Walker-Zhang, Ortega-Sterling co-headline UFC Shanghai

The UFC booked two marquee bouts for its upcoming Shanghai card, announcing Wednesday a Johnny Walker-Zhang Mingyang battle and a Brian Ortega-Aljamain Sterling tilt.

Walker and Zhang will headline the card, with the latter competing in his home country. Zhang has been climbing the light heavyweight ranks and retired Anthony Smith with a first-round knockout in April in his most recent appearance.

Walker is on a two-fight skid, though he won three straight before that. He's ranked 12th in the weight class, with Zhang close behind at 14th.

Ortega and Sterling will meet in the co-main event. Sterling, the former bantamweight champion, is fighting at featherweight for the third time since moving up from bantamweight. He's coming off a decision loss to Movsar Evloev, which followed a decision win over Calvin Kattar.

Ortega remains in the 145-pound division despite previously laying out a plan to jump to lightweight. He's also coming off a loss, as he dropped a decision to Diego Lopes his last time out. He's 2-4 in his previous six fights, but two of those losses were title fights, and one was stopped early because of an injury.

Oretga is ranked sixth in the weight class, and Sterling sits ninth.

UFC Shanghai is scheduled for Aug. 23. A heavyweight matchup between No. 3 Sergei Pavlovich and No. 6 Waldo Cortes-Acosta is among the other scheduled bouts.