A light heavyweight bout between ranked contenders Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang headlines UFC Fight Night on Saturday, August 23. A Chinese native, Zhang will be fighting in his home country along with several other fighters on the 12-bout card with the UFC holding the spectacle at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China.
The entire fight card can be seen on ESPN+. With a perfect 4-0 record in the UFC and 12 straight wins overall, Zhang opened as a -350 favorite on the UFC betting odds.
UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang Odds
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling takes on former UFC featherweight championship challenger Brian Ortega as a -285 favorite in the co-main event. No. 2 heavyweight contender Sergey Pavlovich opened as a -240 favorite for his bout with No. 7 Waldo Cortes-Acosta in what will propel the winner to a title shot.
Six other bouts feature Chinese fighters with four of the combatants positioned as favorites, including the biggest favorite on the early betting board. Yizha is a huge -1400 favorite in his preliminary round featherweight bout with Westin Wilson.
UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang Previews
Light Heavyweight Bout
#13 Johnny Walker (+267) vs. #14 Zhang Mingyang (-350)
A UFC veteran with a 21-9 career record but just 7-6 inside the Octagon, Walker has proven to be a tough out in the division but not good enough to get a title shot. He also looks to stop a two-fight losing streak and three-fight winless skid. Last time out Walker was KOd by current No. 9 contender Volkan Oezdemir and his two previous fights were against current strap holder Magomed Ankalaev, a no contest in the first and second round KO in the second.
Zhang has vaulted up the division rankings after only three UFC fights, which all ended in a first round stoppage. Toss in a first round KO of Tuko Tokkos in his Road to UFC match and Zhang has been unstoppable. It’s been more than six years since Zhang lost a fight posting stoppage victories in his last 12 bouts.
Featherweight Bout
#5 Brian Ortega (+223) vs. #7 Aljamain Sterling (-285)
Ortega looks to regain the form that had him fighting for the featherweight title four years ago. His first title shot came in 2018 when he took an undefeated record into a contest with Max Holloway. Doctors stopped the fight in the fourth round handing Ortega his first career setback. Three years later he dropped a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski in another title bout, part of a stretch where he lost four times in six bouts. Those losses were to either champions or title contenders.
After losing the bantamweight strap to Sean O’Malley in 2023, Sterling moved to the featherweight class where he dominated Calvin Kattar in his debut at UFC 300. Last time out Sterling lost by UD to top contender Movsar Evloev. A strong grappler, Sterling uses his strength and endurance to outlast opponents with more than half of his 31 career fights going the distance.
Heavyweight Bout
#6 Waldo Cortes-Acosta (+191) vs. #3 Sergey Pavlovich (-240)
This heavyweight confrontation is worthy of standalone status and would be a headliner on another ticket. Six straight first-round KOs landed Pavlovich opposite Tom Aspinall for the interim title at UFC 295. Pavlovich lost that one and the follow-up to No. 2 contender Alexander Volkov. He rebounded to beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik, his first non-KO victory in eight triumphs. Cortes-Acosta has won five straight fights going the distance last time out against Serghei Spivac to improve to 14-1 overall.
UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang Prime Picks
There’s something about a heavyweight fight that gets the juices flowing. Pavlovich and Cortes-Acosta are eyeing a shot at the title with the winner moving closer to that goal. Pavlovich uses brute strength to pummel opponents and despite a weight disadvantage he’s got a significant reach allowing him to keep Cortes-Acosta from taking the offensive. I also can’t see Walker keeping up with Zhang in the main event with the fight coming to an end in the early rounds.
