Outside Source
Johnny Walker returned to the win column at UFC Shanghai. | Getty/UFC
Veteran light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker secured his first UFC victory in more than two years with a hard-fought comeback win on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 257 in Shanghai, China. Walker rallied to defeat Chinese rising star Mingyang Zhang via second-round TKO in the night’s main event.
Walker (22-9, 1 NC; 8-6, 1 NC UFC), who suffered two brutal knockout losses in 2024, chose to begin the bout with an unexpected strategy. Rather than touching gloves with Zhang (19-7, 3-1 UFC), Walker instead dove at his opponent’s legs and tried to quickly take Zhang down. That backfired, and Walker wound up on the bottom with Zhang scoring with elbows. Undeterred, Walker got to his feet and clinched after sustaining a two-punch combo from Zhang. Walker began circling around the cage and he targeted Zhang’s lead leg with kicks, which proved to be a smart strategy.
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Early in the second round, Zhang backed Walker up with two right hooks and it seemed like Walker was in some trouble. Moments later, he turned the tide of the fight in an instant by landing a powerful kick to Zhang’s left calf, which caused Zhang to immediately cry out in pain. Walker followed up with two more calf kicks and a wounded Zhang fell to the mat. From then on, Zhang was in full survival mode as he covered up while Walker landed punch after punch. Finally, after numerous punches from Walker, the bout was stopped at the 2:37 mark of Round 2.
Walker may still be far from title contention after his struggles in recent years, but he did show tonight that he is capable of fighting through some adversity in order to claim a victory. Zhang, meanwhile, had his perfect UFC record blemished with the defeat. The Chinese standout had won 12 straight fights since his last loss almost six years ago, but bouts that make it out of the first round continue to pose a challenge for him.
The co-main event was intended to be a five-round featherweight clash between Brian Ortega (16-5, 1 NC; 8-5, 1 NC UFC) and former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (25-5, 17-5 UFC), but it was changed to a 153-pound catchweight contest when Ortega was unable to make weight and looked awful at the pre-fight weigh-ins.
Ortega’s performance in the co-feature did not inspire confidence in his future in the promotion, as his offense was limited to only a few significant strikes per round ,and he showed no urgency until the final five minutes. Sterling kept his distance in the opening round and landed jabs and leg kicks while the much larger Ortega struggled to find his range. Sterling continued to score with jabs and more leg kicks in the second round, and he opened a cut near Ortega’s left eye with a legal punch. Ortega indicated that he had been poked in the eye, and he was granted a timeout, but replays confirmed that it was in fact a punch. The crowd voiced its displeasure with Ortega’s inactivity.
Sterling battered Ortega’s lower left leg with more kicks in the third round as visible welts formed. After trading power punches in the fourth frame, Sterling took Ortega down into full guard and punched from top position. Ortega’s lone moment of success came in the fifth round when he clearly hurt Sterling with a right hook and Sterling, trying to recover, circled around the cage for so long that he was actually warned for timidity. Sterling got one more takedown late in the fight and he punched from the top as Ortega threw hammerfists from his back. The decision was an easy one for the judges and all returned scores of 50-45 for Sterling, who rebounded from a loss in December.
In the lone heavyweight bout on the card, Sergei Pavlovich (20-3, 8-3 UFC) proved that he is still a contender in a division that desperately needs more stars as he took a unanimous decision victory over a game but outmatched Waldo Cortes-Acosta (14-2, 7-2 UFC). Both men ducked their heads and threw winging overhand punches in the first round. Cortes-Acosta later connected with an uppercut and Pavlovich responded with one of his own. Pavlovich wobbled Cortes-Acosta with a pair of two-punch combos in the second round and he appeared to be taking control of the fight. He backed Cortes-Acosta up with leg kicks and hurt him with punches later in the round that opened a cut on the bridge of Cortes-Acosta’s nose. Punches were exchanged until the bell and Pavlovich took the well-deserved win with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice. He has now won back-to-back fights this year since suffering his first two-fight losing streak.
While it was anything but a thrilling affair, Su Mudaerji (18-7, 5-4 UFC) earned his second straight win by defeating Kevin Borjas (10-4, 1-3 UFC) in a featured flyweight bout. Action was sparse in all three rounds, but Mudaerji’s greater activity kept him ahead on the scorecards throughout. He landed a spinning wheel kick right at the final bell in the first round, and then continued to throw more kicks to Borjas’ leg and body in the second stanza. Borjas was poked in the eye at one point, and Mudaerji was repeatedly warned for sticking his fingers out but was never given a penalty. In the final round, Mudaerji landed a few body kicks and two hard elbow strikes when Borjas clinched. Borjas could never get anything going and scores were 30-27 across the board in favor of Mudaerji for a clear-cut but uneventful unanimous decision win.
