The regional MMA scene in China is unlike most. Although Asia has a built-in cultural element of martial arts, China has been one of the countries on the continent that has been slower to emerge as a notable player with characters and prospects. That may be by design to an extent, but some fighters become too undeniable to go unnoticed. Take rising UFC light heavyweight contender Zhang Mingyang, who rose through China’s best promotions, as a prime example.
At age 27, Zhang is about to make history in his fourth UFC appearance after winning a contract through Road to UFC in 2022. Despite China’s continuous growth in the sport, led by strawweight all-time great Zhang Weili, the light heavyweight slugger will become the second Chinese fighter to headline a UFC event in the country, behind the legend. UFC Shanghai’s main event Saturday will feature Zhang taking on Johnny Walker, making him the first male fighter to headline a UFC event in China and only the second male Chinese fighter to headline a UFC event overall.
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This statistic came as news to Zhang in our pre-fight conversation, which I apologized for bringing up after adding some extra pressure to the biggest fight of his life.
“I just became aware of that,” Zhang laughed when speaking to Uncrowned through an interpreter. “Me and Song Yadong are the only two male Chinese UFC fighters to ever headline a UFC event, and I am the first one to do it in China. So, yeah, that’s definitely a historical moment for Chinese MMA and for Chinese male fighters. You point out this, I need to calm myself down a little bit because I’ve never thought about this before. I need to calm down because I don’t want to do any crazy things to hurt Johnny that bad in the fight because I still want to bring Johnny and his family to explore a little bit of Shanghai after the fight.”
Zhang Mingyang is wasting no time ascending the UFC light heavyweight ranks. (William Purnell-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Zhang’s career has been strictly business-oriented thus far, especially in recent years. He admittedly hasn’t had much of a chance to engage with fans ahead of previous fights because of the amount of time he dedicates to training. The location differences have also created a separation, but with the main event spotlight of a UFC fight week, he’s certainly feeling the love in his home country this time around.
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The speed of Zhang’s rise hasn’t only been a surprise outside of China, but to the man himself. Before landing this Walker matchup, Zhang retired one-time UFC title challenger Anthony Smith with a first-round stoppage at UFC Kansas City in April.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect that I can fight names like Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker that soon since I got into UFC,” he said. “Because, in my opinion, there are two levels of UFC fighter: Top 15 and the others. If you are not in top 15 yet, you are pretty much nobody. Nobody knows you. So, it really surprised me UFC gave me the opportunity to fight Anthony, then Johnny, to let more and more people know who I am.”
A speedy trajectory hasn’t been the only thing Zhang does fast, as that’s just how he fights. Since 2018, the “Mountain Tiger” has exclusively been a first-round fighter, scoring knockouts in 12 of his 16 bouts in that span.
The way Zhang fights makes him an easy fighter to get excited for. However, that expectation hasn’t lingered in his mind much as time goes on. Don’t think a stand-up banger isn’t Zhang’s preference against an equally exciting Walker, though.
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“For now, I’m not really proud of that, winning by finishes,” Zhang explained. “Back in 2019, there was a period of time I was proud about myself just right after I won the world MMA tournament in Russia. At that moment, I think, ‘Ooh, I’m probably the best.’ Whatever can I do? Whatever should I need to learn? Then when I get more and more mature, I learned that, ‘OK, you should always learn. You can always improve.’ That is MMA. So, for now, I’m very happy and very much enjoy that I can stay and work and train with people who are better than me. I can always learn something from somebody. That makes me very satisfied right now. Just always learning, always improving.
“If I can choose, of course, I hope we can just fight toe-to-toe on striking (with Walker). Give all the fans an exciting fight, but if he chooses to shoot on my legs, try to wrestle, try to grapple, I won’t be surprised with that. We also have planned to deal with that. So, let’s see what he wants. I can fight anywhere he wants and beat him.”
It’s a good time to make a statement at 205 pounds with the division’s next title tilt on the horizon in October. The champion Magomed Ankalaev will rematch the man he dethroned, Alex Pereira, with another contender bout that same night between Jiří Procházka and Khalil Rountree. Considering the speed at which Zhang has earned his latest opportunities, he could foresee his shot at UFC gold coming much sooner than anticipated.
“If everything goes well, it can be soon,” he said of a title shot. “I just want to fight the people I want to fight, then fight for the title, but it can be soon.”
