Usman Nurmagomedov fires back over Yadong Song incident at UFC Shanghai

Usman Nurmagomedov has responded to criticism following his brother Umar's knockout loss to Yadong Song at UFC Shanghai. Umar was flatlined by an uppercut in the second round of their bantamweight headliner, and as Song celebrated with follow-up hammer-fists, Usman rushed the cage to check on his brother. Video footage appeared to show Usman loading up an elbow strike toward the celebrating Song, though he did not follow through.

On Instagram, Usman addressed both the loss and accusations of attempting to hit Song. He downplayed the significance of Umar's first career finish loss, writing in Russian: "People are making such a huge tragedy out of this, they should just calm down. There are things far worse." Regarding the alleged elbow, Usman was more direct: "And regarding the claims that I supposedly wanted to hit his opponent, if I had wanted to, I would have hit him. You angry, petty, and jealous people. Your problem is that you have never had and never will never have an understanding of family love."

Usman is currently a free agent after exhausting his Professional Fighters League contract. He is rumored to be in advanced negotiations to sign with the UFC once his exclusive 90-day negotiation window with the PFL concludes. The incident at UFC Shanghai sparked widespread debate on social media about fighter conduct and decorum in the Octagon.