The UFC has added more fights to the UFC Shanghai event, which takes place on August 29 at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The main event between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong, which we have announced earlier, was also confirmed by the UFC.
It’s the third time the UFC goes to Shanghai. The last time was in August last year when Johnny Walker upset Zhang Mingyang in the main event.
High-Level Women’s Strawweight Fight
Former title challenger and 4th-ranked strawweight in the world, Yan Xiaonan, gets a fight in front of her home crowd. The Chinese fighter takes on the 13th-ranked Denise Gomes in the strawweight division. Yan has a win on her resumé against current champion Mackenzie Dern. She only won one of her last three fights.
In her most recent outing, she dropped a unanimous decision against Virna Jandiroba. Now she takes on Gomes. Since her loss against Angela Hill in 2023. Gomes is on a roll. She won her last four fights and gets the opportunity now to get into the top 5 of the division. The fight is scheduled as the co-main event of the evening.
Talented Flyweights In Shanghai
As previously posted, Alex Perez will rematch Sumudaerji in Shanghai. But that is not the only flyweight bout on the card. Also, the talented Rei Tsuruya will make his fourth appearance for the UFC. He takes on Kevin Borjas. Tsuruya has impressed so far in the UFC. After winning the Road to UFC tournament, he won two of his three UFC fights.
His only loss came by decision against the current champion Joshua Van. His opponent, Kevin Borjas, has struggled a lot in the UFC. He recently won as a massive underdog against Andre Lima, but before that fight only won one out of his five fights. That win came as a big underdog as well against Ronaldo Rodriguez. Can Borjas upset Tsuruya as well?
Unexpected Signing Fights At Home
The UFC signed promotional newcomer Liu Ce to the roster. The K1 kickboxing champion makes the full transition to MMA. He meets Junior Tafa in his debut for the UFC in Shanghai. Liu only has four professional fights in MMA. He won three of those fights and lost one of them. In his most recent fight, he beat Igor Barabanov via knockout in the first round.
Opponent Tafa has trouble putting wins together in the UFC. The fighter out of New Zealand has already fought three times this year. He won against Kevin Christian by knockout, but in the other two fights he got finished himself. Tafa needs a win against the newcomer Liu to make sure he stays in the UFC.
UFC Shanghai – August 29
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong
- Alex Perez vs. Sumudaerji
- Yan Xiaonan vs. Denise Gomes
- Rei Tsuruya vs. Kevin Borjas
- Liu Ce vs. Junior Tafa
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