{"id":88001,"date":"2025-08-22T17:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/88001\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T17:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T17:25:12","slug":"ufc-shanghai-preview-walker-vs-zhang-main-co-main-event-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/88001\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Shanghai preview: \u2018Walker vs Zhang\u2019 main, co-main event predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just one day away from the upcoming UFC Shanghai mixed martial arts (MMA) event<\/a>, which is set to go down tomorrow (Sat., Aug. 23, 2025) on ESPN+<\/a> from inside Mercedes-Benz Arena in China. UFC Shanghai features a light heavyweight main event between Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang, a five-round showdown with possible title implications for late 2025 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Before we dive into the main and co-main events, which include the catchweight collision<\/a> between former 135-pound champion Aljamain Sterling and two-time featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega, check out Andrew Richardson\u2019s \u201cX-Factor\u201d breakdown for the rest of the UFC Shanghai main card by clicking here<\/a>. Get all the latest \u201cWalker vs. Zhang\u201d odds and betting props courtesy of FanDuel right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

205 lbs.: Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang<\/p>\n

Johnny Walker
Record: 21-9, 1 NC | Age: 33 | Betting line: +280
Wins: 16 KO\/TKO, 3 SUB, 2 DEC | Losses: 6 KO\/TKO, 1 SUB, 2 DEC
Height: 6\u20196\u201d | Reach: 82\u201d | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 3.87 | Striking accuracy: 53%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.12 | Striking Defense: 44%
Takedown Average: 0.45 (100% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 57%
Current Ranking: No. 13 | Last fight: Knockout loss to Volkan Oezdemir<\/p>\n

Zhang \u201cMountain Tiger\u201d Mingyang
Record: 19-6 | Age: 27 | Betting line: -355
Wins: 13 KO\/TKO, 6 SUB, 0 DEC | Losses: 3 KO\/TKO, 2 SUB, 1 DEC
Height: 6\u20192\u201d | Reach: 75\u201d | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 10.91 | Striking accuracy: 64%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 4.55 | Striking Defense: 53%
Takedown Average: 0.00 (0% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 50%
Current Ranking: No. 14 | Last fight: Technical knockout win over Anthony Smith<\/p>\n

