†Usman wrote on Instagram in Russian. “There are
things far worse. You don't have to think for long, just look at
what is happening in the world.â€

He then denied that he intended to hit Song and slammed those
criticizing him.

“And regarding the claims that I supposedly wanted to hit his
opponent, if I had wanted to, I would have hit him,†Usman added.
“You angry, petty, and jealous people. Your problem is that you
have never had and never will never have an understanding of family
love.â€

Usman is currently a free agent, having exhausted his PFL contract.
He is rumored to be signing with the UFC once his exclusive 90-day
negotiation window with the PFL concludes.

Dan
Hooker believes he's the perfect fighter to welcome other
lightweights to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Hooker (24-14) is scheduled to welcome former two-division
KSW champ Salahdine
Parnasse (23-2) to the UFC in enemy territory at
UFC Paris on Sept. 5. With the
Professional Fighters League looking to retain Nurmagomedov
(22-0) and the UFC rumored to have strong interest in the Russian,
Hooker is willing to take on the unbeaten lightweight.

Dan Hooker offers to welcome Usman Nurmagomedov to the UFC for
‘danger money'

Nurmagomedov is currently the most sought-after free agent in mixed
martial arts after having exhausted his PFL contract. With the
Dagestani hinting at a UFC signing, Hooker believes he is the ideal
opponent for the latest PFL lightweight champ's Octagon debut.

While some fans are calling for a matchup between Nurmagomedov and
Ilia
Topuria, Hooker is certain Topuria won't take the risky
matchup. The UFC veteran also believes that most top UFC
lightweights won't take the same risk and he recently reiterated
that he doesn't mind putting himself on the line if he's
compensated accordingly.

Hooker also notes that he has previously welcomed former Bellator
champion Michael
Chandler to the UFC.

“Who's a better welcoming party? It was the same thing with
Chandler; it's the same thing with this Parnasse guy and it will be
the same thing with Usman,†Hooker told Submission Radio. “No one
else will take the fight. People are like, ‘Usman's gonna come in
and fight Ilia Topuria.' Be serious, you think Ilia Topuria is
gonna take the risk of fighting an unranked, non-UFC fighter? No
one else is willing to take the risk… None of these other guys in
the division want to risk it for the biscuit. So, they call up Dan
Hooker; they offer him a bit of danger money and he welcomes these
boys to the big leagues.â€