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Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Zhang Mingyang, China's fast-rising light heavyweight contender, ready to make history at UFC Shanghai
The regional MMA scene in China is unlike most. Although Asia has a built-in cultural element of martial arts, China has been one of the countries on the continent that has been slower to emerge as a notable player with characters and prospects. That may be by design to an extent, but some fighters become too undeniable to go unnoticed. Take rising UFC light heavyweight contender Zhang Mingyang, who rose through China's best promotions, as a prime example. At age 27, Zhang is about to make history in his fourth UFC appearance after winning a contract through Road to UFC in 2022. Despite China's continuous growth in the sport, led by strawweight all-time great Zhang Weili, the light heavyweight slugger will become the second Chinese fighter to headline a UFC event in the country, behind the legend. UFC Shanghai's main event Saturday will feature Zhang taking on Johnny Walker, making him the first male fighter to headline a UFC event in China and only the second male Chinese fighter to headline a UFC event overall. This statistic came as news to Zhang in our pre-fight conversation, which I apologized for bringing up after adding some extra pressure to the biggest fight of his life. "I just became aware of that," Zhang laughed when speaking to Uncrowned through an interpreter. "Me and Song Yadong are the only two male Chinese UFC fighters to ever headline a UFC event, and I am the first one to do it in China. So, yeah, that's definitely a historical moment for Chinese MMA and for Chinese male fighters. You point out this, I need to calm myself down a little bit because I've never thought about this before. I need to calm down because I don't want to do any crazy things to hurt Johnny that bad in the fight because I still want to bring Johnny and his family to explore a little bit of Shanghai after the fight." Zhang's career has been strictly business-oriented thus far, especially in recent years. He admittedly hasn't had much of a chance to engage with fans ahead of previous fights because of the amount of time he dedicates to training. The location differences have also created a separation, but with the main event spotlight of a UFC fight week, he's certainly feeling the love in his home country this time around. The speed of Zhang's rise hasn't only been a surprise outside of China, but to the man himself. Before landing this Walker matchup, Zhang retired one-time UFC title challenger Anthony Smith with a first-round stoppage at UFC Kansas City in April. "To be honest, I didn't expect that I can fight names like Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker that soon since I got into UFC," he said. "Because, in my opinion, there are two levels of UFC fighter: Top 15 and the others. If you are not in top 15 yet, you are pretty much nobody. Nobody knows you. So, it really surprised me UFC gave me the opportunity to fight Anthony, then Johnny, to let more and more people know who I am." A speedy trajectory hasn't been the only thing Zhang does fast, as that's just how he fights. Since 2018, the "Mountain Tiger" has exclusively been a first-round fighter, scoring knockouts in 12 of his 16 bouts in that span. The way Zhang fights makes him an easy fighter to get excited for. However, that expectation hasn't lingered in his mind much as time goes on. Don't think a stand-up banger isn't Zhang's preference against an equally exciting Walker, though. "For now, I'm not really proud of that, winning by finishes," Zhang explained. "Back in 2019, there was a period of time I was proud about myself just right after I won the world MMA tournament in Russia. At that moment, I think, 'Ooh, I'm probably the best.' Whatever can I do? Whatever should I need to learn? Then when I get more and more mature, I learned that, 'OK, you should always learn. You can always improve.' That is MMA. So, for now, I'm very happy and very much enjoy that I can stay and work and train with people who are better than me. I can always learn something from somebody. That makes me very satisfied right now. Just always learning, always improving. "If I can choose, of course, I hope we can just fight toe-to-toe on striking [with Walker]. Give all the fans an exciting fight, but if he chooses to shoot on my legs, try to wrestle, try to grapple, I won't be surprised with that. We also have planned to deal with that. So, let's see what he wants. I can fight anywhere he wants and beat him." It's a good time to make a statement at 205 pounds with the division's next title tilt on the horizon in October. The champion Magomed Ankalaev will rematch the man he dethroned, Alex Pereira, with another contender bout that same night between Jiří Procházka and Khalil Rountree. Considering the speed at which Zhang has earned his latest opportunities, he could foresee his shot at UFC gold coming much sooner than anticipated. "If everything goes well, it can be soon," he said of a title shot. "I just want to fight the people I want to fight, then fight for the title, but it can be soon."
