Song Yadong faces Chris Gutierrez in the main event of UFC Shanghai on December 9, 2023. (Photo by … [+]
The UFC returns to China for the first time since August 2019. UFC Shanghai takes place on December 9, 2023, at Shanghai Indoor Arena. A bantamweight scrap between Song Yadong and Chris Gutierrez headlines the card.
Song enters the 135-pound matchup as the No. 7 fighter in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. The 25-year-old, who hails from China but fights for California’s Team Alpha Male, is 4-1 dating back to August 2021. Song’s only loss came in September 2022 when former interim bantamweight title challenger Cory Sandhagen defeated him via TKO at the end of the fourth round of their UFC Vegas 60 main event scrap. The fight was halted due to a cut. Song bounced back from that defeat by scoring a fifth-round TKO win over Ricky Simon in the main event of UFC Vegas 72. Song picked up his sixth fight-night bonus with the win. He is 20-7-1-1 in his career.
Gutierrez has a career record of 20-5-2 heading into UFC Shanghai. The 32-year-old American, who fights out of Factory X, is the No. 14 fighter in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. Gutierrez is 8-2-1 in the UFC. He is currently on an 8-1-1 run, with his only loss being an April 2023 decision setback to Pedro Munhoz. Gutierrez bounced back from that loss with a unanimous decision win over Alateng Heili at UFC Vegas 81 in October.
The current UFC Shanghai card is as follows:
Song Yadong vs. Chris Gutierrez
Andre Muniz vs. Jun Yong Park
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jamie Mullarkey
Tatsuro Taira vs. Carlos Hernandez
Brendson Ribeiro vs. Mingyang
Zhang Allan Nascimento vs. Su Mudaerji
Hyun Sung Park vs. Shannon Ross
Chang Ho Lee vs. Long Xiao
Jiniushiyue vs. Rei Tsuruya
Kaiwen Li vs. Yizha
Shin Haraguchi vs. Rong Zhu
The UFC Shanghai card will stream on ESPN+. The event kicks off with prelims at 4:00 a.m. ET. The main card begins at 7:00 a.m. ET.
The announcement of the UFC Shanghai main event, which was first reported by “MagicM_MMABets” and confirmed by MMA Junkie, follows the promotion’s recent announcement of three title fights in early 2024.
