Latest news with #Weili
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mackenzie Dern keeps it real about UFC champ Zhang Weili: 'I'm not there yet'
Mackenzie Dern has heard the rumblings about the strawweight champion, and she's very much interested in a decision soon. LAS VEGAS – Mackenzie Dern has heard the rumblings about the strawweight champion, and she's very much interested in a decision soon. UFC women's 115-pound champ Zhang Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has been talking about a move to flyweight for a while. A move up would mean she'd take on 125-pound champ Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) for the belt there and a chance to win a coveted title in a second weight class. If she does that, it would mean the strawweight division would need a champion, and Dern (15-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) thinks she'd be at the top of the list to fight for a vacant title – likely against Virna Jandiroba (22-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC), who made herself presumably next in line for Weili's strawweight belt, but would be left without a matchup if the champ moved up to take on Shevchenko. Dern already has a win over Jandiroba a little less than five years ago. Since then, Jandiroba has gone 6-1, including a win over Yan Xiaonan in April. She'd gladly fight her again, though, if it was for a potentially newly vacant women's strawweight belt. "One hundred percent – that's what's been talked about with the managers, coaches, things like that," Dern told MMA Junkie Radio this past week ahead of UFC 317. "My last fight was in January, and I'm waiting till now to get a fight basically because Weili is deciding what she's going to do. "I'm like, 'Let's go, Weili. You've got your belt. Make your decision.' I'm training. I want to get training so I can figure out what I'm training for. I'm ready to fight. I hope she goes up. I don't know if they would vacate the (title) or if she would go up and come back down, but I want to see her fight Valentina either way." Weili told MMA Junkie Radio a move up to fight Shevchenko is what she's leaning toward. She is on a five-fight winning streak in her second reign as strawweight champ. She outworked Tatiana Suarez in February for her third successive defense. The part that Dern said she's realistic about is her personal timeline as it relates to the champion. If she stepped in with Weili now, the result, she thinks, would be a lot different than if she gets just a little bit more experience in big fights – like the one a rematch with Jandiroba would be for a vacant belt. "I would love to fight Weili, but not right now," Dern said. "I'm not there yet. I saw her fight Tatiana … I feel like I could do good with Weili compared to how Tatiana did with her, but on a personal level, I'm not ready for Weili right now. "But if I were to fight Virna and get the belt, and Weili comes back down, I think that would be enough time to (be ready)." Plus, Dern just thinks her and Jandiroba is a good matchup for 115 pounds. "We're both grapplers. Since Weili was such a striker and (former champion) Joanna (Jedrzejczyk) was a striker and they were so dominant in the division, I think it would be really refreshing and mix up the strawweight division to have a grappler as the champion," Dern said. Check out Dern's full interview above.
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Zhang Weili prefers Valentina Shevchenko title fight over title defense at strawweight
Zhang Weili wants her shot at becoming a two-division UFC champion. LAS VEGAS – Zhang Weili has her eyes on the UFC women's flyweight belt. Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), UFC titleholder at strawweight, has long been rumored to fight Valentina Shevchenko in a champion vs. champion, and now she wants to make that a reality. Speaking to MMA Junkie at UFC X, Weili said that she's more interested in moving up a weight class than making a title defense against top contender Virna Jandirova. "I want to go up," Weili said. In recent fights that involve a champion moving up a weight class to challenge for a second belt, the champions have been forced to vacate their belt by the promotion, contrary to years prior. When asked what would happen to her strawweight belt, should she move up, Weili wasn't too sure what the promotion would want. "I don't know – let me see what happens," Weili said. Weili respects Shevchenko and stayed away from making any bold predictions on the potential bout with Shevchenko. What she does assure is that she'll need to be ready in all facets of the game. "I need to be very well-rounded," Weili said. "I need to prepare all my techniques. It really depends on who gets the right chance and who has the right mentality."