New York Post
24 minutes ago
- New York Post
Jets offense will lean hard into its obvious — and violent — strengths
Take flight with the Jets Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off. tRY IT NOW There's been a recurring theme emanating from Aaron Glenn's first Jets training camp as a head coach. Let's get physical. Physicality, of course, is required of any team that's going to be successful in the NFL. The question is this: Will the Aaron Glenn Jets differentiate themselves as the more physical team on game days? Friday night's preseason finale at MetLife Stadium against the Super Bowl champion Eagles, even though most of the starters are not expected to play for either team, will be the Jets' last chance to display that physicality before the real games begin in two weeks.
New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
Mandel: SEC going to 9 games staves off potential disaster: The Big Ten's Playoff plan
The SEC finally going to nine conference games is great for the fans, for the sport and for ESPN's ratings. It could also help stave off a potential disaster. It could be the thing that gets Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti to back off his harebrained Playoff proposals. At Big Ten Media Days last month, one coach after another complained about having to play an additional conference game and the supposed disadvantage it causes them with the selection committee. (Conveniently ignoring that their league got more berths than the SEC last season.) They as well as Petitti himself used that talking point in lobbying for a 16-team field (before that somehow jumped to 28) comprised primarily of automatic berths determined by the leagues' own conference standings. Advertisement 'When you get to a system that's increasing the at-larges and the work of a selection committee, that's when you need to understand how we're competing in the regular season,' said Petitti. 'Look, at the end of the day, it's really simple math. With 18 schools and nine conference (games) — we're losing nine more games to start.' If that's really the main concern, then this long national nightmare should be over. No more disadvantage with the committee, no need to preordain that some conferences get four AQs while others get two. Or to make the thing big enough to ensure an unranked, 7-5 Michigan team gets to play in a 6 vs. 27 first-round game. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has already made it known that his league supports the much-simpler 5+11 concept (five AQs for conference champions, 11 at-larges.) 'We have preferred a 16-team format … with the maximum number of at-large spots,' Sankey reiterated on Paul Finebaum's show Thursday. It's no coincidence the SEC finally resolved their 40-year debate over 8 vs. 9 just a day after the CFP announced tweaks to the schedule strength metrics used by the selection committee in response to criticism last season. Not only are they going to nine, they're requiring a 10th P4 game in non-conference play. 'The current schedule strength metric has been adjusted to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents,' the CFP said. 'An additional metric, record strength, has been added to the selection committee's analysis to go beyond a team's schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule.' Sankey called it, 'an element that weighed in favor of the nine-game schedule being implemented.' So now the ball is back in the Big Ten's court, with a Dec. 1 deadline approaching to make CFP changes for 2026. Petitti and the coaches got the exact concession they so desperately wanted from the SEC. If 4-4-2-2-1 or 28 teams still lives past next week, we'll know this was never about schedule strength and entirely about creating television inventory. Advertisement Finally, speaking of schedule strength, some of the Big Ten's own schools may need to go back to the drawing board themselves. In defending his school's decision to drop P4 non-conference opponents going forward, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said mockingly, 'We figured we would just adopt an SEC scheduling philosophy.' That did not age well. Next season, when every SEC team will be playing at least 10 P4 games, the Hoosiers will be playing Colorado State, Howard and Western Kentucky. Also at Big Ten Media Days, Penn State coach James Franklin called his conference's move to nine games, 'maybe the worst decision the Big Ten has ever made.' In 2026 his team is playing those nine games, plus Marshall, Temple and Buffalo. Alabama will be facing nine SEC foes plus West Virginia and Florida State. For all the complaints about one less conference game, or playing FCS teams in November, every computer metric has long said the SEC's schedules are the toughest in the country. With an extra P4 foe, it will be no contest. Whether the committee rewards them accordingly remains to be seen. But if SEC schools are willing to take that risk less than a year after only earning three berths, AND they support a system with even more committee influence, the Big Ten and Petitti truly have no excuse. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
