Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is live THIS MORNING (Sat., Aug. 29, 2026) with UFC Shanghai, streaming live online via Paramount+. The event happens at Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. The main event is Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong in the Bantamweight division.
The UFC returns to China for the second time this year. In May they were in Macau. And this is also the second time they’ve been to Shanghai in as many years. Who can forget the massive upset Johnny Walker pulled off over The Mountain Tiger the last time they were here?
There’s a home soil hero on this card, too. It’s Song Yadong. But it will be an upset if he manages to pull off the win against the -600 Umar Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov will be looking for a suffocating victory to get himself back in the title picture against fellow countryman Petr Yan.
The co-main event is Yan Xiaonan vs. Denise Gomes. Former title challenger Yan is climbing past her mid-thirties, but she will hope she has enough left in the tank to beat the rising Brazilian talent. Gomes will have revenge on her mind in this fight. Yan once knocked out Gomes’ mentor Jessica Andrade.
Rounding out the main card is Aoriqileng vs. Kai Asakura, Alex Perez vs. Sumudaerji, Liu Ce vs. Levi Rodrigues Jr. and Bilal Hasan vs. Nilson Rojas. A number of those fights seem engineered to produce viral moments.
The features ‘Prelim’ is Namsrai Batbayar vs. Andre Lima at Flyweight. Lima missed weight for this one. The undercard also has Rei Tsuruya vs. Kevin Borjas, Jack Jenkins vs. Sean Woodson, Xiao Long vs. Francesco Nuzzi, Lawrence Lui vs. Hector Santiago, Jingnan Xiong vs. Julia Polastri and Ding Meng vs. Cam Nelson.
UFC Shanghai Start Date and Time
We are operating at prime local time today. That means it is an extremely early wake up for me and anyone else on the east coast. Check out these special air times below:
UFC Shanghai “Prelims” will begin at 3 a.m. ET.UFC Shanghai main card is scheduled to start at 6 a.m. ET.All of UFC Shanghai airs on Paramount+, which you can stream here.
The live blog here starts rolling below at 3 a.m. ET. Come in and say hi!
UFC SHANGHAI QUICK RESULTS
135 lbs.: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong115 lbs.: Yan Xiaonan vs. Denise Gomes135 lbs.: Aoriqileng vs. Kai Asakura125 lbs.: Alex Perez vs. Sumudaerji205 lbs.: Liu Ce vs. Levi Rodrigues Jr.125 lbs.: Bilal Hasan vs. Nilson Rojas125 lbs.: Namsrai Batbayar vs. Andre Lima125 lbs.: Rei Tsuruya def. Kevin Borjas by submission (rear naked choke), round 1 (4:14)145 lbs.: Sean Woodson def. Jack Jenkins by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)135 lbs.: Francesco Nuzzi def. Xiao Long by TKO (punches), round 1 (1:00)135 lbs.: Hector Santiago def. Lawrence Lui by KO (punches), round 2 (0:53)115 lbs.: Julia Polastri def. Jingnan Xiong by KO (headkick), round 1 (3:06)170 lbs.: Cam Nelson def. Ding Meng by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC SHANGHAI PLAY-BY-PLAY UPDATES
Rei Tsuruya vs. Kevin Borjas: Tsuruya showed off some incredible aggression in this bout. he launched himself at Borjas off the opening bell, got him down and then pummelled him with ground and pound. Borjas was forced into total defense. After taking a lot of punishment on the ground, Borjas was finally able to get up, but Tsuruya took him down again, took his back and then attacked with the choke. He had Borjas’ arm pinned with his leg and once he started to squeeze it was game over.
Official decision: Rei Tsuruya def. Kevin Borjas by submission (rear naked choke), round 1 (4:14)
Jack Jenkins vs. Sean Woodson: Jenkins had a lot of trouble with Woodson’s size and reach in the first round. In the second he managed to sweep Woodson on the ground and spend a lot of time on top. That set up a pivotal third round. In the third, Jenkins was able to crash through range and land some shots and keep Woodson on the fence. Woodson was able to defend well and land some good single shots. I scored the third for Jenkins, but it was a razor thin round.
Official decision: Sean Woodson def. Jack Jenkins by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Francesco Nuzzi vs. Xiao Long: Long came in hot, flying at Nuzzi with a knee off the opening bell. Nuzzi brushed that off, though. Moments later, Nuzzi caught Long with an eye poke that paused the action. Shortly after the restart Nuzzi caught Long with a hard left and then blitzed him with about a dozen shots that had Long flailing on the canvas. Herb Dean stepped in and called the fight, much to Long’s dismay (who then almost stumbled out the cage door).
Official decision: Francesco Nuzzi def. Xiao Long by TKO (punches), round 1 (1:00)
Lawrence Lui vs. Hector Santiago: Former kickboxer Santiago showed off his heavy striking in his UFC debut here. He landed on Lui in the first round, but really put his foot on the gas in the second. He rocked Lui with a glancing blow to the head and then stalked him down and dropped him with a straight right to the jaw.
Official decision: Hector Santiago def. Lawrence Lui by KO (punches), round 2 (0:53)
Jingnan Xiong vs. Julia Polastri: Polastri gave us one of the nastiest women’s MMA KOs we’ve seen in UFC. She threw a two punch combo and then followed that with a head kick. Xiong was leaning back from the punches and moved her head right into the kick. She was out before she hit the ground. Polastri would have won a POTN bonus had she made weight for this.
Official decision: Julia Polastri def. Jingnan Xiong by KO (headkick), round 1 (3:06)
Ding Meng vs. Cam Nelson: Nelson made this a boring fight and that was bad for Ding and the crowd in Shanghai. Ding had the striking advantage, but his total lack of takedown defense ruined this fight for him. Nelson took him down with ease in the first two rounds. Nelson got tired in the third, but Ding wasn’t able to take advantage of that.
Official decision: Cam Nelson def. Ding Meng by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Live stream begins at 3 a.m. ET. …
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