Athletes
Zhang Mingyang | All Gas, No Brakes
With 18 First-Round Finishes, Zhang Mingyang Carries His Relentless Style Into The Toughest Test Of His Career At UFC Fight Night: Machado Garry vs Prates
Rising Chinese star Zhang Mingyang has a stat line straight out of a video game: 18 wins, 18 first-round finishes.
It’s a remarkable feat at any level of mixed martial arts — but once he brought that success into the Octagon, the MMA world took notice.
Zhang has competed in the Octagon three times, including a bout on Road to UFC. Altogether, it’s taken the 26-year-old just over eight minutes to secure those three victories, with the longest of them lasting only three minutes and 57 seconds.
RELATED: Fighters On The Rise
“What I found out is you need to study more about your opponent, and then you can find the holes in their game,” he said. “Then, when you get into the fight against him, you can read and find where the opening is and catch it and finish him.”
Riding a nine-fight win streak into his UFC debut, Zhang was matched up with Dana White’s Contender Series standout Brendson Ribeiro and made it look easy, stopping the Brazilian in under two minutes. He picked up right where he left off last November in Macau, finishing Ozzy Diaz in less than half a round.
“I think what people can see from the fight is only one side,” Zhang said. “They may think oh, it’s easy, but what you didn’t see is how hard I trained. So, to be honest, the first two fights in the UFC were very hard because I trained very hard to be ready for those two fights.
“Two wins in the UFC, two Performance of the Night bonuses, which is not what I expected before entering the UFC. Just like what my coach said: hard training, easy fight.”
Watch Zhang Mingyang's Fight Week Interview
Those dominant showings earned Zhang a high-profile test against one of the UFC’s most seasoned veterans: Anthony Smith, who’s shared the Octagon with current and former champions like Jon Jones, Magomed Ankalaev and Glover Teixeira, not to mention a Who’sWho of top contenders over the last nine years.
“I am the guy still climbing up the mountain, but he is the guy who’s already been on the top,” hesaid. “I should respect his experience and also, to me, this is a very challenging fight, but I think both of us are going to bring our best to the audience.”
This fight surprised Zhang for two reasons. First, he sees Smith as a major step up in competition. While he’s entirely ready for the challenge, he didn’t expect it to come this early in his UFC career. Second, Smith has already announced this will be the final fight of his career,regardless of the outcome. Zhang didn’t expect Smith to take such a dangerous challenge against an unranked prospect for his retirement fight.
“This matchup is kind of out of our plan or even surprised us a little bit because I know that I’m a dangerous guy so, to me, it surprised me Anthony Smith would take this fight because I know I’m a hard guy to match up [with],” Zhang said.
View Zhang Mingyang's Athlete Profile
“I anticipate this fight is going to be a three-round, bloody war,” Zhang said. “Anthony wants a perfect retirement fight, he wants to win, but I also need the win, so I think both of us are going to give everything. I don’t want to leave any regret in the Octagon. But, if I see any opening, I will definitely finish him as soon as possible.”
Eighteen first-round finishes speak for themselves, but if Zhang can add another early stoppage to his record against Smith, it’ll send a clear message to the rest of the light heavyweight divisionthat he’s no longer a prospect, but a serious contender everyone needs to pay attention to.
UFC Fight Night: Machado Garry vs Prates took place live from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri On April 26, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
Tags