ANAHEIM, Calif. – “The Mountain Tiger” has made his presence felt in the UFC light heavyweight division.
In front of a nationally televised ESPN audience, [autotag]Zhang Mingyang[/autotag] 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.
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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.