The UFC returned to China for a Fight Night event with UFC Shanghai on August 23, taking place during the early hours of the morning at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China.
This represented the UFC's first card held in Shanghai since November 2017, a card that saw the final fight in the career of UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, as he was knocked out by Kelvin Gastelum. This past November, the UFC held a Fight Night event in Macau, which saw Petr Yan scoring a decision over Deiveson Figueiredo.
The main event of this UFC Shanghai saw a light heavyweight showdown featuring Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang. Walker was looking to rebound from a three-fight losing skid, which included a no-contest and knockout loss vs. current light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev and a knockout loss to Volkan Oezdemir. Mingyang, meanwhile, has scored every victory of his MMA career thus far in the first round. He's 3-0 since entering the UFC, scoring finishes of Brendson Ribiero, Ozzy Diaz, and Anthony Smith.
The co-main event saw a pair of stars battling in a 153-pound catchweight contest, as former featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega faced former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Ortega has lost three of his last four, stretching back to his unsuccessful challenge of Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title at UFC 266. Sterling moved up to 145 after losing the bantamweight title, defeating Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 but losing to Movsar Evloev at UFC 310. The fight took place at catchweight following serious weight-cut complications for Ortega.
Who showed out in China? Who faltered? Let's find out with this edition of UFC Hits and Misses!
Hit - Uran Satybaldiev Starts The Card With UFC History
Prior to UFC Shanghai, only three people in the UFC managed to pull off a victory via Ezekiel choke -- Aleksei Oleinik (who had a stellar three), Remco Pardoel, and Alexander Volknov. Uran Sarybaldiev now gets to join that list.
Going up against Diyar Nurgozhay, Sarybaldiev made things quick. He could've gotten him out of there in the opening minute, but Nurgozhay managed to survive getting rocked. Sarybaldiev then had a tight kimura, but again, Nurgozhay came out of it still in the fight. Sarybaldiev completely overwhelmed him, however, and managed to get on top and secure the rare submission -- done, even rarer, from the top position.
It's not every day that we get a UFC Fight Night event in an arena with fans, let alone an international one. But a finish like this definitely set the tone for what ended up being an exciting preliminary card.
Hit - Yi Zha's Starching Left Hand Leads To KO Success
Uran Satybaldiev wasn't the only prelim fighter with a quick finish, as Yi Zha probably saw that and said "I can top that" -- doing so with his sub-minute finish of Westin Wilson.
Zha was locked in, nailing Wilson with a left hand that stunned and dropped him. Wilson made it back to his feet, but not for long. Zha cracked him with a hard combination during his flurry of offense that put Wilson away for good in about 37 seconds.
Zha has a history of first-round finishes, but most of them have been by submission. You'd have to go back to his 2019 second-round finish of Tenglige to find his last KO/TKO win prior to UFC Shanghai.
Zha has been featured in more Road to UFC cards than actual UFC Fight Nights; however, hopefully this gives us a taste that we can see more from Zha in the future.
Hit - Kyle Daukaus Says "I'm Back!"
I could give a miss here for Michel Pereira suffering his third straight loss, but I feel that'd be taking away from the bigger story. Once upon time, the Daukaus brothers were prominent prospects in the UFC. But things didn't work out and both were released.
On late notice, however, Kyle Daukaus made the most of his second chance, finishing Pereira in just 43 seconds.
Daukaus quickly landed a right hand that dropped Pereira, and down came the ground-and-pound right after. A pair of elbows in particular were enough to put Pereira's lights out and force Herb Dean to halt the action.
Since his first UFC run ended, Daukaus is now 4-0 and has been the CFFC welterweight champion. It has been an awesome redemption road built, and hopefully Daukaus will get to continue that momentum in his next UFC bout.
In the words of his walkout song, indeed, "The boys are back in town."
Hit - Never Count Out Charles Johnson -- Especially Against Prospects
Some have considered Charles Johnson to be one of the most underrated flyweights in the UFC, and for good reason. Just look at what he did when he and Lone'er Kavanagh faced off during the prelims.
Kavanagh was laying it into Johnson in the first round of the fight. There were a couple of times during that round where it looked like Kavanagh would finish him. After surviving a guillotine attempt during round two, Johnson was pressuring back. And it was a pair of elbows that changed everything. As Kavanagh was moving back with his hands down, Johnson saw the opening and took advantage, cracking Kavanagh and dropping him out cold to take his 0.
Johnson has held his own with some solid talent that 125 has to offer, and no one should be writing him off any more. In fact, throw him in there with a top-10 opponent next outing, and let's see what he's got against them.
Miss - Lone'er Kavanagh Probably Kicking Himself After KO Loss
It's perhaps the most important rule in martial arts, mixed or not -- protect yourself at all times, and that means keeping your hands up.
Lone'er Kavanagh was in control for a lot of this fight. But a tough veteran like Charles Johnson doesn't go away easy. And sometimes in this sport, all it takes is that one moment where you let your guard down, that one moment of weakness, that one mistake. Kavanagh committed it, Johnson saw his opportunity, and Johnson took the win.
