Nurmagomedov dismisses Song as 'punching bag' after UFC Abu Dhabi replacement rumour

Umar Nurmagomedov has made clear he has little respect for Yadong Song as a potential replacement opponent, labelling the Chinese bantamweight a “punching bag” after his original UFC Abu Dhabi booking fell apart when David Martinez was ruled out with an injury.

Nurmagomedov was set to fight Martinez on July 25 before the injury forced a change of plans. The 20-1 Russian has since been linked with a bout against Song, and he wasted no time in sharing his assessment of that matchup.

“Of course, I’m interested,” Nurmagomedov told Adam Zubayraev. “[Song] is a punching bag. How did he do against O’Malley? He was dead by the third round. Fourth round, he was taking knees to the face… I don’t consider him a top-class fighter, honestly.”

Nurmagomedov’s timeline on the O’Malley fight was slightly off — that contest went three rounds, not four — but his broader point was clear: he was unimpressed by the one-sided nature of Song’s defeat.

Nurmagomedov arrived in the UFC with considerable pedigree, going undefeated across seven octagon appearances before his lone professional loss came in a bantamweight title challenge against Merab Dvalishvili last year. He has since bounced back with back-to-back wins over Mario Bautista and Deiveson Figueiredo, re-establishing himself as one of the division’s most dangerous contenders.

Song (23-9) presents a more complicated picture. The Chinese fighter has shown he can compete at the highest level, defeating both Henry Cejudo and Figueiredo in recent outings, but back-to-back losses against Petr Yan and O’Malley have raised questions about his ceiling. His last four fights have followed a strict win-loss-win-loss pattern, leaving him in a difficult position in the bantamweight rankings.

No official date or event has been confirmed for a Nurmagomedov vs. Song matchup, but with Martinez out of the picture and both fighters available, the UFC has a ready-made booking on its hands.