Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang UFC Shanghai Odds, Time, and Prediction

The UFC Light Heavyweight Division is arguably the most balanced division in Dana White’s organization at the moment, with most of the ranked fighters having the right to dream of the championship belt. This includes both Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang, who are 13^th and 14^th in the division, respectively.

Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang Odds

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When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China
• Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025
• Time: 3:00 a.m. ET
• How to Watch: ESPN+

Johnny Walker Desperate to End His Losing Run

Johnny Walker is 21-9-1 overall, which is pretty impressive, but the Brazilian fighter is coming to China after two straight losses. The worst thing is that both of those were by KO.

To be fair to the guy, those defeats happened against two knockout artists, Magomed Ankalaev (50% KO-to-Win ratio) and Volkan Oezdemir (65%). Speaking of KOs, Johnny Walker himself has some impressive wins by this method.

He’s 16-for-21 when knockout wins are concerned, and some of those were against big UFC names like Paul Craig, Khalil Rountree, and others.

The big question is whether he can do the same to Zhang Mingyang. He needs to try, as the UFC Shanghai is possibly the most important fight of his career. If he gets a spectacular KO/TKO win on August 23, he might enter the title conversation. But if he loses, we could see him drop out of the Top 15 in the Light Heavyweight Division.

Zhang Mingyang Looking for Another Finish

Zhang Mingyang is 19-6, which is great, but the most impressive fact about him is that he’s on a 12-fight winning run, and each of those saw a finish. He won each of his last nine fights by KO/TKO, including three in the UFC – against Brendson Ribeiro, Ozzy Diaz, and Anthony Smith.

Another impressive fact is that all of those wins happened in Round 1. This guy throws everything he’s got at his opponents from the very first moment. Not only is he aggressive, but he’s also super-fast, which makes him hard to hit.

The evidence of this is that he got hit just 10 times by Anthony Smith in April in a fight that lasted 4 minutes and three seconds.

Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang Prediction

At the age of 27, Zhang Mingyang could be the next big thing in the UFC Light Heavyweight Division. He’s younger than any other fighter in the 205lb division by at least 5 years.

Obviously, his future is bright, especially if he keeps on winning. He won the Performance of the Night bonus in each of his last three fights, and if he does it again, we predict that Dana White will push him close to the front of the queue for the title. So, we could see him fight for the title in 6 to 12 months.

He knows this, which is why he’ll go for a KO win. With the help of his fans in Shanghai, we think the Chinese rising star will get the job done in Round 1.

Pick: Zhang Mingyang by KO/TKO in Round 1