The UFC has another significant bantamweight fight on tap.
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 confirmed to ESPN. Bout agreements have 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 unranked at bantamweight, but ESPN ranked him last year as the best under-25 fighter in all of mixed martial arts.
Sandhagen (14-4) has dropped two in a row, both to former bantamweight champions — Petr Yan and TJ Dillashaw. The Colorado-born fighter is one of the best strikers in the division and 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 unbeaten in 12 of his past 13 fights. He is from China and is coming off a first-round knockout of Marlon Moraes in March. Song, 24, has finished two bouts in a row and has an 8-1-1 UFC record.
In the past week, the UFC has put together three major bantamweight fights for the next three months. Sterling will defend his title against Dillashaw at UFC 279 in September, and former longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo will meet Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 in August.