UFC Shanghai Picks: Three Best Bets for Saturday's Fight Card

My fellow Americans, get ready for a late night/early morning! After a successful return to the city last year, the Octagon will once again drop down in Shanghai for a UFC Fight Night event in August.

UFC Shanghai will be headlined by a pivotal bantamweight matchup between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong.

Nurmagomedov comes into this bout off back-to-back decision wins over Mario Bautista and Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 321 and UFC 324, respectively. This has helped him rebound from the sole loss of his MMA career, coming one round short of capturing the bantamweight title from Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311.

Yadong has won four of his last six and enters this fight off an impressive second-round submission of Figueiredo at UFC Macau this past May.

The co-main event will be a women’s strawweight battle that sees the returning Yan Xiaonan taking on Denise Gomes. Xiaonan, the former title challenger, fights for the first time since her unanimous decision loss to Virna Jandiroba at UFC 314 in April 2025. Gomes has won four straight and six of her last seven, most recently scoring a unanimous decision over Tecia Pennington at UFC Vegas 111 last November.

The rest of the main card will feature Aoriqileng vs. Kai Asakura, Sumudaerji vs. Alex Perez, Liu Ce vs. Levi Rodrigues Jr., and Bilal Hasan vs. Nilson Rojas.

UMAR NURMAGOMEDOV VS SONG YADONG

This fight has potential implications for both men – Nurmagomedov wants to show he deserves a second crack at the gold after coming so close the first time around. Yadong wants to finally break through into the elite contenders of the bantamweight division. And we’ll see a clash of styles when it comes to both men, who are each trying to chain another win together after defeating Figueiredo.

Yadong has some great striking to him; he can show power, he can pressure, he’s technical, and he can work some solid combinations. But he’s going up against one of the best takedown artists on today’s UFC roster. Nurmagomedov pressures opponents to the fence, scores takedowns, chains takedown attempts together and chain wrestles, and, once on the ground, he can transition consistently while maintaining top control. Yadong’s takedown defense isn’t bad, but he’s never faced a grappler at the level of Nurmagomedov before. And the longer this fight goes, the more comfortable Nurmagomedov will be.

BET: Nurmagomedov via decision (DraftKings, FanDuel, & BetMGM: -160)

AORIQILENG VS KAI ASAKURA

Just like the UFC’s last trip to China, part of the card’s focus will be on Asakura, with this marking his encore performance at bantamweight. After getting finished twice at flyweight at the start of his UFC tenure, including a title fight with Alexandre Pantoja in his UFC debut, the former RIZIN bantamweight champion seemed to have things put together against Cameron Smotherman, winning by knockout in just under two minutes.

Aoriqileng has some strong striking on him with his Sanda background that could make this one a firefight. Aoriqileng, however, hasn’t had the most consistent success in his UFC tenure; he’s only won two of his last six and comes into this bout off getting finished by Cody Haddon in May. Aoriqileng has to make this a dirty, scrappy fight, but his chin better be on point for such. Asakura, meanwhile, has to show his full power punching capabilities as he did in May. If Asakura loses, it’s a tough conversation that follows.

BET: Asakura to win in Round 1 OR 2 (DraftKings: -145)

REI TSURUYA VS KEVIN BORJAS

One thing Rei Tsuruya and Kevin Borjas have in common is that they have experience in losses against current flyweight champion Joshua Van. But that’s where the differences end. Tsuruya is a rising 11-1 fighter who has fared well for himself on his UFC path. Borjas, meanwhile, is 11-5. His losses aren’t bad, but four losses in your last six, plus missing weight for your most recent fight, are.

Fight styles are also different here; Tsuruya can overwhelm opponents with his grappling game, while Borjas will look to keep the fight standing and use his striking. Borjas has decent takedown defense, but Tsuruya’s pressure might be too much for him. And if Borjas isn’t on his game, he might take some damage along the way, too.

BET: Tsuruya to win via KO/TKO OR submission (DraftKings: -145)