Cormier Shuts Down 'Elbow' Theory From Usman-Song Cage Clash

Song Yadong walked into Shanghai as the underdog and walked out having flatlined the No. 3 bantamweight in the world. The #6-ranked Chinese fighter dropped Umar Nurmagomedov with an uppercut in Saturday's main event, leaving the previously unbeaten Russian unconscious and handing him the first loss of a 20-2 career built almost entirely on grappling — only two of those 20 wins had come by knockout.

What happened next is what everyone's arguing about. With Umar still out cold, Song sprinted around the cage in celebration and ran straight into Umar's corner, including his brother Usman Nurmagomedov, the reigning PFL lightweight champion. To some watching live it looked like Usman threw an elbow as Song passed. Daniel Cormier says that reading is flat wrong.

Cormier's Version

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Cormier laid out the sequence: Usman leapt into the octagon, Khabib Nurmagomedov moved to stop him, and Song was running directly toward Usman when the contact happened. According to DC, Usman reacted by reaching out as the two nearly collided — not by trying to land a strike. He urged people to drop the conspiracy talk, insisting Usman never elbowed or attacked Song.

For his part, Song didn't break stride. He kept celebrating and later came back around to Khabib and the rest of the team to pay his respects — hardly the behavior of a man who thought he'd just been ambushed.

The Part Usman Can't Escape

Cormier's sympathy only goes so far. He acknowledged Usman had no business being in the cage in the first place, and that jumping the fence isn't allowed for exactly the reason everyone remembers: the McGregor-Khabib brawl and the chaos that followed. Once bodies pour into the octagon, nobody controls what happens. That's the whole point of the rule.

Still, DC said he's inclined to cut Usman some slack given the circumstances. This wasn't a friend or a cousin getting starched — it was his blood brother, folded up by a single shot. If there's ever a moment a fighter runs on pure emotion, this was it. The incident never escalated, doctors got in to check on Umar, and UFC officials have yet to comment. For now, cooler heads seem to have won out.