Two major fights have been announced for UFC Fight Night 257, which is set to take place in Shanghai, China, on August 23.
The event at Mercedes-Benz Arena will be headlined by a five-round light heavyweight clash between Johnny Walker and Mingyang Zhang. In the co-main event, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling takes on former featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega in a 145-pound bout.
Walker (21-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) returns to action for the first time since suffering a devastating first-round knockout loss to Volkan Oezdemir in June 2024. Prior to that, the Brazilian faced current 205-pound champion Magomed Ankalaev twice—the first bout ended in a no-contest, while Ankalaev won the rematch by stoppage in January. Walker’s most recent win came against Anthony Smith when the UFC visited Charlotte, North Carolina, more than two years ago.
Mingyang (19-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has been perfect in the Octagon since making his UFC debut in early 2024. Known as “Mountain Tiger,” he has finished all 19 of his professional wins in the first round, including UFC victories over Brendson Ribeiro, Ozzy Diaz, and Anthony Smith.
Aljamain Sterling (24-5 MMA, 16-5 UFC) is coming off his first loss at featherweight after being outpointed by Movsar Evloev at UFC 310 in December. “Funkmaster” is now 1-1 at 145 pounds, having defeated Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 last April.
He’ll face Brian Ortega (16-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC), who previously challenged for the featherweight title twice—against Max Holloway in 2018 and Alexander Volkanovski in 2021. Ortega last fought in September at UFC 306, where he was defeated by Diego Lopes.
Fights Confirmed for UFC Fight Night 257:
- Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang
- Brian Ortega vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Sergei Pavlovich
- Diyar Nurgozhay vs. Uran Satybaldiev
- Charles Johnson vs. Lone'er Kavanagh
- Bruna Brasil vs. Ming Shi
- Michel Pereira vs. Marco Tulio
- Kevin Borjas vs. Su Mudaerji
