UFC Shanghai Picks for All Fights on August 23

If you’re looking for UFC Shanghai picks, you’re at the right place. This is where you can see our top predictions for every fight on the program on August 23.

For the main event, we’ve prepared an in-depth analysis, which you can check out in the Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang preview. For our previews of all the other fights, just keep on reading.

UFC Shanghai Main Card Picks

• Brian Ortega vs Aljamain Sterling – Brian Ortega
• Sergei Pavlovich vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta – Waldo Cortes-Acosta
• Su Mudaerji vs Kevin Borjas – Su Mudaerji
• Taiyilake Nueraji vs Kiefer Crosbie – Taiyilake Nueraji

Brian Ortega (16-4-1) has only fallen to elite names like Max Holloway and Volk, with his best recent win coming over Yair Rodriguez by arm-triangle in 2024. Meanwhile, Aljamain Sterling (24-5), the former bantamweight champ, has been inconsistent since moving up to featherweight. For instance, we saw him beating Calvin Kattar but losing to Movsar Evloev.

This fight is a clash of Ortega’s sharper striking against Sterling’s wrestling-heavy style. Given that Aljo’s submission game has been dormant for a long time (7 fights without a win by this method), we’re backing Ortega.

Another underdog we’re backing is Waldo Cortes-Acosta (14-1). This guy’s won five straight since his lone loss in 2023, fixing his wrestling issues and adding strong wins over Robelis Despaigne, Ryan Spann, and Serghei Spivac. Ranked No. 6, he’s chasing Pavlovich’s No. 3 spot.

Those two are our top UFC Shanghai picks for fans of underdog bets. In the remaining two fights on the main card, however, we’re backing favorites – Su Mudaerji and Taiyilake Nueraji.

Picks for UFC Shanghai Prelims

• Maheshate Hayisaer vs. Gauge Young – Gauge Young
• Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Charles Johnson – Lone’er Kavanagh
• Rong Zhu vs. Austin Hubbard – Rong Zhu
• Michel Pereira vs. Kyle Daukaus – Michel Pereira
• Yi Zha vs. Westin Wilson – Yi Zha
• Xiao Long vs. You Su-young – You Su-young

Michel Pereira vs. Kyle Daukaus is undoubtedly the most interesting UFC Shanghai preliminary fight. It’s also one of the safest fights for betting – we’re backing Pereira, who should get the job done inside the 15 minutes.

Bookies agree, giving the Brazilian the role of a -300 favorite. When it comes to all the other UFC Shanghai prelims, we’re backing betting favorites as well, but we do call for caution for some of them.

Gauge Young, for example, is favored to win, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Maheshate Hayisaer won the kickboxing war.