UFC News: Huge Shanghai Fight Night Main Event Revealed

One of the UFC's top Chinese fighters will feature in the card's headlining bout.

It’s been more than four years since the UFC held an event in Shenzhen, China that saw Weili Zhang stop Jessica Andrade to win the promotion’s strawweight title, and now the UFC’s long-awaited return to the country officially has a main event.

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Rumors that the UFC might be planning a return to China before the end of the year have swirled over the last few months, and just last week the promotion confirmed that a UFC Fight Night event would take place in Shanghai on December 9.

More than a few fans were hoping that an all-China UFC title fight between Weili Zhang and Yan Xiaonan might headline the card in December, but following an initial report from @MagicM_MMABets it's now been confirmed that a bantamweight tilt between Song Yadong and Chris Gutierrez will feature as the main event.

Yadong will compete in his third UFC main event in December :: (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

The UFC has made a concerted effort to add more talent from Asia to its roster in recent years, and Yadong is arguably the promotion’s biggest Chinese star other than Zhang.

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“Kung Fu Kid” is currently the UFC’s #7-ranked bantamweight contender thanks to a stoppage-win over Ricky Simón in April. That matchup was Yadong’s second-straight main event booking after he came up short against Cory Sandhagen last year.

Gutierrez was stopped in his UFC debut in 2018 but went on an impressive unbeaten run through his next eight fights before he lost a unanimous decision to Pedro Munhoz earlier this year. UFC Shanghai will mark the 32-year-old’s first headlining slot after he rebounded from the Munhoz loss by beating Alatengheili in October.

Gutierrez got back into the win column in his last fight.  :: (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

The rest of the UFC Shanghai card boasts a number of the promotion's top Chinese fighters as well as talent from Japan and South Korea. 

Standout matchups include the middleweight bout between Andre Muniz and Jun Yong Park as well as Nasrat Haqparast vs. Jamie Mullarkey, and the Chinese fans will undoubtedly give Yadong a huge ovation once the time comes for his headlining bout with Gutierrez. 

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