Zhang "Magnum" Weili is the UFC Women's Strawweight Champion with a professional MMA record of 23 wins and 3 losses. Weili is currently ranked #3 in the UFC Women's pound-for-pound rankings. Zhang holds the distinction of being the first UFC Champion from China.
credit: UFC
Zhang began her martial arts journey at the age of 6 when she started Shaolin Kung Fu. At age 12, she started training in Sanda and a Shuai Jiao (Chinese wrestling). She was a multiple-time Sanda champion in Hebei province before quitting and moving to Beijing at age 17.
At age 20, she joined a Beijing Gym as a fitness instructor and got introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 2012 she joined the Black Tiger Fight Club and began her MMA training. Weili made her professional debut in November 2013 against Meng Bo at the China MMA League. She would lose the fight via unanimous decision.
She would bounce back from the loss and go on a 7-fight win streak before getting a title shot at the vacant Kunlun Fighting Strawweight Championship against Maíra Mazar at Kunlun Fight 53. She won the fight in the first round by rear-naked-choke submission.
She would continue her dominating run and amass a record of 14-wins and one loss before getting a title shot at the vacant Top Fc Strawweight Championship at Top FC 15. She defeated Ye Dam Seo via TKO(elbow and punches). Zhang would join the UFC in 2018 with a professional record of 16 wins and 1 loss.
Weili made her UFC debut in 2018 at the UFC 227 against Danielle Taylor that she won via Unanimous Decision. She would follow this up with victories over Jessica Aguilar and Tecia Torres before getting a title shot against Jessica Andrade for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship at UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang that was held in China.
Zhang TKO'ed Andrade in the first round to become the new UFC Women's Strawweight Champion. Zhang would then defend her title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a close split decision victory at UFC 248. Zhang would lose her belt in her next title defense at Rose Namajunas at UFC 261. She would get Ko'ed in the first round to lose the championship.
Zhang Weili fought Rose Namajunas at UFC 261 for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. The bout ended in the first round with the betting underdog Rose hitting Zhang with a clean head kick to KO the champion and end her 5-fight undefeated streak in the UFC
Zhang Weili rematched Rose Namajunas for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship at UFC 268. Weili showed the benefits of training with Henry Cejudo as she managed to outwrestle Rose and score a takedown 3-times to secure the early rounds for herself.
However, her cardio began to wear off in round-4 and round-5 due to the excessive energy she used to ground Namajunas. This would be Zhang's downfall as she failed to match Rose in the later stage of the fight. In the end, the fight went to the judge's scorecard. Zhang lost the fight via a close split decision that could have gone either way.
Zhang Weili's current record stands at 23-3. She is currently on a 2-fight winning streak.
Zhang Weili's last fight was a title defense against Carla Esparza at UFC 281 for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. Weili won the fight via a rear naked choke submission.
Below is the professional MMA record of Zhang Weili:
*Last Updated On 28th November 2022
