Ready for his second career UFC main event
🤩@UNmgdv |
135.5 lbs

[
#UFCShanghai | AUG 29 | 6amET on @ParamountPlus
] pic.twitter.com/RFPDW49s5b

— UFC (@ufc) August
28, 2026

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to China is set
following the
UFC Shanghai weigh-ins, although three fighters came in
overweight.

Bantamweight contenders Umar
Nurmagomedov and Yadong Song
will clash atop the 13-fight card. Both headliners had no issue
making weight. However, several prelim fighters weren’t as
professional. Andre Lima
missed weight for his flyweight fight against Namsrai
Batbayar by 1 pound and will be fined 20 percent of his purse
as a result. Meanwhile, both Jingnan
Xiong and Julia
Polastri failed to make the strawweight limit for their bout,
with Xiong coming in 1 pound overweight and Polastri weighing 2.5
pounds over the limit.

Nurmagomedov (20-1) has bounced back from his first career defeat
to Merab
Dvalishvili with decision wins over Mario
Bautista and Deiveson
Figueiredo. The 30-year-old is 8-1 inside the Octagon. The
Eagles MMA product weighed 135.5 pounds for his second UFC main
event.

Meanwhile, Song (23-9-1, 1 NC) is looking to earn the biggest win
of his career. The Team Alpha Male member is 2-1 in his last three
fights, with wins over Figueiredo and Henry
Cejudo surrounding a decision defeat to Sean
O’Malley. The “Kung-Fu Kid” is a fan favorite inside the UFC
due to his action-heavy style. The 28-year-old weighed 136 pounds
on the dot.

UFC Shanghai will stream live on Paramount+. Prelims start at 3
a.m. ET/midnight PT, with the main card beginning at 6 a.m. ET/3
a.m. PT.

UFC Shanghai weigh-in results:

Umar
Nurmagomedov (135.5) vs. Yadong Song
(136)
Denise
Gomes (115) vs. Xiaonan Yan
(115.5)
Kai
Asakura (135.5) vs. Qileng Aori
(135.5)
Su
Mudaerji (125) vs. Alex Perez
(126)
Ce Liu
(206) vs. Levi
Rodrigues (206)
Bilal
Hasan (124.5) vs. Nilson
Rojas (124.5)
Namsrai
Batbayar (126) vs. Andre Lima
(127)*
Kevin
Borjas (126) vs. Rei Tsuruya
(125)
Jack
Jenkins (145) vs. Sean
Woodson (145)
Long
Xiao (135) vs. Francesco
Nuzzi (136)
Lawrence
Lui (135.5) vs. Hector
Santiago (135)
Jingnan
Xiong (117)** vs. Julia
Polastri (118.5)**
Meng
Ding (170) vs. Cameron
Nelson (170)
*Lima missed weight by 1 pound and was fined 20 percent of his
purse
**Xiong missed weight by 1 pound, while Polastri missed weight
by 2.5 pounds. The fight will move forward.

Joe Lopez has seen major improvements in Mauricio
Ruffy’s grappling since the Brazilian joined Alexander
Volkanovski’s team.

Ruffy is preparing for the biggest test of his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career when he faces Arman
Tsarukyan in the co-main event of UFC
331 on Sept. 19 in Los Angeles. Tsarukyan’s wrestling prowess
is a key factor in the matchup, but Lopez believes his fighter has
made significant strides in that area.

Mauricio Ruffy's defensive wrestling improves ahead of Arman
Tsarukyan fight at UFC 331

Ruffy made the move from the Brazilian gym
Fighting Nerds after losing to Benoit St.
Denis in September 2025, joining Volkanovski's team in
Australia. Speaking to Submission Radio, Volkanovski's head coach
Lopez said Ruffy’s development has been particularly noticeable in
defensive wrestling and his ability to escape dangerous
positions.

“Well, it's just chalk and cheese,†Lopez said. “You can just see
how he's improving, you know?â€

Ruffy has since earned victories against Rafael
Fiziev and Michael
Chandler, finishing both lightweights. Lopez claims that even
Volkanovski struggles to keep Ruffy down in the gym. He added that
the Brazilian has improved his positioning while defending
takedowns and prioritizes keeping the fight on the feet rather than
chasing submissions.

“For this fight here, that's one of our specialties is our
defensive wrestling and our scrambles and not accepting the
position,†Lopez added. “Honestly, he's picking it up. When he
first came, he was still really stuck in his jiu-jitsu type thing
where he attached himself to the person. Now, he's not. He's
training his escapes, getting out, putting his body in the right
position, putting his hands in the right position.â€

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship has added four more Meta Apex
events to its 2026 schedule.

The Nevada Athletic Commission has approved permits for UFC events
on Sept. 29, Oct. 10, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at its venue. The Sept. 29
and Nov. 7 cards already have main events, with the headliners for
the two October cards yet to be announced.

Rosas Jr.-Barcelos and Brady-Bonfim are set to headline two
upcoming UFC Fight Nights

Raoni
Barcelos is set to face Raul Rosas
Jr. at
UFC Fight Night 289 on Sept. 29. The matchup pits an MMA
veteran against one of the brightest up-and-coming prospects in the
sport.

The main events for the UFC
Fight Night on Oct. 10 and the UFC
Fight Night on Oct. 31 haven't been announced as yet, but
multiple undercard fights on the cards have been revealed.

Some of the fights scheduled for the Oct. 10 card include Andre Fili
vs. Kai Kamaka
III, Lupita
Godinez vs. Ketlen
Souza, Malcolm
Wellmaker vs. Otari
Tanzilovi and Matheus
Camilo vs. Jai
Herbert, among others. Bouts slated for the undercard of the
Oct. 31 event include Julian
Erosa vs. Jeong Yeong
Lee, Francis
Marshall vs. Gaston
Bolanos, Yana Santos
vs. Luana
Santos and Andre
Petroski vs. Azamat
Bekoev, among others.

The
Nov. 7 UFC Fight Night will be headlined by Gabriel
Bonfim vs. Sean Brady,
a pivotal welterweight clash.

Should these events complete the UFC’s Meta Apex schedule for the
year, the promotion will have staged 12 events at the venue in
2026, just as they did last year.