UFC FIGHT NIGHT: WALKER vs ZHANG, scheduled for Saturday, August 23 in local prime time, will be the fourth event UFC has held in mainland China, and the eighth overall in Greater China. UFC FIGHT NIGHT: WALKER vs ZHANG will take place at Shanghai Indoor Arena, an iconic arena nestled in the Xuhui District, in cooperation with the Shanghai Sports Bureau, the Xuhui District Government, Alibaba subsidiary Orange Lion Sports, and China Mobile subsidiary Migu, UFC’s broadcast partner in China.
As part of an action-packed fight week, ROAD TO UFC Season 4 Semifinals: SHI vs BRASIL will take place on Friday, August 22. The opening round produced an astonishing 12 finishes, and now 16 of Asia Pacific’s top MMA prospects will compete to see who will advance to the finals, where they will have the chance to be awarded a multi-fight contract in UFC.
Tickets for UFC FIGHT NIGHT: WALKER vs ZHANG and ROAD TO UFC Season 4 Semifinals: SHI vs BRASIL will go on sale Thursday, July 10 at 11 a.m. CST and will be available for purchase on Juss. Ticket purchases are limited to six (6) per person.
Limited UFC VIP Experience packages are available for exclusive access that includes premium seating, pre-fight hospitality, UFC athlete meet-and-greets, and more. Additional information on UFC VIP Experience packages can be found on Juss.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: WALKER vs. ZHANG
Knock out artist Walker (21-9, fighting out of Dublin, Ireland by way of Rio das Ostras, Brazil) has been fighting the best of the light heavyweight division since earning his UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018. A powerful striker, he has secured impressive finishes against Ryan Spann, Anthony Smith and Khalil Rountree Jr. Now Walker is looking to climb the rankings by staving off the advance of Zhang.
Rising contender Zhang (19-6, fighting out of Anhui, China) has just entered the Top 15 rankings with a spectacular knock out of legend Anthony Smith this past April. Quickly becoming known for his incredible finishing ability, he has ended all of his 19 victories in the very first round, including those over Smith, Ozzy Diaz and Brendson Ribeiro. Zhang looks to launch himself into the title picture with a spectacular performance on home soil against Walker.
Fan favorite Ortega (16-4 1 NC, fighting out of Los Angeles, California, USA) is known for his crisp boxing and slick Brazilian jiu jitsu, which he has employed to finish such lofty opponents as Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, and Yair Rodriguez. Along with a pair of title challenges that include UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway for the BMF belt, he can also count a win over Korean Zombie as a career highlight. Ortega now seeks another run at the title by defeating Sterling.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Sterling (24-5, fighting out of Uniondale, New York, USA) won and defended his belt three times against Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw, and Henry Cejudo. He’s now seeking to employ his smothering wrestling and pressure striking to gain traction in the featherweight division. Sterling looks to become a second-division contender with a win over Ortega.
Additional bouts on the card include:
- “The Tibetan Eagle” Sumudaerji (17-7, fighting out of Sichuan, China) returns to the Octagon to face Kevin Borjas (10-3, fighting out of Lima, Peru) in a flyweight bout.
- Undefeated prospect Lone’er Kavanagh (9-0, fighting out of London, England) makes his third UFC outing against highly experienced Charles Johnson (17-7, fighting out of Topeka, Kansas, USA).
- A light heavyweight banger features up-and-comers Diyar Nurgozhay (10-1, fighting out of Astana, Kazakhstan) versus Uran Satybaldiev (9-1, fighting out of Osh, Kyrgyzstan).
- Expect fireworks when Marco Tulio (14-1, fighting out of São Paulo, Brazil) and Michel Pereira (31-13, fighting out of Tucuma, Para, Brazil) at middleweight.
- A critical match of heavyweight Top 10 rankers sees No. 4 ranked Sergei Pavlovich (19-3, fighting out of Moscow, Russia) face No. 7 ranked Waldo Cortes Acosta (14-1, fighting out of Phoenix, Arizona, USA by way of Fundacion, Barahona, Dominican Republic).
ROAD TO UFC Season 4 Semifinals: SHI vs. BRASIL
As the special main event, ROAD TO UFC Season 3 women’s strawweight tournament winner and viral sensationShi Ming (17-5, fighting out of Kunming, China) will make her highly anticipated UFC debut against dangerous veteran Bruna Brasil (10-5-1, fighting out of Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil).
The 16 ROAD TO UFC Season 4 opening round winners who have advanced to the semifinals include:
FLYWEIGHT
- Agulali (13-1, China) vs Namsrai Batbayar (8-1, Mongolia)
- Yin Shuai (18-5, China) vs Aaron Tau (10-1, New Zealand)
BANTAMWEIGHT
- Sim Kai Xiong (7-1, Singapore) vs Sulangrangbo (9-3, China)
- Lawrence Lui (6-1, New Zealand) vs Van Y Nghiehm (6-1, Vietnam)
FEATHERWEIGHT
- Keiichiro Nakamura (6-1, Japan) vs Li Kaiwen (15-6, China)
- Sebastian Szalay (9-1, Australia) vs Changmin Yoon (8-2-1, Korea)
LIGHTWEIGHT
- Dom Mar Fan (7-2, Australia) vs Jaehyun Park (8-3, Korea)
- Ren Yawei (9-3, China) vs Sangwook Kim (12-3, Korea)
For the latest information on UFC FIGHT NIGHT SHANGHAI, please visit the official event page here. More information will be announced in the coming weeks.
