Daniel Cormier defends Usman Nurmagomedov after UFC Shanghai incident

BELMONT PARK, NY - JULY 31: Usman Nurmagomedov looks on before fighting Archie Colgan during PFL New York at the UBS Arena on July 31, 2026 in Belmont Park, New York. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images Usman Nurmagomedov is never going to apologize for caring about his brother’s well-being, but that doesn’t mean he was trying to attack his opponent at UFC Shanghai. Song Yadong scored the biggest win of his career on Saturday when he blasted Umar Nurmagomedov with a perfectly timed uppercut that sent the Russian crashing to the canvas to end the fight. Immediately after the fight was stopped, Usman jumped into the cage to check on his brother and Song ended up colliding with him as he ran around the cage to celebrate his victory. The brief physical altercation led many to speculate that Usman actually tried hitting Song with an elbow strike after running into each other, but the reigning PFL lightweight champion was quick to deny that allegation while addressing the incident on social media. “People make such a big tragedy out of this, they would [be] better [to] calm down,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram (via translation). “There are things that are much worse, you don’t have to think too long, just look at what is happening in the world. “And at the expense of the fact that I allegedly wanted to hit his opponent. If I wanted to, I would’ve hit him.” View this post on Instagram For his part, Song never broke stride during his celebration and he eventually went over to Nurmagomedov’s corner and spoke to his head coach Khabib to pay his respects after the fight. “Evil little and jealous people,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “Your problem is that you have never had and will never have the understanding and love of the family. If you don’t know what a brother means to a brother, then you should feel sorry not for me, but for you.” It was obviously a tough moment for Usman after watching his brother suffer such a brutal knockout loss — only the second defeat of his career —but Umar eventually got back to his feet and released a statement of his own saying he was doing fine after the main event ended.

Usman Nurmagomedov shares his side of UFC Shanghai run-in with Song Yadong

Daniel Cormier is sending his support to Usman Nurmagomedov after the PFL champ jumped into the cage after UFC Shanghai’s main event and came an inch away from assaulting winner Song Yadong. Yadong had just knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov with a big uppercut in the second round of their bantamweight fight. An emotional Usman jumped […]

SHANGHAI, CHINA - AUGUST 29: Song Yadong of China reacts after a knockout victory against Umar Nurmagomedov of Russia in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at SPD Bank Oriental Sports Center on August 29, 2026 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) Emotions were running high after Song Yadong scored a stunning knockout over Umar Nurmagomedov in the UFC Shanghai main event on Saturday. With Nurmagomedov still laid out unconscious from the uppercut that ended his night, Song was understandably elated as he ran around the cage in celebration but that also brought him in direct contact with Nurmagomedov’s team including his brother Usman Nurmagomedov. In real time, it appeared that perhaps Usman actually tried to hit Song with an elbow as he passed by but UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier says nothing could be further from the truth. “Usman Nurmagomedov jumped into the octagon after the fight, Khabib [Nurmagomedov] tried to stop him,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Song Yadong is running in the direction of Usman. Usman reacts, like he reaches to stop him like they were going to make contact together. “He did not elbow him. Let’s stop making conspiracy theories out there, people. He did not elbow him. He did not attack Song Yadong.” For his part, Song never broke stride and continued his celebration and he eventually approached Khabib and the rest of the team to show his respect after the fight. While Cormier is adamant Usman didn’t purposefully attempt to attack anybody, he understands in the heat of the moment why the reigning PFL lightweight champion was desperately trying to get his brother after watching him get knocked out. full live reaction from both corner cams to Umar getting KOd by Song Yadong at #UFCShanghai pic.twitter.com/OaWXINLfU9 — lvlayor (@mayoriwnl) August 29, 2026 “What he did was try to get to his brother,” Cormier said. “That in itself is not allowed. We are not allowed to do that. But if there’s anyone that you care about immensely and you want to rush to their side in that moment, it is your brother. Blood brother. Not a brother as in a friend that you love, not a cousin, not a relative. This is his actual brother. “So he jumps into the octagon, which is not allowed but if there’s any time that someone will deal on emotion, you would think that it was this.” That said, Cormier knows whether he ran into Song or not, Usman has to take responsibility for his actions because he shouldn’t have been in the octagon in the first place. “The reason they won’t let people jump [into the octagon] is because of the things that happened with Khabib and Conor [McGregor] and all those other things,” Cormier said. “They cannot control whenever the situation gets chaotic. “That’s why Usman cannot do that. But I am more inclined to get him a bit of grace because you watch your brother get starched in that way” The incident didn’t escalate and nothing else happened before doctors were able to get in the cage to check on Umar following his knockout loss. UFC officials haven’t made any statement on the incident but it appears cooler heads prevailed all the way around after the brief run-in between Usman and Song in the cage.

Daniel Cormier understands Usman Nurmagomedov’s emotional reaction to Umar Nurmagomedov knockout loss