Merab Dvalishvili has shared his prediction for the upcoming fight between Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong.

The two bantamweights are set to headline UFC Shanghai, which is set to take place on the 29th of August at the Oriental Sports Center.

Merab Dvalishvili (Image: @ufc/X)

Top-ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili recently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and named who he felt would emerge victorious come Saturday. Picking his former rival Nurmagomedov to win, Dvalishvili quipped:

It’s a fight where both have a chance but I think Umar [Nurmagomedov] is going to win this fight. Of course, Song Yadong, we all know, he hits hard. But, Umar has a great chin. If you ask me I’ll say Umar is going to win this fight.

Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s prediction for Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong:

Both Nurmagomedov and Yadong faced the same opponent in their last fight: Deiveson Figueiredo. While Nurmagomedov beat him via unanimous decision at UFC 324, Yadong earned a second-round submission victory at UFC Macau (in May 2026).

Nurmagomedov is riding a two-fight win streak, whereas Yadong’s win over Figueiredo helped him bounce back after a unanimous decision loss against Sean O’Malley.

Umar Nurmagomedov’s only loss so far in MMA came against merab Dvalishvili

Umar Nurmagomedov has lost just once in his professional MMA career, and it came against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311 in January 2025.

Coming into the fight with an 18-0 record and a win over the dangerous Cory Sandhagen, it looked like Nurmagomedov might breeze to another victory after he was leading 2-0 in 2 judges’ scorecards heading into Round 3.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 18: (L-R) Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia punches Umar Nurmagomedov of Russia in the UFC bantamweight championship fight during the UFC 311 event at Intuit Dome on January 18, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

However, the seasoned Dvalishvili came roaring back to win the next three rounds and secure an impressive and resilient unanimous decision victory to retain the bantamweight belt.

Dvalishvili went on to defend the title two more times after that, before losing the belt to Petr Yan at UFC 323.

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.