Light heavyweight Zhang Mingyang welcomed Ozzy Diaz to the UFC in the main card opener at UFC Macau on Saturday.
MMA fans might remember Diaz as the opponent of Joe Pyfer on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2022, in the infamous “Be Joe Pyfer” fight.
Mingyang opened the action with a kick to the body, before chopping at the legs of Ozzy Diaz. Diaz stayed on the outside early, circling, as Zhang Mingyang continued to chop away with kicks. Diaz finally got his jab going a minute in, just a single punch, then another. The leg kicks continued to flow from Mingyang; at least a couple had some head behind them. Mingyang also fired off a few combos, mostly blocked if they landed at all.
Still, it only took one blow to change the course of the fight. Just past two minutes in, Zhang Mingyang sat Diaz down with an elbow! The Chinese light heavyweight then swarmed as Diaz tried to get to his knees. Ground n’ pound flowed, and the ref waved things off in due course, giving Zhang Mingyang his second win under the UFC banner, and 18th career win overall – with 18 finishes across them.
“This knockout is for you, for my hometown crowd,” Mingyang said following the victory, speaking via a translator with Michael Bisping.
Official Result: Zhang Mingyang def. Ozzy Diaz by TKO (elbow and punches), Round 1, 2:25
