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The evening’s headliner will see Mingyang Zhang square off against Johnny Walker at light heavyweight, while Brian Ortega will face Aljamain Sterling in the featherweight co-main event. UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairings on Wednesday night.
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UFC Shanghai — also known as UFC Fight Night 257 — takes place on Aug. 23 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in China. A heavyweight showdown pitting Sergei Pavlovich against Waldo Cortes-Acosta is also scheduled for the card.
The 26-year-old Zhang will take a 12-fight professional winning streak into the matchup with Walker. “Mountain Tiger” has scored first-round finishes of Brendson Ribeiro, Osman Diaz and Anthony Smith in his first three UFC appearances. The Chinese standout has finished all 19 of his career victories inside the distance.
Light Heavyweight Finishers Headline UFC’s Return to China
Walker, meanwhile, is winless in his last three outings: back-to-back KO defeats to Volkan Oezdmeir and Magomed Ankalaev as well as a no contest in his first meeting with the current light heavyweight champion. The Brazilian is 7-6 in the Octagon and has secured all of his wins inside of a round.
A two-time title challenger at 145 pounds, Ortega has lost three of his last four fights within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Most recently, “T-City” dropped a unanimous verdict against Diego Lopes at UFC 306 this past September.
A former bantamweight champion, Sterling is 1-1 since moving to 145 pounds. After debuting in the weight class with a decision victory against Calvin Kattar, “Funk Master” dropped a hard-fought three-round verdict to Movsar Evloev at UFC 310 this past December.
Bringing the HEAT to Shanghai 🔥@JohnnyWalker vs Zhang Mingyang@BrianTCity vs @FunkMasterMMA
[ #UFCShanghai | AUG 23 ] pic.twitter.com/ISsBbCMgKm
— UFC (@ufc) June 26, 2025
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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