The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 141: Blaydes vs. Ngannou II

#3 Best: China’s got talent

The UFC may have found a true Chinese star in Weili Zhang

If you’d have told me in 2014 – back when The Ultimate Fighter: China thoroughly flopped and the likes of Zhang Lipeng, Ning Guangyou and Yang Jianping were putting on terrible fights inside the Octagon – that by late 2018 we’d have some genuine Chinese talent to watch out for in the UFC, I’d have probably laughed in your face.

That’s clearly the case, though – and it’s an encouraging sign for Chinese MMA. Today’s card saw Chinese fighters go an impressive 6-3, with two of the three losers being the massively inexperienced Su Mudaerji and Hu Yaozong. Elsewhere though, the Chinese talent on the card fought very well.

Most notable in terms of name value was Welterweight Li Jingliang, who came from behind to TKO the tough David Zawada in the third round with a superkick to the body, of all things. The win put ‘The Leech’ at 9-3 in the Octagon and it should be time for him to step up to the top fifteen level now – something that was never expected upon his debut in 2014.

Most impressive overall, though? Weili Zhang, who outclassed Jessica Aguilar – once considered the world’s best Strawweight fighter – before finishing her with an armbar in the first round. She’s now 18-1 overall and 2-0 in the UFC – and seeing her win today made me feel like we could’ve been watching the UFC’s first Chinese title challenger.

The UFC’s push into foreign territory only seems to succeed with at least a handful of native talent, and in the form of Jingliang, Zhang, and other winners like Song Yadong and Wu Yanan, they might’ve found it in China.