UFC Legend Says Rumored Fight Isn’t Official, Despite Reports

You may want to hold your horses if you are ready to buy tickets for UFC Tampa in December based on the strength of the rumored Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong fight. UFC legend and Song Yadong’s trainer, Urijah Faber, spoke to combat sports journalist Helen Yee in a recent video, and the former WEC featherweight champion says the fight not only hasn’t been signed, but if it does happen, it is more likely to take place in January at UFC 311. “We don’t have a date for that yet,” Faber said when Yee asked him if there was truth to the rumors that Song and Nurmagomedov had agreed to fight on the UFC Tampa card. “I don’t think December 14 is a date that we’ve talked about. I think January is what we’re looking at, but we like that fight. I think Umar and Song are guys that people don’t want to fight. They’re both willing to step up. I think that’s a good fight. We’d fight [Sean] O’Malley, [Deiveison] Figueiredo, any of these guys, really. They’ve been talking about it. I saw all sorts of stuff posting about it. Nothing has been signed. That date has not been agreed upon. If that fight does happen, it likely happens in January.” Yee asked Faber for clarification, explicitly naming UFC 311 in Los Angeles, and he said, “Yeah, that would be the one that would be the most likely.” Here is a look at the entire interview. No matter when it happens, it’s a potentially risky fight for Nurmagomedov if it happens before he gets his shot at dethroning Merab Dvalishvili. While Nurmagomedov figures to be favored over Song, upsets and/or injuries can occur. In either case, Nurmagomedov runs the risk of losing the opportunity he earned when he took a unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen in August. Based on what Faber told Yee, Song appears to be in an enviable position. He has an opportunity to take a leap in the rankings with his next fight. If he fights Nurmagomedov, he could vault up to No. 2 in the rankings. A win over Figueiredo could push him into the Top 5, and a victory over O’Malley would likely make him a star and potentially the No. 1 contender for a shot at Dvalishvili. That’s not a bad look for the UFC veteran, who is remarkably still just 26 years old despite having 14 fights in the promotion under his belt. We’ll keep a close eye on what happens with Song and Nurmagomedov. The latter has a decision to make as Dvalishvili has made it clear he wants to wait six months to defend the title he won from O’Malley on September 16 at Noche UFC in the Las Vegas Sphere. If he sticks to that plan, we’ll probably see Dvalishvili defend his title in March, which could mean a rematch with O’Malley. That timetable would likely give O’Malley enough time to recover from surgery to repair a torn labrum. If that’s how the next six months play out, O’Malley would be the biggest winner in the scenario as he’d be getting an immediate shot at regaining his title. And the UFC could have one of their biggest stars back in a position to be champion.