Weili Zhang News

Drake Riggs - October 7, 2021

Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili are set to lock horns once again. As their UFC 268 rematch draws near on Nov. 6, the former champion turned challenger in Zhang has made some changes by altering her appearance with a new hairstyle as well as moving her training camp stateside.

Drake Riggs - October 7, 2021

Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas’ first encounter at UFC 261 in April became a lot more political than anticipated. Ahead of the strawweight title clash, Namajunas gave an interview to Lithuanian media where she expressed her thoughts on her background along with Zhang’s ultimately leading to her “better dead than red” comments.

Drake Riggs - October 4, 2021

Henry Cejudo is feeling rather confident in his new training partner. Ahead of her upcoming title fight rematch with Rose Namajunas, former champion Zhang Weili has taken her talents to the U.S. where she’s training in Scottsdale. Aiding “Magnum” at the Fight Ready team along the way is none other than the former dual-division titlist in Cejudo.

Drake Riggs - September 7, 2021

Carla Esparza feels she’s done enough to earn a UFC title shot. Unfortunately for the inaugural strawweight champion, the UFC has gone in a different direction. At UFC 268 on Nov. 6 in Madison Square Garden, Esparza will have to watch the immediate title rematch pitting new two-time champion Rose Namajunas against Zhang Weili in the co-main event.

Drake Riggs - September 2, 2021

Zhang Weili is changing things up ahead of her next fight. ESPN has confirmed with one of Zhang’s coaches, Pedro Jordao, that the first and only Chinese champion in UFC history will be doing things differently in her big rebound training camp.

Chris Taylor - August 28, 2021

Two title fights are now official for November’s UFC 268 event, including a women’s strawweight rematch between Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang. Namajunas (10-4 MMA) and Zhang (21-2 MMA) originally collided at April’s UFC 261 event, with ‘Thug Rose’ walking away a nasty first round finish (see that here).

Chris Taylor - August 21, 2021

Chris Weidman believes that “bad juju” from his gruesome injury at UFC 261 played a part in Weili Zhang’s title loss to Rose Namajunas. Weidman (15-6 MMA), a former UFC middleweight champion, squared off with perennial division contender Uriah Hall on April 24 in Jacksonville. The contest lasted all of seventeen seconds, as the first kick that Chris threw was checked by Hall and resulted in ‘The All American’ breaking his leg.

Adam D Martin - August 17, 2021

Former UFC champion Weili Zhang explained how Chris Weidman’s leg injury factored into her performance against Rose Namajunas at UFC 261. Zhang was starched with a high kick in the first round of her first UFC women’s strawweight title defense in the co-main event of UFC 261. It was a quick and brutal ending to Zhang’s short-lived reign as the champion, but according to “Magnum,” there are more reasons why she lost than just Namajunas being the better fighter that night. According to Zhang in a recent interview in the documentary “My Bronze Age,” she lost focus on her fight with Namajunas because, just two fights earlier, Weidman snapped his leg against Uriah Hall. According to the former champ, she couldn’t remain focused after that incident.

Drake Riggs - June 15, 2021

Former UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili is already getting back to work for her return to action. China’s Zhang (21-2) suffered defeat to Rose Namajunas in her last time out at UFC 261 in April. She recently took to Instagram to hint at a potential rematch on the horizon as she begins training for her next fight.

Drake Riggs - May 20, 2021

Zhang Weili and Beneil Dariush had mixed results in their most recent outings. However, they both were on the receiving end of negative crowd reactions. Dariush now finds himself sitting at the No. 3 ranked contender spot at lightweight after a dominant win over Tony Ferguson at UFC 262 this past weekend. The event was the second for the UFC to host a full crowd since the global pandemic.

Drake Riggs - May 18, 2021

Rose Namajunas drummed up some controversy ahead of her title tilt with Zhang Weili at UFC 261. For Zhang’s fellow China native and top strawweight contender, Yan Xiaonan, the comments could have been done without. In an interview with Lithuanian-based media before UFC 261, Namajunas would talk about her background and the upcoming matchup with Zhang. Ultimately it led to the now-infamous “better dead than red” comment which was a political insinuation. Yan believes the result of the comments did the opposite of what they should have.

Drake Riggs - May 10, 2021

The build-up to the big strawweight title clash between Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas culminated with some political integration. However, it was just a struggle to make the fight happen in the first place. Now the former champion, China’s Zhang (21-2) hadn’t fought in over a year before the Namajunas encounter in Jacksonville, Florida at UFC 261. “Magnum” ultimately found herself in enemy territory when once again making the walk.

Adam Martin - April 28, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko says she is open to fighting former women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang at 125lbs. Shevchenko had another extraordinary performance in the Octagon this past Saturday night at UFC 261 when she defeated Jessica Andrade via second-round TKO for her seventh straight win at 125lbs. Shevchenko has been absolutely running through everyone in her path in the flyweight division, and after beating Zhang, it’s hard to say who will be next.

Cole Shelton - April 26, 2021

The UFC returned to a full capacity crowd on Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida for UFC 261. The card saw three title fights as Kamaru Usman rematched Jorge Masvidal, Weili Zhang took on Rose Namajunas, and Valentina Shevchenko battled Jessica Andrade. The event was one of the better ones in recent memory and one title ended up changing hands. In the main event, Usman defended his belt with a second-round KO over Masvidal. Namajunas became the strawweight champ with a first-round KO over Zhang, and to no surprise, Shevchenko defended her strap with a TKO win over Andrade.

Harry Kettle - April 26, 2021

Rose Namajunas has credited Joanna Jędrzejczyk for giving her the blueprint on the right way to approach a fight against Zhang Weili. “Thug Rose” went into her title fight at the weekend knowing that many viewed her as the underdog – but coming out of it, she was the one who had her hand raised as she recaptured the UFC strawweight title.

Adam D Martin - April 26, 2021

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou sent a message of support to Weili Zhang following her UFC 261 title loss to Rose Namajunas. Zhang lost her belt to Namajunas when she suffered a first-round head kick KO loss at UFC 261. It was a tough night at the office for Zhang, who was fighting for the first time in over a year since her split decision win over Joanna Jedrzejczyk. While she was able to go the full 25 minutes that night, this fight was not the same as Zhang was put out quickly in the first round. It was a tough loss for the Chinese champion, but knowing Zhang, she will be back at the gym Monday morning and getting ready to make another run for the belt.

Christopher Taylor - April 25, 2021

Weili Zhang has issued a statement following her title loss to Rose Namajunas at tonight’s UFC 261 event in Jacksonville, Florida. Zhang (21-2 MMA) was returning to the Octagon for the first time since her thrilling split-decision victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248, which served as her first career title defense. The Chinese standout had captured the promotions 115-pound title with a first round TKO victory over Jessica Andrade back in August of 2019.

Chris Taylor - April 24, 2021

Former UFC strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk was clearly watching tonight’s UFC 261 co-main event between Rose Namajunas and Weili Zhang. Jedrzejczyk (16-4 MMA) is of course familiar with both Rose and Weili, having suffered two previous losses to Namajunas, this before her most recent setback to Zhang.