Matt Brown defends Usman Nurmagomedov over Song Yadong clash at UFC Shanghai

Retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown has dismissed the post-fight confrontation between Usman Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong at UFC Shanghai as “a nothing burger”, insisting the PFL lightweight champion was simply trying to reach his brother Umar after a brutal knockout loss in the main event.

Song Yadong stopped Umar Nurmagomedov to claim the biggest win of his career, then sprinted around the octagon in celebration — bringing him into direct contact with Usman, who had entered the cage to check on his brother. For a brief moment, footage appeared to show Usman taking a swing at Song, though Usman later released a statement denying any intent to strike his brother’s opponent.

Brown, speaking on his podcast The Fighter vs. The Writer, said the incident has been blown out of proportion. “I think it will be forgotten. I don’t think Usman meant anything by it. Like he said, like [Daniel] Cormier said, he didn’t hit him — if he wanted to hit him, he would have hit him.”

The former welterweight contender, who now runs his own gym and regularly corners fighters in the UFC, drew on a recent personal experience to illustrate just how chaotic those post-knockout moments can be. Brown described rushing into the cage after his fighter Josiah Harrell was knocked out on his UFC debut.

“The fact is it’s an absolutely intense, crazy situation,” Brown said. “My fighter Josiah Harrell got knocked out and they yelled at me to go help him out, because he couldn’t tell who was who and what was what. It’s a f*cking intense situation. It’s the first time I ever ran inside the cage when I had a fighter knocked out. I can tell you, what’s going through your head, you’re living off instinct. There’s really not a lot of thought. You only care about one single thing.”

Brown was emphatic that the sport’s unique emotional intensity sets it apart from any other context. “This isn’t tennis or basketball or something,” he said. “You’re getting knocked out, there’s blood” — and in that environment, he argued, Usman’s reaction was entirely understandable.

Song Yadong did not appear rattled by the confrontation at the time, and with Usman’s denial now on record, Brown believes the episode will fade quickly from the news cycle.