The UFC has another big bantamweight fight in the next few months.
Top contender Cory Sandhagen and rising prospect Song Yadong will headline a UFC Fight Night card on Sept. 17 at a location to be determined, sources have confirmed to ESPN. Fight agreements have already been sent to both sides, sources said.
The fight was first reported by Eurosport.
ESPN has Sandhagen ranked No. 5 in the world at 135 pounds. Song is not ranked at bantamweight, but ESPN last year ranked him the best fighter under 25 in all of mixed martial arts.
Sandhagen (14-4) has lost two straight, both to former bantamweight champions in Petr Yan and TJ Dillashaw. The Colorado-born fighter is one of the best forwards in the division and has fought close with Yan and Dillashaw. Sandhagen, 30, is 7-3 in the UFC. His only other loss came to current champion Aljamain Sterling.
Song (19-5-1, 1 NC) has won three straight and is undefeated in 12 of his last 13 fights. The Chinese fighter is coming off a first-round knockout of Marlon Moraes in March. Song, 24, has finished two straight fights and is 8-1-1 in the UFC.
Over the past week, the UFC has scheduled three major bantamweight bouts for the next three months. Sterling will defend his title against Dillashaw at UFC 279 in September, and longtime former featherweight champion Jose Aldo will meet Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 in August.