It's a painful experience for Kavanagh, but hopefully he comes back a stronger, better fighter for this. Sometimes we, not just as fighters, but as humans, need to eat our Ls in order to grow. I hope that's what happens for Kavanagh here.
Miss - Kiefer Crosbie's Heart, MMA Stigma Gets Him Punished
This one is just sad. Bless Kiefer Crosbie for wanting to channel the spirit of Anthony Smith and not just take the DQ win. But maybe he should have, because after getting hit with the illegal shot, he was quickly stopped by Taiyilake Nueraji.
Crosbie was hit with an illegal knee in the first round and was bloodied. He seemed out of it, but the doctor cleared him, and Crosbie elected to continue. About 30 seconds later, the fight was over, with Nueraji taking advantage of the situation for an easy TKO.
Unfortunately, this was a no-win situation. The toxic cesspool known as the MMA fanbase is harping on him for not taking the DQ win. But what if he had done so? I guarantee people would have been telling him he's a coward, not a man, and a whole bunch of terms I can't say on this professional platform. And don't tell he wouldn't have, because, you, dear reader, know people would have.
And the sad part is Crosbie is now 0-3 in the UFC, so he's liable to get cut. I hope not; that would be cruel of Dana White and company to do. I think they need to give him another opportunity to make up for this really bad situation. And it would be priceless (yes, in a bad way) if someone (be it White or anyone in this MMA space), who praised Anthony Smith when he didn't take the easy DQ win against Jon Jones at UFC 235, and who are part of this mindset of wanting tough-guy fighters with a lot of grit and fight in them, shame Kiefer Crosbie for his choice in that Octagon.
Now...if we're going to blame someone other than Crosbie, why is Marc Goddard getting a lot of blame? We talk about lack of accountability for officials and the frustration of referee mistakes, and here's Goddard actually taking two points -- a rarity in this sport. And it was the right move! If the doctor cleared Crosbie, then isn't it Crosbie's choice. I, personally, would like to know what the ringside physician was thinking to clear him quickly and not encourage Crosbie and Goddard to give Crosbie more of the allotted five minutes than Crosbie took? What even made the physician decide that Crosbie could continue?
And for those who say "Well, good, because I don't like all this extra waiting around, especially when I'm up in the early hours of the morning when I didn't have to..." -- I say zip it. When you're the fouled fighter in the Octagon, you let me know. Then let's see how your opinion stands.
Miss - The Struggles Of Lack Of Heavyweight Talent Continues
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta was positioned as an important matchup when it comes to the heavyweight title picture, since they entered Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, in the heavyweight rankings. All this matchup ended up doing was showing just how lifeless the UFC's heavyweight division is.
Pavlovich landed the heavier and cleaner strikes throughout the fight, damaging Cortes-Acosta but not doing enough to score the finish. Cortes-Acosta barely found his rhythm, with perhaps the exception for the third round. And while Pavlovich was methodical in his punching, it was a performance that didn't exactly set the world on fire.
I get it; both men were looking for prime division in the heavyweight title picture (which is easier to grab these days than previous). But when the bar you clear as a fight is, Derrick Lewis vs. Francis Ngannou, then I think there's an issue. And it doesn't make me want to see Tom Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich 2 anytime soon.
Man, you consider this fight, with some of the supposed best heavyweight has to offer, combined with Jon Jones wasting months of Tom Aspinall's prime, I really feel bad for Aspinall.
Miss - Brian Ortega's Weight Mishap And The Co-Main Event That Shouldn't Have Been
Let's be serious and clear: No way in heck should this fight have happened. None. Whatsoever. Brian Ortega looked terrible on the scales, and he looked terrible in this fight. Heck, this fight was just plain bad, period, and after Ortega's mishap, it should have been moved to three rounds.
Ortega was completely outstruck 23-2 in the opening round, and that pretty much set the pace for the entirety of the first four rounds. Ortega did land a rocking shot in the fifth and desperately tried for a triangle choke in that same round, but he was completely no match for Sterling.
It wasn't exactly a win that'd give Sterling a future title shot, but with another win or two, he's probably challenging Volkanovski (or whoever holds the gold at that point). At this point, I'd just like to know the full story as to what happened with that weight cut. And regardless, Brian Ortega should be fighting at lightweight from this point forward, no exceptions or excuses.
Hit - Johnny Walker: The Most Unpredictable
There are times when Johnny Walker doesn't look great. And then there are times like the UFC Shanghai main event, where he delivers a highlight finish and shows the potential most saw in him back when he made his UFC debut in 2019.
The thing is it didn't look that way when Walker faked a glove touch to try and score a takedown. Zhang Mingyang easily placed him on his back and pounded on him, looking like he'd extend his streak of first-round finishes. Walker survived the storm, however, and in the second round, his chopping low kicks did a number on Mingyang. Mingyang appeared to be injured by one of his kicks, which Walker followed up with some ground strikes before the fight was stopped.
Walker now snaps a three-fight winless skid, and if he can pull off a win over a top-10 contender in his next outing, he'd prove that he's once again a viable name in the light heavyweight title picture.