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Colby Covington and Zhang Weili are among the most notable UFC fighters on the roster. Both have captured UFC gold, with 'Chaos' being a former interim welterweight champion, while 'Magnum' currently reigns as the undisputed titleholder of the women's strawweight division.
The two first crossed paths at UFC 268, where Colby Covington was one-half of the main event bout, as he faced Kamaru Usman for welterweight supremacy. Meanwhile, Zhang Weili locked horns with Rose Namajunas in a bid to reclaim the strawweight title she had lost in the pair's first encounter.
While both fighters failed to beat their opponents, they shared a wholesome moment at the pre-fight press conference, where Zhang described Covington as handsome, and has done so ever since. This prompted, 'Chaos' to respond in kind, calling her a natural beauty in the comment section of one of her Instagram posts.
Covington's actions sent fans on Reddit into a frenzy. Given the politically charged, pro-American gimmick he weaponizes to generate hype, a fighter like Zhang Weili, who fights out of China, one of the United States' greatest geopolitical rivals, is among the last anyone expected him to get along with.
One Redditor described the pair's interaction as the last hope to save international relations between the United States and China:
"The last hope to improve international relations"
Another fan referenced the commercial that Israel Adesanya filmed, in which he jokingly claimed to be Chinese at heart:
"Colby: look into my heart, it's Chinese"
Some fans, however, reacted with curiosity about the potential for the two to have a romantic relationship:
"How wild would it be if they legit got married overnight lol"
This was, more or less, echoed by another Redditor:
"I ship them"
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
Did Jon Jones stop Colby Covington from competing at UFC 295?
UFC 295 is scarce on details, as there is no co-main event bout yet confirmed for the card. The prevailing thought was that Colby Covington would challenge Leon Edwards for the undisputed welterweight title in the co-main event. Unfortunately, the Englishman has expressed disinterest in facing 'Chaos.'
Another hurdle, however, could be Jon Jones, if Colby Covington is to be believed. The two men are former college friends, and Covington, a prolific trash-talker, has threatened to target Jones at the pre-fight press conference. According to him, this allegedly led to Jones demanding that the UFC not book Covington for UFC 295.
