UFC Fight Night 257: Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang Prediction for Saturday, 08/23/25

The Main Event at UFC Fight Night 257 will see Johnny Walker take on Zhang Mingyang. This will be a fight in the UFC Light Heavyweight division. Walker enters this fight with an MMA record of 21-9 and 8-6 in the UFC. He is averaging 3.87 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 53%. Walker absorbs 3.12 and has a striking defense of 44%. His grappling has not been strong, averaging 0.45 takedowns every 15 minutes. Walker has a takedown accuracy of 100% and a takedown defense of 57%.

Mingyang enters this fight with an MMA record of 19-6 and 4-0 in the UFC. He averages 10.91 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 64%. Mingyang absorbs 4.55 strikes per minute and has a striking defense of 53%. He has not shown any grappling ability, but has takedown defense of 50%.

Since Mingyang is the overwhelming favorite, we will target this fight to end in the first round. Mingyang has seen all 4 of his UFC fights end in the first round, while Walker has seen 9 of his 14 UFC fights do the same. Because both of these fighters have seen most of their fights end in the first round, backing the same here will be our play.