Mingyang Zhang may look unstoppable in the UFC, but he suffered a brutal defeat against a controversial opponent early in his career.
The Chinese fighter will have the biggest bout of his career at UFC Shanghai, as he competes in the main event against Johnny Walker in a Light Heavyweight clash.
A win would make Mingyang Zhang 4-0 since debuting in the UFC, as he looks to be one of the stars of the future in the division.
However, the “Mountain Tiger” has been beaten before, including a devastating knockout defeat to a fighter with a hidden past in the octagon.
Askar Mozharov changed his name and altered his record before signing for the UFC
The name Askar Mozharov is one that UFC fans may remember from his brief and unsuccessful stint in the promotion.
Mozharov made his debut in 2022 after an impressive career in Europe and Asia, picking up a record of 25-7 to earn his spot on Dana White’s roster.
However, that’s not entirely true. In fact, it wasn’t true at all, as the Ukrainian fighter is accused of lying about a lot of things to make it in the UFC.
He was born Arthur Mozharov and kicked off his MMA career in his home country with three defeats in a row, all against fellow rookies who would go on to do very little in the sport.
He began to pick up wins but boasted a mixed record of 7-8. This would not do for somebody attempting to become a top fighter, so Mozharov allegedly changed his first name to Askar and decided to start over with a 0-0 record.
He began challenging more inexperienced fighters to pad his record, and outright lied to promoters about where he’d fought in the past to conceal his new identity.
Mozharov was accused of disputing his record, misleading Sherdog’s staff about his fight history in order to make himself look like a much better fighter than he actually was.
The “Ukrainian Conor McGregor” eventually signed for the UFC in 2021, making his debut the following year after two fights fell through.
By the time his fight came around, Mozharov’s 25-7 record had changed to 19-12, more accurately reflecting his abilities as a fighter.
Mozharov was finally caught out on the main card of UFC Vegas 56. In a Light Heavyweight bout, the Ukrainian was dominated from the outset, getting taken down numerous times and absorbing some huge hits.
The referee had to step in when Alonzo Menifield, his opponent for the night, landed countless elbows to his face until the referee had no choice but to stop the fight.
This was Mozharov’s final fight, as he has not competed in the octagon – in the UFC or otherwise – since.
Despite all the lies and deception, Mozharov clearly had talent, as he showed when he finished off a UFC headliner early on in both of their careers.
Mingyang Zhang was knocked out cold by Askar Mozharov early in his career
Despite all the controversy, Mozharov had enough talent to brutally finish one of the brightest prospects in the UFC today.
While Zhang’s record in the UFC is impeccable, including his retirement of Anthony Smith in a bloody war, he had a mixed bag of results similar to Mozharov when the two faced off in 2018.
The bout took place at YungFeng Duel in Yantai, China, with Zhang impressively at 5-4 going into the bout.
It would get even worse when he faced Mozharov. The Chinese fighter showed impressive grappling skills to take him down on numerous occasions, but the Ukrainian’s striking ability ended the fight quickly.
A fierce combination ended in a ferocious left that knocked Zhang out cold as he stood, his head bouncing off the canvas before the referee stepped in to stop any real damage.
The win shows that Mozharov didn’t need to lie about his record. The talent was there, and Zhang had a similarly poor record at the start of his career before taking the UFC by storm.
If the accusations are true, then he has cost himself a career in the UFC, as the knockout of the UFC Shanghai main eventer proves he could have done something in the promotion.