The UFC Shanghai main card kicked off with a dominant first-round TKO victory for welterweight rising star Nueraji Taiyilake (12-1, 1 NC; 1-0 UFC), though it was not without controversy. In the opening seconds, opponent Kiefer Crosbie (10-6, 0-3 UFC) pulled guard and held Taiyilake in a modified rubber guard. Taiyilake struck from the top and freed himself, then further battered Crosbie with punches and elbows from the top. However, Taiyilake then landed a blatantly illegal knee that opened a huge gash on the cheek of Crosbie and resulted in referee Marc Goddard handing Taiyilake a two-point deduction. That was generous, if anything, as the fight could have easily been waved off. Upon the restart, Taiyilake pushed Crosbie to the mat and teed off with a series of elbows for a punishing TKO win at the 3:33 mark of Round 1.
In the featured preliminary bout, Gauge Young (10-3, 1-1 UFC) posted his first UFC win by outpointing Maheshate Hayisaer (10-5, 2-4 UFC) at lightweight. The fight started well for Hayisaer, who landed leg kicks and early combinations, but Young knocked him off-balance with a counter hook and he briefly took Hayisaer down. Young dominated the second round on the feet by backing Hayisaer up with jabs and right hands. Hayisaer finally responded with a hard left hook and Young took him down into back control. The action slowed down in the final round, and Hayisaer even resorted to takedown attempts that were thwarted, but Young stayed busy enough with his jabs and knees in a clinch. Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Young, who took the unanimous decision.
Flyweight veteran Charles Johnson (18-7, 7-5 UFC) rebounded after a shaky first round and scored a sensational second-round knockout over the previously undefeated Lone’er Kavanagh (9-1, 2-1 UFC). In the opening round, Kavanagh hurt Johnson with a lead left hook to his right eye and that hindered Johnson’s offense as Kavanagh attacked his body and head with punches. Things changed as Kavanagh began to fatigue, however, and Johnson walked him down with jabs and quick strikes in the second stanza. As time ticked down, Johnson lunged forward and landed a big right hook that knocked Kavanagh out at the 4:35 mark of Round 2.
Zhu Rong (27-6, 3-3 UFC) evened his UFC record by posting a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over Austin Hubbard (16-10, 4-8 UFC) at 155 pounds. The Road to UFC Season 2 lightweight winner soundly outstruck Hubbard in all three rounds and quickly returned to his feet after both of Hubbard’s brief takedowns. Hubbard simply could not compete with Rong’s superior boxing and the judges awarded Rong the victory with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 (twice).
Returning to the UFC for the first time since 2022, Kyle Daukaus (16-4, 1 NC; 3-4, 1 NC UFC) earned arguably his biggest career victory by knocking out the always popular Michel Pereira (31-14, 2 NC; 9-5 UFC) in a mere 43 seconds. Daukaus sent Pereira crashing to the mat very early in the fight with a lead right hook and he immediately went for the kill with punches on the ground as Pereira tried to recover. When Daukaus switched to elbow strikes, they briefly rendered Pereira unconscious and the bout was waved off. Daukaus has now won five consecutive fights including back-to-back quick knockouts.
It only took 37 seconds for Road to UFC Season 2 featherweight winner Zha Yi (26-5, 1-1 UFC) to notch his first official UFC win, as he destroyed Westin Wilson (17-10, 0-3 UFC). Yi dropped Wilson with two overhand lefts in the opening seconds and then swarmed on him with a barrage of follow-up punches that left an unconscious Westin slumped against the base of the cage.
Road to UFC Season 3 bantamweight winner Su Young You (16-3, 2 NC; 2-0 UFC) overcame a strong third round from RTU Season 2 finalist Long Xiao (25-5, 0-1 UFC) to take a unanimous decision victory. You’s jabs and straight right hands gave him an early lead on the scorecards, and Xiao’s onslaught of standing elbow attacks in the final round was not enough to steal back the fight. Scores were 29-28 across the board for You.
In the light heavyweight opener, Uran Satybaldiev (9-1, 1-1 UFC) dropped opponent Diyar Nurgozhay (10-2, 0-2 UFC) with a right hook and transitioned from a kimura to a rarely-seen Ezekiel choke for a tapout win at the 2:45 mark of Round 1.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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