ANAHEIM, Calif. – “The Mountain Tiger” has made his presence felt in the UFC light heavyweight division.
In front of a nationally televised ESPN audience, Zhang Mingyang capped off a scintillating promotional debut with a vicious knockout of Brendson Ribeiro on Saturday at UFC 298 from Honda Center.
The finish came at the 1:41 mark of the first round when Mingyang (17-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) perfectly timed a counter left hand that resulted in a beautiful three-punch combo to sendRibeiro (15-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) crashing to the canvas. A couple of follow-up hammerfists followed, although they weren’t needed, to force the referee to stop the fight.
Take a look at the finish in the video below (via X):
Zhang Mingyang with a NASTY hook 🪝 #UFC298 pic.twitter.com/tYemtjRjv5
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 18, 2024
Mingyang, 25, was making history as the first light heavyweight fighter from China to compete in the UFC. Now he’s the first Chinese 205 pounder to score a victory.
He was hyped after the win and called out champion Alex Pereira for UFC 300. That’s getting ahead of himself, but Mingayang could make some noise in the division soon enough.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 298 results include:
- Zhang Mingyang def. Brendson Ribeiro via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:41
- Danny Barlow def. Josh Quinlan via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:18
- Oban Elliott def. Val Woodburn via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Miranda Maverick def. Andrea Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
