UFC Shanghai has its main event.
The promotion returns to China for the first time since UFC Shenzhen in August 2019 for UFC Shanghai on Dec. 3, 2023. ESPN confirmed today that the event will be headlined by a Bantamweight contender bout, featuring the No. 7-ranked contender, Song Yadong (20-7, 1 no contest), against the No. 14-ranked Chris Gutierrez (20-5-2).
Song, 25, is starting to get comfortable in the main event spotlight as this upcoming Gutierrez clash will be his third in a row. UFC Vegas 60 in Sept. 2022 was headlined by Song when he took on perennial top contender, Cory Sandhagen. The China native ultimately fell short via a fourth round technical knockout (watch highlights), but rebounded brilliantly, stopping Ricky Simon with strikes in round five (watch highlights) of his follow-up bout this past April 2023.
Gutierrez, 32, is also 1-1 in his last two bouts, last rebounding off a Pedro Munhoz unanimous decision loss with an Aleteng Heili win at UFC Vegas 81 last month (Oct. 14, 2023). The trip to Shanghai will result in Gutierrez’s first time in the main event spot since joining UFC in November 2018. Gutierrez most notably sent former UFC Lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar, into retirement with a nasty first round knockout at UFC 281 in November 2022 (watch highlights).
The current 11-fight UFC Shanghai line up can be seen below.
- 135lbs.: Song Yadong vs. Chris Gutierrez
- 205lbs.: Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
- 125lbs.: Sumudaerji vs. Allan Nascimento
- 185lbs.: André Muniz vs. Park Jun-yong
- 155lbs.: Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jamie Mullarkey
- 125lbs.: Park Hyun-sung vs. Shannon Ross
- 125lbs.: Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Hernandez
- 125lbs.: Rei Tsuruya vs. Ji Niushiyue
- 135lbs.: Xiao Long vs. Lee Chang-ho
- 145lbs.: Yi Zha vs. Li Kai Wen
- 155lbs.: Rong Zhu vs. Shin Haraguchi