Nurmagomedov vs. Yadong Booked For UFC Tampa Main Event

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC Tampa has its headliner.
Today (Thurs., Oct. 17, 2024), Red Corner MMA reported that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) No. 1 contender Umar Nurmagomedov will fight N…


UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen v Nurmagomedov Official Weigh-in
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC Tampa has its headliner.

Today (Thurs., Oct. 17, 2024), Red Corner MMA reported that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) No. 1 contender Umar Nurmagomedov will fight No. 8 ranked Song Yadong in the last UFC main event of the year for UFC Tampa on Dec. 14 from inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fl. It will be Nurmagomedov’s second consecutive headlining spot.

MMAMania.com confirmed with sources close to the situation that this fight is indeed in the works.

While the fight is very surprising because it was indicated that Nurmagomedov was next in line to challenge Merab Dvalisvilli for the Bantamweight championship, the undefeated Russian did tweet last week that he wasn’t going to wait until after March 2025 for a title shot.

“If Merab is going to avoid me, I won’t wait for him. And I’ll fight with anyone UFC suggests before Ramadan,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Oct. 11.

Whether someone dislikes Nurmagomedov or not, he needs to be commended for taking a tough fight when he has a title shot within grasp.

Nevertheless, Nurmagomedov is coming off a dominant win over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi in Aug. Meanwhile, Yadong is coming off a disappointing loss to Petr Yan at UFC 299 in April.


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