On August 31 of last year, Zhang Weili was booked to challenge then champion Jessica Andrade for the strawweight title in Shenzhen, China. The build up to that fight was all about one thing- what a win by Weili would mean for China and Chinese MMA. There was tremendous pressure on her to perform, it honestly felt like a make or break moment for the sport in her home country. Obviously it wasn’t that black and white, but it really did feel like if Weili won this fight then the sport would take off in China, creating a lucrative expansion opportunity for the UFC that was supported by the opening of the UFC PI in China. Everything was in place for the sport to take off in that country, but Weili HAD to win that fight.

Well..

Weili Zhang (+170) becomes the first ever Chinese UFC champion after stopping Jessica Andrade in under a minute…#UFCShenzhen pic.twitter.com/Sa4xhtGWVa — SBR Sports Picks (@SBRSportsPicks) August 31, 2019

Outside of Jorge Masvidal’s knockout of Ben Askren, and maybe even including it, Weili’s cartwheel and scream after was my MMA moment of the year in 2019. I had waken up at 3:30am to watch that UFC Shenzhen card, I was slugging water and coffee all morning, I was tired as hell.. and then that happened. Energy shot through my veins and it was a truly emotional moment. It felt like MMA instantly became the most popular sport in China and Weili its biggest star. Obviously the adrenaline wore off eventually and I started thinking a little bit more logically but at that moment, that’s how I felt.

Because Weili Zhang Knocked Out Jessica Andrade I Spent The Afternoon Taking A Cat Out Of My Car

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But then, in the recent months there was a shift in the brains of MMA fans. Weili, who entered the fight with Andrade as a +170 underdog started to be looked at as this unbeatable wrecking ball. Weili is now a -150 favorite for her first title defense against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, less than a year after she was “just” a -165 favorite against Tecia Torres. Let me let you in on a deep dark secret that only lives way back into the deepest part of MMA fans’ unconscious- many fans only pick fights based on who looked better in their last fight. There, I said it.

I understand that fighters evolve and improve, particularly fighters who only have a handful of fights in the UFC, but it just feels like we might be jumping to crown Weili as unbeatable a little bit too fast. It feels like she went from a questionable choice for a title shot to unbeatable in the eyes of many in 42 seconds.

I think it might be important to mention at this point that I picked Weili to beat Andrade, I really like Weili and think she has been nothing but flawless in how she handled being the champion. Hell, she’s even a Patriots fan. As a Patriots fan myself, that alone would be enough for her to earn my fandom. All I’m saying is she has beaten Katie Taylor, Jessica Aguilar, Tecia Torres and Jessica Andrade so far in the UFC. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a solid hit list of opponents, but she still has a bit more to prove to me against high caliber fighters before I’m willing to buy fully into the hype. Here’s another thing that has to be said. While height isn’t everything in a fight, the 5’4″ Weili has fought the 5′ Taylor, 5’3″ Aguilar, 5’1″ Torres and 5’1.5″ Andrade. I can’t help but put the famous Nate Diaz quote in here, “You seem to have it all figured out when you’re fighting midgets.” At 5’6″, Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be the first opponent in the UFC for Weili that is taller than her, which again isn’t everything but you’d think she’d have a harder time simply manhandling her. Her style is just so explosive and she is so strong that when you factor in the sheer size of the opponents she’s faced under the UFC umbrella, its not shocking that she was able basically bully her way to victory.

Zhang Weili is certainly capable of defending her title multiple times and being a long reigning champion. She has won 20 fights in a row after dropping her professional debut, 17 of those fights coming via finish. She’s a monster. The point I’m trying to make is that let’s pump the breaks on her being unbeatable, lets let her career develop and not place enormous expectations on her just yet. Let her be the champion she wants to be because as we’ve seen so far, that is a damn a good one. The way she has handled everything from Jedrzejczyk’s coronavirus meme, to her business inside the cage has been flawless. But she is still only four fights (!!!) into her UFC career. I’m sure there will be growing pains, I’m sure there will be losses, but it certainly appears that China’s first MMA star is the perfect fit.

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