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Umar Nurmagomedov heard the “easy fight” noise from Song Yadong, and the former title challenger is not exactly treating it like friendly fight-week karaoke before their UFC Shanghai main event. Nurmagomedov meets Song in the UFC Fight Night 286 headliner on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in China. The bantamweight fight carries real title-shot traffic, with Song trying to turn another major main event into leverage and Nurmagomedov trying to shove himself right back into the belt conversation. Watch Nurmagomedov’s fight-week interview below. The Song Yadong exchange begins around the 11:15 mark: Nurmagomedov Says Song Is Not Getting An Easy Night Song had previously called Nurmagomedov an easy fight, then softened it as a bit of promotional spice. Nurmagomedov laughed it off at first, but he did not let the line float by untouched. He made it pretty clear that if Song actually believes that, Saturday could get uncomfortable fast. It’s going to be bad bad news for him in cage if you think it’s going to be easy fight. I’m not easy fight for nobody. Never. That is vintage Nurmagomedov in fight week mode. No table-flip theatrics, no WWE-volume screaming, just the calm promise of a miserable 25 minutes if Song cannot keep him honest. The buildup has had a little bite because Nurmagomedov previously appeared to call Song a “punching bag.” He clarified that the phrase was a translation mess and said his real point was frustration over Song’s loss to Sean O’Malley, because he believed Song had the tools to win that fight and stay in the title line. I don’t say punching bag. It’s how they translated. I mean he fought with Sean O’Malley, and he had to beat him. I was rooting for him, and I was a little mad he lost because I thought if he lost, he’s not going to fight for the title. Nurmagomedov still gave Song his respect rather than leaving the exchange at the translated “punching bag” line. He’s a good fighter, brother. He’s a good fighter. He’s a tough guy. He has a lot of experience, long time in UFC. Even his debut was earlier than me three years. He’s a tough guy. Song has been around the top half of the bantamweight division long enough that nobody gets to treat him like a tune-up without paying tax. For Nurmagomedov, the timing is also nasty in a good way. He is coming off the kind of stretch where every sentence gets measured against the title picture, the Merab Dvalishvili chase, and the constant Dagestan-vs-the-world noise around 135 pounds. He said beating Song comes first, but he still expects another fight with Dvalishvili regardless of the champion’s next result. First of all, of course I have to win this fight. And other way, anyways, I think I will fight with Merab. If he will win or if he will lose, you know, I think we’re going to fight. Song has been in real firefights too, including a wild old scrap with Alejandro Perez, so this is not some prospect-vs-prospect science project. Song needs the upset to make his title-shot argument real. Nurmagomedov needs to prove the division did not pass him while the belt traffic got weird. That makes UFC Shanghai less of a simple main event and more of a bantamweight sorting machine. Somebody is leaving China with leverage, and somebody is leaving with a very annoying flight home.