Xinjiang's Maheshate opens UFC Fight Night Shanghai with a bang

Maheshate and Flowers opened the fight cautiously by pawing at one another in space, before the American veteran initiated the clinch and wrestled an off-balance Maheshate to the floor.

But Flowers left his neck exposed while trying to advance his position, offering Maheshate the opportunity to pounce and clamp onto an arm-in choke that left Flowers panicking, tapping out with a hand and a foot after just two and a half minutes.

Maheshate's quick finish salvaged what would have been an otherwise disappointing showing for Chinese fans on Friday night, where only one other home fighter managed to win their semifinal bout in the Road to UFC tournament.

In the co-main event, rising middleweight contender Yilizhati, another Chinese fighter from Xinjiang, had to settle with a split draw in his UFC debut against Tre'ston Vines of the US after three scramble-filled rounds.

In an earlier featherweight RTU semifinal, Chinese wrestler Ahejiang Ailinuer, who's also of the Kazakh ethnic group, was submitted by Australian grappler George Mangos with a rear naked choke midway through the second stanza of their bout.