Ex-UFC champion closes in on title shot with latest UFC rankings update

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 10:34 AM ET

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The UFC’s return to Shanghai, China last weekend caused some significant changes to the promotional rankings in the aftermath of the event.

Featuring a total of 12 fights, UFC Shanghai kicked off at an uncharacteristically early hour for fans in the United States and saw several Chinese fighters score big wins in their home country.

Mingyang Zhang unfortunately didn’t have the same luck as some of his countryman when he was stopped by Johnny Walker in the card’s main event, and the night’s co-main event between Aljamain Sterling and Brian Ortega also shook up the title picture in the featherweight division.

Johnny Walker Beats The Odds In Shanghai

Entering UFC Shanghai as a sizeable underdog after Zhang had stopped all three of his previous UFC opponents in the first round, Walker snapped a two-fight skid and picked up his first win since 2023 when he rallied to finish “Mountain Tiger” just over halfway through the second round.

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The upset-win bumped Walker up one spot to #12 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings. Nikita Krylov was moved down to #13 as a result, and Zhang now holds the final spot in the light heavyweight Top 15 after he and Alonzo Menifield (#14) switched places following UFC Shanghai.

Aljamain Sterling Joins Featherweight Title Mix

After the bout was nearly scrapped during fight week, former UFC Bantamweight Champion Sterling met Ortega in UFC Shanghai’s catchweight co-main event and took a lopsided unanimous decision over the two-time title challenger.

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Sterling entered the night looking to rebound from his first featherweight loss to undefeated contender Movsar Evloev at UFC 310. “Funk Master” is now squarely in the mix for a title shot at 145 lbs. after swapping places in the rankings with Ortega, who was previously ranked at #5 and now falls to #7 following back-to-back losses.

Charles Johnson Moves Up After Minor Upset

A main card matchup that saw Sergei Pavlovich halt Waldo Cortes-Acosta’s five-fight win streak didn’t cause any changes in the heavyweight rankings, but Charles Johnson’s upset-win against the formerly-undefeated Lone’er Kavanagh did move “InnerG” up to #13 in the flyweight division.

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Johnson’s move up to #13 bumped his former opponent Ramazan Temirov and Bruno Silva down to #14 and #15, and in a non-UFC Shanghai adjustment Joel Alvarez has replaced Mauricio Ruffy at #15 in the UFC lightweight rankings.