Last night (Sat., Aug. 23, 2025), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China, for UFC Shanghai. I do always enjoy the UFC’s occasional trips to Asia. The “Fight Night” events in China have a different flair to them, an elevated set of fights on the main card accompanied by a nice mix of new talent early on the fight. This card, however, was perhaps most significant because of Brian Ortega’s weigh-in disappearance and undead comeback, which left all waking eyes on the co-main event.
Let’s take a look back over the best performances and techniques of the evening:
Johnny Walker Overcomes The Brazilian Curse
Did you know not a single Brazilian UFC fighter has won a main event this year … until the inimitable Johnny Walker that is!
The fight did not start smoothly for the whacky knockout artist. In fact, he opened the contest with a charging double leg, hoping to surprise Zhang Mingyang and implement his grappling advantage. Instead, he met a hard sprawl and basically pulled mount. Mingyang has proven himself an elbow machine in his previous UFC fights, and he continued to build that reputation right away with some chopping connections.
Once back on the feet, Mingyang sent Walker stumbling more than once with his heavy right hand and more of those clubbing elbows. Walker, to his credit, kicked and moved and tried to wrestle, but another knockout loss was feeling imminent.
Instead, Walker found his opening. He started kicking Mingyang in the lead leg hard, hard enough that the Chinese athlete committed to his own low kicks. Apparently, Walker kicks much harder and more accurately, because one of his calf kicks struck the peroneal nerve. Mingyang collapsed in a heap of pain, and Walker finally had a path to top position.
Standing over the favorite, Walker rained down nasty ground strikes. There was a moment where it looked like Mingyang might survive the barrage, but when he tried to stand, his leg still couldn’t support him even a minute or so after the knockdown.
After the failed stand up, the finish was just a few more hammerfists away.
Sterling Vs. Ortega Fails To Live Up To The Hype
I have an obligation to write about this fight, because it was the most widely anticipated match up on the card. Unfortunately, the bout itself wasn’t that interesting, as it was an unfortunate low-volume kickboxing match between master grapplers that didn’t leave anyone particularly impressed.
Ortega was so stuck in the mud here. He’s never been fleet-footed, but he was standing completely flat while Sterling moved in and out with strikes. Sterling’s hard outside low kick surely didn’t help the issue, but the former Featherweight title challenger looked sleepy and immobile before any of those lands. The most impressive part of the fight was Sterling’s jab, which smashed into Ortega’s completely static face with regularity for 25-minutes.
Sterling got the job done, but he also could have pushed for a finish in round two, when his overhand to the eyeball blinded Ortega. Instead, he let “T-City” complain to the ref and get a free rest. Getting rocked and fatigued in the fifth didn’t help his case either. A win’s a win, but this isn’t the kind of performance that will allow him to jump into a title shot over Lerone Murphy or Movsar Evloev, and time is short for the 36-year-old former champion.
Put Some Respect On Inner G
Charles Johnson is a much better Flyweight than most fans realize.
“Inner G” did not start his UFC career smoothly, losing four of his first six bouts. At 34 years of age, he’s not a young prospect. He’s not going to be put on the UFC fast track any time soon because of those factors, but since February 2024, he’s proven himself an excellent fighter. In that span, Johnson has won five of six bouts, and the only loss came to a highly-touted opponent who just popped for performance enhancing drugs!
At UFC Shanghai, Johnson threw down with England’s Lone’er Kavanagh, perhaps the division’s brightest prospect. The 26-year-old showed why he’s so well-regarded in the opening round with his quick combinations of power punches, out-landing Johnson at a solid rate. Johnson, ever the veteran, didn’t let Kavanagh’s success shake him. He continued to push and engage, forcing Kavanagh to continue to expend energy without any chance to recover.
The real turning point was when Kavanagh opted to show off his wrestling midway through the second, burning gas with explosive takedowns that didn’t result in any control. When the two Flyweights were back on their feet, Kavanagh’s hands were lower and his feet slower. Johnson stayed in his grill and only upped the pace. When Kavanagh tried to exit the pocket with his hands by his knees, “Inner G” blasted him with a massive right hook.
After this finish — and his 2024 knockout of imminent title challenger Joshua Van! — it’s time to get Kavanagh a match up with somebody ranked above him in the Top 10. He’s earned the opportunity to fight up for once.
Welcome Back Kyle Daukaus
Getting cut from the UFC is a crushing setback.
Imagine, for a second, that you’re a young fighter chasing the dream. By achieving a few wins on the regional scene, you’ve already exceeded expectations and gone further than most. Then, the UFC comes calling, and it feels like everything is finally clicking into place — even the wildest dreams of championship gold are suddenly feasible. Maybe you’ll actually start making money from this fighting thing!
Instead, you suffer a few tough losses and are back on the regional scene with nothing to show for it. This situation happens all the time, and it sends a lot of fighters into retirement. Daukaus, on the other hand, returned to action in CFFC, regained the Middleweight title, and demonstrated improved boxing in his pair of title defenses.
Perseverance paid off for the 32-year-old from Philadelphia, who returned with a dramatic 43-second KO win over the well-respected Michel Pereira. Daukaus caught Pereira blind with a Southpaw right hook, timing the shot perfectly on the chin. Not only is it the best win of his entire career, but the impressive stoppage victory earned him an extra $50k.
Hopefully, Daukaus’ second UFC stint rolls a bit smoother than the first. Regardless, it’s a testament to his willpower that he was able to make it back to the Octagon at all.
Additional Thoughts
- Taiyilake Nueraji defeats Kiefer Crosbie via first-round knockout: Crosbie definitely should have taken the disqualification here after taking an illegal knee early in the fight. Instead, Nueraji saw two points taken away, which didn’t end up mattering terribly considering he beat Crosbie senseless almost immediately after the restart. Nueraji is clearly an aggressive finisher, but we knew that ahead of this contest.
- Yizha defeats Westin Wilson via first-round knockout (highlights): Look, this was a cool KO that lasted less than a minute, but it tells us almost nothing about Yizha as a prospect. Yizha was a 12-1 favorite for a simple reason in that Wilson is not at all a UFC calibre fighter (like Crosbie above). Subsequently, Yizha was able to unload combinations right away, putting away his outmatched foe to secure his first Octagon victory and thrill the crowd.
- Uran Satybaldiev defeats Diyar Nurgozhay via first-round Ezekiel choke (highlights): Kyrgyzstan’s Satybaldiev debuted on short-notice up at Heavyweight earlier this year, giving Martin Buday a solid challenge in his first professional loss. With a full camp and down at his proper class of 205-pounds, Satybaldiev looked great! He hurt Nurgozhay early on and nearly finished a kimura, instead wrapping up the ultra rare Ezekiel choke from within Nurgozhay’s guard. That’s an unusual submission from the ‘90s only seen amongst the big boys, but Satybaldiev might be a real prospect to watch in a division in dire need of fresh blood.
For complete UFC Shanghai results and play-by-play, click here.
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