Headliner still TBA, but China's UFC Fight Night 122 lineup fills out with new bouts

The main event is now a question mark, but the fight card continues to take shape for the UFC’s debut in mainland China.

UFC Fight Night 122 which takes place Nov. 25 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass, though the full lineup and bout order haven’t been finalized.

As reported on Friday, the event recently lost its planned headliner of former middleweight champion Anderson Silva (34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC). Silva was notified of a potential violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy, and he’s been pulled from the card as Gastelum awaits a replacement.

However, three fights were recently made official for the card: welterweights Bobby Nash (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) vs. Kenan Song (12-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), bantamweights Bharat Khandare (5-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Pingyuan Liu (12-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), and featherweights Wuliji Buren (10-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) vs. Rolando Dy (8-6-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC).

Nash, a 27-year-old former Michigan State wrestler, is likely in a must-win situation after suffering knockout losses to Li Jingliang and Danny Roberts in his two UFC fights. He meets Song, a 27-year-old Chinese vet who had won six straight fights – all via stoppage – before recent back-to-back losses.

Khandare, a 28-year-old who’s the promotion’s first Indian-born fighter, makes his promotional debut after competing primarily with Super Fight League, where he went 5-0 with five stoppages. He meets Liu, a vet who’s won seven straight fights while competing throughout his home country of China.

Buren, a 27-year-old from China, puts a three-fight winning streak on the line when he makes his UFC debut opposite Dy, a 26-year-old Filipino fighter and PXC vet who’s suffered losses to Alex Caceres and Teruto Ishihara since joining the UFC.

The latest UFC Fight Night 122 card now includes:

• Kelvin Gastelum vs. TBA
• Li Jingliang vs. Zak Ottow
• Alex Caceres vs. Wang Guan
• Alex Garcia vs. Muslim Salikhov
• Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Sheymon Moraes
• Bobby Nash vs. Kenan Song
• Kailin Curran vs. Yan Xiaonan
• Bharat Khandare vs. Pingyuan Liu
• Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chase Sherman
• Gina Mazany vs. Yanan Wu
• Wuliji Buren vs. Rolando Dy
• Cyril Asker vs. James Mulheron

For more on UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.