Johnny Walker competed twice in 2024 \u2014 and he got KTFO both times. You can forgive the loss to Magomed Ankalaev because \u201cBig Ank\u201d is the light heavyweight champion and to be fair, Volkan Oezdemir has heavy hands and double-digit knockout wins across his 14-year MMA career. That said, Walker has now been stopped seven times in nine losses and hasn\u2019t seen the win column in over two years. There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the Brazilian had the attention of then-champion Jon Jones<\/a> after jumping out to three straight wins, but then Walker collapsed and is 4-6 in the years that followed with one no contest. It seems Walker struggles against opponents who are not intimidated or at least know how to deal with his enormous frame and flashy offense. That doesn\u2019t include the issues with his chin, which are unlikely to improve as the damage accrues in the second half of his career. Walker could be in danger of losing his job with another loss tomorrow in Shanghai, especially if he\u2019s finished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy with my career so far,\u201d Walker told Sherdog.com<\/a>. \u201cBetween victories and losses, there were many lessons learned. I\u2019ve been a ranked fighter in the UFC for some six years. When I joined the promotion in 2018, I had three fights in about four months. I was already fighting ranked opponents. There was a lot of learning since I\u2019m the first fighter in my family. I had no mentor to guide me, to get me this far. I was my own laboratory. I learned on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure his coaches will be thrilled to hear that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am looking forward to my last run at the belt,\u201d Walker continued. \u201cI know I have the potential to be champion. I see myself fighting for the belt after another two or three wins. With good knockouts and good submission wins, I can put myself in the right place for a title fight. I\u2019m in the best possible place for my career. I\u2019m surrounded by high-level people who will be helping me score another victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to get excited by what we\u2019ve seen thus far from Zhang Mingyang. The hard-hitting \u201cMountain Tiger\u201d blasted his way through the promotion\u2019s \u201cRoad to UFC\u201d tournament and has since racked up three straight wins under the UFC banner, all by way of first-round knockout. Unfortunately, Brendson Ribeiro and Osman Diaz do not have winning records in UFC and Anthony Smith was basically a 205-pound zombie on his way out the door, so it\u2019s not like Zhang was tearing through the Top 10 of the division. That\u2019s my issue here, despite the lopsided odds, because we haven\u2019t seen the 27 year-old knockout artist put to any kind of test inside the Octagon. Walker has not been lighting the world on fire, but at least he\u2019s been facing the best light heavyweights in the world. For tomorrow\u2019s headlining affair, Zhang will give up four inches in height and seven inches in reach, significant stats for what it likely to be an all-striking affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohnny fights in a very unorthodox way,\u201d Zhang told MMA Junkie<\/a>. \u201cSo even for me, for this camp, I need to bring many different training partners to help me kind of mimic Johnny\u2019s style because you cannot find one individual fighter who can fight like Johnny. The only reason I took this fight is because everybody who beat Johnny became the champion. That\u2019s the reason I took this fight. Other than that, I would say no.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never chase a first-round finish in all my previous fights,\u201d Zhang continued. \u201cI always prepared for either a three-round or five-round fight. But when I step into the cage, when the fights starts, if I see any openings or any holes from my opponents, I will catch it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zhang has 25 professional fights and 22 of them have ended in the first round, so don\u2019t expect \u201cMountain Tiger\u201d to play it safe on fight night. I\u2019m not going to completely overlook his work on the international circuit, comprised of wins over such stellar names as the 2-5 Changsheng Huo, or the 5-11 Caibao Zhang, but I\u2019m certainly not going to use them to build a case against Walker. The Brazilian has his problems and he seems to fold too easily under pressure, I just think he\u2019s got a style \u2014 along with a physical presence \u2014 that Zhang has never seen and is ill-equipped to handle.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Walker def. Zhang by technical knockout<\/p>\n

145 lbs.: Aljamain Sterling vs. Brian Ortega<\/p>\n

Aljamain \u201cFunk Master\u201d Sterling
Record: 24-5 | Age: 36 | Betting line: -300
Wins: 3 KO\/TKO, 8 SUB, 12 DEC | 1 DQ | Losses: 2 KO\/TKO, 0 SUB, 3 DEC
Height: 5\u20197\u201d | Reach: 71\u201d | Stance: Orthodox
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 4.41 | Striking accuracy: 52%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 2.21 | Striking Defense: 58%
Takedown Average: 2.51 (29% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 42%
Current Ranking: No. 7 | Last fight: Unanimous decision loss to Movsar Evloev<\/p>\n

Brian \u201cT-City\u201d Ortega
Record: 16-4, 1 NC | Age: 34 | Betting line: +240
Wins: 3 KO\/TKO, 8 SUB, 5 DEC | Losses: 2 KO\/TKO, 0 SUB, 2 DEC
Height: 5\u20198\u201d | Reach: 69\u201d | Stance: Switch
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 4.08 | Striking accuracy: 37%
Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 6.59 | Striking Defense: 49%
Takedown Average: 1.07 (26% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 55%
Current Ranking: No. 5 | Last fight: Unanimous decision loss to Diego Lopes<\/p>\n

