“I’m very happy to see myself on the poster,” Zhang told UFC.com. “It’s special. I have a big, square head. It took a lot of space on the poster.”
Despite the standout start to his UFC tenure, Zhang doesn’t present himself as an otherworldly figure. Perhaps that is due to the 7-6 start to his professional career, but it’s hard to not feel the hype buzzing around him, either. You don’t build a 12-fight winning streak over five years and head into a scrap with shaky confidence.
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Alas, Zhang still views himself as anything but the major betting favorite.
“To be honest, I never thought I was special or have anything special in MMA, even now,” he said. “Ever since I started in MMA, everybody thinks I’m an underdog. Sometimes, I think I’m the underdog compared with my opponent, but what I like the most is fighting and a challenging fight, so I think that’s what makes me special.”