Weili Zhang News

Cole Shelton - April 10, 2024

In the co-main event of UFC 300, the strawweight title is on the line as Zhang Weili looks to defend her strap against Yan Xiaonan. Heading into the fight, Weili is a sizeable -500 favorite while the challenger is a +340 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the strawweight title fight. To no surprise, the pros believe Zhang Weili will be too much for Yan Xiaonan as she will defend her title with ease.

Josh Evanoff - March 13, 2024

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is good friends with Zhang Weili today. ‘Joanna Champion’ has been retired from MMA for nearly two years now. Joanna Jedrzejczyk last competed at UFC 275 in June 2022, facing old rival Zhang Weili. ‘Magnum’ was fresh off back-to-back losses to Rose Namajunas, and was trying to return to title contention.

Harry Kettle - February 18, 2024

The official main card lineup has been revealed for the blockbuster UFC 300 main event in April. For months now, there’s been a tremendous amount of hype behind UFC 300. It’s the kind of landmark event that has the potential to be absolutely huge if the promotion gets behind it in the right way. Last night, we also got an official announcement regarding the main event, with Dana White revealing that Alex Pereira will defend his UFC light heavyweight championship against Jamahal Hill in the headline slot.

Josh Evanoff - February 5, 2024

Former UFC rivals Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili had a nice meeting earlier this week. The rivalry between ‘Magnum’ and the Polish fighter is likely to go down as one of the best in women’s MMA history. Back in March 2020 at UFC 248, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili met for the first time. With women’s strawweight gold on the line, the two went back and forth for 25 minutes.

Fernando Quiles - October 1, 2023

UFC women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili gave Shaquille O’Neal a punch he likely won’t soon forget. Shaq, an NBA legend and a well-known personality, is no stranger to the UFC. He’s attended a slew of live events from the promotion throughout the years. He even struck a deal to be featured in the UFC Undisputed 2010 video game as an unlockable character.

Cole Shelton - August 21, 2023

The UFC made its return to Boston on Saturday for a solid UFC 292 card that saw two titles on the line, and one change hands. In the main event, Aljamain Sterling was looking to defend his bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley. The co-main event saw strawweight champion Zhang Weili defending her title against Amanda Lemos.

Susan Cox - August 21, 2023

Former ‘champ champ’ Daniel Cormier is addressing ‘the one thing that hurts’ current UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili. Zhang Weili (24-3 MMA)  is indeed the UFC stawweight champion, successfully defending her title against Amanda Lemos  (13-3 MMA) last Saturday night at UFC 292 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

Susan Cox - August 21, 2023

Dana White is crediting Amanda Lemos for her ‘toughness’ but says she was ‘completely outclassed’ by Zhang Weili at UFC 292. UFC 292 took place this past Saturday, August 19th at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

Chris Taylor - August 19, 2023

Tonight’s UFC 292 was co-headlined by a strawweight title fight between Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos. Zhang Weili (23-3 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since recapturing the women’s strawweight title with a submission win over Carla Esparza at UFC 281 in November of last year. That victory had marked ‘Magum’s’ second in a row, as she had previously knocked out former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275.

Chris Taylor - August 19, 2023

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC 292 results, including the co-main event title fight between Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos. Zhang Weili (22-3 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since recapturing the women’s strawweight title with a submission win over Carla Esparza at UFC 281 in November of last year. That victory marked ‘Magum’s’ second in a row, as she had previously knocked out former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275.

Chris Taylor - August 19, 2023

The Octagon returns to Boston for tonight’s UFC 292 event, a twelve-bout fight card headlined by Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley. O’Malley (16-1 MMA) will be fighting for UFC gold for the first time this evening in Boston. ‘Suga’ is coming off a split decision win over former bantamweight champion Petr Yan in his most recent Octagon appearance, which occurred at UFC 280 in October of last year. Prior to that, the 28-year-old went toe-to-toe with Pedro Munhoz in a bout that was ultimately ruled a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke.

Cole Shelton - August 17, 2023

In the co-main event of UFC 292, the strawweight title is up for grabs as Zhang Weili looks to defend her title against Amanda Lemos. Heading into the scrap, Weili is a sizeable -340 favorite while the Brazilian is a +250 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros are unanimous in thinking Zhang Weili will defend her belt at UFC 292 and likely will do so by stoppage in the later rounds.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2023

Jessica Andrade is hoping to earn a strawweight title shot on Saturday. Andrade has been bouncing between strawweight and flyweight and will compete at 125lbs in the main event of UFC Vegas 69 as she steps up on short notice to take on Erin Blanchfield. Andrade is coming off a decision win over Lauren Murphy and should she get past Blanchfield, she could get a title shot at flyweight, but she believes this fight can also secure her a rematch against Weili for the strawweight belt.

Josh Evanoff - December 5, 2022

UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang believes she’ll meet Valentina Shevchenko in the octagon. ‘Magnum’ is fresh off her title bid against Carla Esparza last month at UFC 281. In that outing, Zhang became a two-time women’s strawweight champion, defeating ‘Cookie Monster’ by submission. The Chinese fighter was also given a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus for her victory.

Harry Kettle - November 22, 2022

Weili Zhang has admitted that she was surprised to hear fans booing Carla Esparza during their showdown at UFC 281. Earlier this month at UFC 281, Weili Zhang regained the UFC strawweight championship. After a competitive first round, the Chinese sensation submitted Carla Esparza to become a two-time champ.

Andrew Whitelaw - November 16, 2022

Mark Zuckerberg has been getting more involved in Mixed Martial Arts in recent months. The Meta CEO went viral in September when he posted a video of his MMA training alongside Bellator veteran Khai Wu. ‘Zuck’ escalated his interest in the sport when he rented out the APEX Arena for a small group of his friends to watch UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Yan. Having Witnessed Yan bag the unanimous decision on the night, Zuckerberg reached out to her countrywoman Weili Zhang this week following her title win at UFC 281.

Chris Taylor - November 12, 2022

Tonight’s UFC 281 event was co-headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight featuring Carla Esparza taking on Weili Zhang. Esparza (19-7 MMA) had recaptured the 115lbs title at May’s UFC 274 event, scoring a split-decision win over Rose Namajunas. That victory served as ‘The Cookie Monster’s’ sixth in a row, a streak which included wins over Yan Xiaonan, Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson and Alexa Grasso.

Chris Taylor - November 12, 2022

Tonight’s UFC 281 event is co-headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight featuring Carla Esparza taking on Weili Zhang. Esparza (19-7 MMA) recaptured the 115lbs title at May’s UFC 274 event, scoring a split-decision win over Rose Namajunas. That victory served as ‘The Cookie Monster’s’ sixth in a row, a streak which has seen her defeat the likes of Yan Xiaonan, Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson and Alexa Grasso.