Aljamain Sterling abandoned his post at 135 pounds after getting knocked out by Sean O\u2019Malley at UFC 292, which felt like the right time to make the move. He already reached the top of the 135-pound mountain and \u201cFunk Master\u201d is now in his mid-thirties, making the cut down to bantamweight increasingly difficult. Sterling seemed to pick up right where he left off by cruising past Calvin Kattar at UFC 300; however, Movsar Evloev \u2014 one of the top contenders at featherweight \u2014 proved to be a formidable road block on Sterling\u2019s path to a second title. No question a loss to Ortega would put an end to those dreams, or at least stall them for the foreseeable future. While every fight is a \u201cmust win\u201d in combat sports, I would imagine it\u2019s discouraging to endure a hellish training camp (as well as punches to the face) with no end goal or nothing but a paycheck waiting on the other side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge fight,\u201d Sterling told MMA Fighting<\/a>. \u201cI think this is a crossroads fight for both of us, just at our age, what we both accomplished and where we\u2019ve both been in our divisions. I don\u2019t want to say this is a make it or break it fight for me, but I\u2019m not interested in fighting up and coming contenders just for a paycheck. Maybe I will consider that at some point, but I don\u2019t have that mentality right now. That\u2019s not what I\u2019m looking to do.That doesn\u2019t get me up in the morning and make me want to go train to fight these young 22-year-olds, 23-year-olds who don\u2019t have a name. They\u2019re trying to make the name off of me, they\u2019re trying to make their name off Ortega.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to fight for another title, God willing, [if] I get a big win,\u201d Sterling continued. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard to top a spinning-back elbow, but we are fighting five rounds. I\u2019m hoping that\u2019s some type of direction of what things might come from this. So I\u2019m just trying to be positive about the whole thing and may the best man win. At the end of the day, if I\u2019m not good enough, then I\u2019m not good enough at this point, and I think maybe it could be due to the size, it could be due to the age. It could be due to so many different things. But at the end of the day, I\u2019m still in the training room. I\u2019m still kicking young guys\u2019 asses, so that makes me feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Ortega was always the underdog heading into this contest but that line has increased dramatically<\/a> after \u201cT-City\u201d failed to make the featherweight limit<\/a>, forcing the promotion to change the UFC Shanghai co-main event to a 153-pound catchweight contest<\/a>. During the official staredowns, Ortega looked visibly weak and unable to stand while backstage rumors claimed the former featherweight title challenger was hooked to an IV. That does not bode well for a combatant who is facing a tireless wrestler across 25 minutes of action. Ortega is certainly the better striker of the two, or at least hits harder, but may not have the gas to survive more than one or two rounds, depending on his recovery from the brutal weight cut, coupled with the extreme change in time zones.<\/p>\n

\u201cHired one new coach,\u201d Ortega told MMA Junkie<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s striking. I rehired someone that we had \u2026 not a bad fallout, but we went our own ways and then we had a good conversation about things in the past. We just talked it over and fixed that and patched that. The boxing coach, it was new. We gave him a shot, and I started learning things all over again. My striking has evolved and then talking to the wrestling coach about who should we bring in as partners. We just started bringing in high-level wrestlers, NCAA champs and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was my choice, we bang it out,\u201d Ortega added. \u201cSimple as that. You see me, I kind of rarely shoot in. I\u2019m not really the guy to shoot in. So, if it was up to me, we would bang it out on our feet and give the fans a hell of a fight. But something\u2019s telling me he\u2019s going to shoot in. He\u2019s good at keeping his distance and his range with those kicks, but yeah, it\u2019s something that we\u2019ve trained for. We watch the fights, we study film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortega has looked unmotivated and listless in recent fights, even when he makes weight. The threat of a one-punch knockout remains, I just find it hard to pick a fighter who would probably have been ruled medically unfit to compete had the promotion been staging its event under the more discerning eyes of a stateside athletic commission.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Sterling def. Ortega by technical knockout<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

0<\/p>\n

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT MONSTERS!<\/a> Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Shanghai, China, on Sat., Aug. 23, 2025, with UFC Shanghai: \u201cWalker vs. Zhang\u201d inside Shanghai Indoor Stadium. In the main event, explosive 205-pound standout, Johnny Walker, faces fast-rising knockout artist, Zhang Mingyang, in a high-stakes clash<\/a> scheduled for five, five-minute rounds. In UFC Shanghai\u2019s co-main event, top-ranked Featherweight contenders<\/a>, Brian Ortega vs. Aljamain Sterling, square off, both aiming to solidify their spot in the 145-pound title picture.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

MMAmania.com<\/a> will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Shanghai fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+<\/a> preliminary card bouts at 3 a.m. ET, followed by the remaining main card balance on ESPN+<\/a> at 6 a.m. ET.<\/p>\n

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Shanghai news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here<\/a>. For the updated and finalized \u201cWalker vs. Zhang\u201d fight card and ESPN+<\/a> lineup click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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