The Star
10-06-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Pride of place
Zhang Weili celebrates after defeating Tatiana Suarez in their women's strawweight UFC 312 title bout at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Feb 9. — AFP CHINESE mixed martial arts superstar Zhang Weili said she would relish fighting on home turf again after Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced their first event in mainland China since the Covid-19 pandemic. Weili, the first Chinese fighter to win a UFC title and current strawweight champion, is the face of MMA in a country where millions of dollars have been poured into the sport's top promotion. The Shanghai Fight Night announced is the first event on the mainland since UFC's ambitions there were hampered by the tight travel and quarantine restrictions of the zero-Covid era. UFC held a Fight Night in semi-autonomous Macau in November but otherwise its last event in China was in Shenzhen in 2019 – where Weili took the title for the first time with an upset knockout of champion Jessica Andrade in just 42 seconds. 'Competing on home soil feels completely different,' said Weili, adding that she was 'really looking forward' to fighting in Shanghai. 'When you step into the arena with a roaring home crowd behind you, it gives you an incredible boost of energy. So when I won the championship in Shenzhen, the atmosphere was absolutely electrifying.' UFC have not confirmed the line-up for the Shanghai event, which will be held on Aug 23 at the vast Shanghai Indoor Stadium, but Weili would be a huge omission in a country where she is a household name. Weili is the face of MMA in a country where millions of dollars have been poured into the sport's top promotion. China is one of UFC's 'priority markets' globally, Kevin Chang, its head in Asia, said. The 2019 launch of a state-of-the-art performance institute in Shanghai, aimed at developing Asian MMA, was a US$13mil (RM55mil) statement of that interest. However, China's strict border controls during the pandemic meant the cancellation of most international sports events there until the policies were lifted at the end of 2022. A planned Shanghai Fight Night in December the following year was relocated to Las Vegas less than a month beforehand because of 'logistical issues'. 'There were some hurdles along the way, but I think we learned a lot from that,' Chang said. 'We've had such a warm reception here in Shanghai this time around... it's been night and day,' he said. Chang said some of China's local governments had also expressed interest in hosting UFC events. 'This is the next frontier. I think we're going to continue to grow and there's a lot of room to grow.' Weili said she thought the future for the sport was bright. Song Yadong, who is ranked fifth in his UFC bantamweight class, is also raring to fight in Shanghai. 'So many Chinese athletes are joining the UFC now... I'm confident the sport will continue to grow here,' she said. Fellow UFC fighter Song Yadong, who is ranked fifth in his bantamweight class, agreed. He is also raring to fight in Shanghai and said he thought the UFC fan base in China had multiplied 10 times since the 2019 Shenzhen bout. 'I think the biggest change is that we have our own champions, such as Zhang Weili,' he said. 'Since then there is more foreign media coming and paying attention to Chinese players... Then we continue to prove that we Chinese can also achieve good results in the sport of MMA.' — AFP
USA Today
01-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Valentina Shevchenko suspects title defense against fellow UFC champ Zhang Weili next
Valentina Shevchenko suspects title defense against fellow UFC champ Zhang Weili next After a closely contested decision win to open her second reign as UFC women's flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko thinks a superfight might be next. Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) outworked challenger Manon Fiorot (12-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) a little more than three weeks ago at UFC 315 in Toronto in the co-main event. She won with a trio of 48-47 scores. It wasn't immediately clear after the win whom her next challenger would be. Saturday, while in Las Vegas, Shevchenko could have gotten a little clarity with the UFC on ESPN 68 main event between Erin Blanchfield and Maycee Barber – until Barber pulled out moments before her walkout, effectively ditching herself from the conversation. Before Shevchenko beat Fiorot, Natalia Silva knocked Alexa Grasso down the ladder. So there is Silva, and there is Blanchfield – but Shevchenko also thinks when the time comes to figure out what's next, the name could be from another division. Shevchenko thinks strawweight champ Zhang Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has designs on a move up to 125 pounds for a shot at the belt, and that's the fight she thinks is most realistic. "Flyweight right now is the most exciting weight class – so many good and talented fighters," Shevchenko said on the post-fight show after the UFC on ESPN 68 broadcast. "But from the other side, you can see the champion. She built up her career. She deserves so much because of her title defenses. I feel at this point, she deserves this fight. Everyone deserves it." After a two-fight run of losses to Rose Namajunas in title fights, Weili has five straight wins. She had one defense in 2023 against Amanda Lemos, one in 2024 against Yan Xiaonan and one earlier this year at UFC 312 against Tatiana Suarez. Virna Jandiroba put herself in position to get a title shot in April with her fifth straight win, and she's one name Shevchenko doesn't have on her resume yet. But the idea of fighting Weili ultimately might be hard to resist – though Shevchenko stressed she'll wait until she's fully recovered from her win over Fiorot and ready to start a camp before she'll fully dive into preparing for anyone. "Weili has the same passion for martial arts (as me) and has this mindset of 'no matter what happens' – not fame or whatever," Shevchenko said. "She's very loyal and feels good about mixed martial arts. This is what I like about her. It's the same as I am, the feeling for martial arts itself. I'm hearing from my fans this is what they want to see."
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC champ Zhang Weili recalls fighting in China; Virna Jandiroba issues challege
UFC champ Zhang Weili recalls fighting in China; Virna Jandiroba issues challege UFC champion Zhang Weili's fond memories of fighting in China prompted a bold challenge from the top strawweight contender. Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) currently has three title defenses in her second reign as 115-pound champion. While she has created more than her fair share of championship moments, her most special may be the night she first became champion in 2019. At UFC on ESPN+ 15, Weili stopped Jessica Andrade in the first round to win the strawweight title. Winning the title by TKO in the opening round to become the first Chinese champion in UFC history was incredible enough on its own, but what put it over the top for Weili was being able to do it on her home country's soil in Shenzhen, China. "Competing on home soil feels completely different," Weili told AFP in a recent interview. "When you step into the arena with a roaring home crowd behind you, it gives you an incredible boost of energy. So when I won the championship in Shenzhen, the atmosphere was absolutely electrifying." UFC returns to China later this year. On Aug. 28, the promotion will bring a Fight Night event to Shanghai. Typically, Fight Night events do not see title fights on the card, but that has not stopped Virna Jandiroba from issuing a challenge to Weili. "Zhang Weili, I've heard that you want to defend your belt in China," Jandiroba wrote on X. "Let's do this!! I've always wished to visit China." Jandiroba (22-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) is the current promotionally ranked No. 1 contender in the strawweight division. She is currently riding a five-fight winning streak, which includes back-to-back wins over former title challengers Amanda Lemos and Yan Xiaonan. Weili was last in action at UFC 312, where she won a unanimous decision over Tatiana Suarez to secure the third defense of her second title reign. Her next fight could be against Jandiroba, or a superfight against flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. No fights have been officially confirmed for the UFC Shanghai event in August.
