Weili
Zhang took a potentially difficult moment and turned it into a
positive at UFC
300.
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While it appeared that Zhang had rendered opponent Xiaonan Yan
unconscious with a rear-naked choke before the end of the opening
round in their strawweight title fight, the bout was allowed to
continue. The fight ultimately went the full 25 minutes, but Zhang
was able to persevere — even surviving a knockdown in Round 3 — to
emerge with a relatively clear-cut unanimous decision triumph.
Zhang came away impressed with Yan’s ability to recover, but
outside of that, she claims to not have much memory of the rest of
the fight.
“I really thought that she was out, and I did not know how the
referee was going to handle that. But she bounced back very quickly
in the second round,” Zhang said through a translator at Saturday’s
post-fight press conference.
“I felt like I was in a dream. I blanked out during the fight. I
didn’t know what I was doing.”
The UFC 300 co-main event marked the first time that two Chinese
fighters squared off in the Octagon with a championship on the
line. It’s something that Zhang can see becoming more common as MMA
continues to progress in China.
“Mixed martial arts emerged in China really late, but it develops
really fast. That’s why today we see two Chinese girls competing
for the title at UFC 300, which is a historic moment,” Zhang said.
“I believe in the future we’re going to see more competition like
that — two Chinese fighters competing for the title shot.”
Zhang is already a well-established star in the Las Vegas-based
promotion. In addition to being one-half of an instant classic
against Joanna
Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 in March 2020, “Magnum” has five
victories in 115-pound title bouts — the second most all-time in
the weight class. Despite her accomplishments, Zhang believes she
still has work to do to be remembered as one of the greats.
“I definitely want to build my legacy,” she said. “I feel like I’m
still [a long way from becoming] a legend. I still have a lot to
learn.”
However, Zhang is as much about the journey as she is the
destination. Sometimes, the process to getting to fight night can
be overlooked, she says.
“When we talk about MMA and we talk about fights, I feel like we
put a lot of focus on the wins and losses. But to me, what’s more
important is the process, the progress,” Zhang said. “Because every
athlete puts so much into this sport, into what they’re passionate
about. The sweat, the blood, the tears — everything that happened
is progress. I hope that we give respect to that.”
Currently on her second reign as strawweight champion, Zhang is
willing to take on all comers — no matter who might be next. But
for the moment, she doesn’t want to focus on any specific
contender.
“I absolutely feel all the Top 5 and Top 10 girls, they can be
potential challengers,” she said. “But for now, I just want to take
a break and rest.”