Dana White ‘Blown Away’ by Weili Zhang, Says New Champ’s Next Fight Will Be in U.S.

Weili Zhang entered the UFC Fight Night 157 headliner with a 19-fight winning streak but plenty of questions about her viability as a No. 1 contender.

“Magnum” silenced the doubters in emphatic fashion at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China, on Saturday, as she overwhelmed Jessica Andrade in just 42 seconds to claim the strawweight throne. In victory, Zhang becomes the first Chinese champion in the history of the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I was blown away. I’m still blown away by what I saw,” UFC president Dana White said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “Jessica Andrade is such a powerful woman. There were a lot of questions about what what Weili Zhang had and how good is she really, and she showed us tonight. I mean, her punch stat was something like…she landed 29 of 38 shots and finished one of the toughest women in the world in seconds.”

Andrade entered the matchup on momentum of back-to-back knockout victories, the second of which was a violent slam finish of then champion Rose Namajunas at UFC 237 in May. The Brazilian’s aggression cost her on Saturday, however, as she was clipped by a Zhang right hook before succumbing to a barrage of punches, elbows and knees.

Prior to Saturday, Zhang’s most significant triumph was a decision over Tecia Torres at UFC 235 in March. According to White, many other potential opponents for the Chinese star were either unwilling or unable to take the fight, setting the stage for her to receive a title shot relatively early in her UFC tenure.

“This is the way that it played out: Everybody in line up to Weili Zhang had fights or couldn’t fight or didn’t want to fight. And I said it at the press conference, nobody wanted to fight this woman, “ White said. “Nobody wanted to fight her. Everybody can say what they want. I called a lot of people that said, ‘No, they don’t want to fight Weili Zhang.’ Jessica Andrade said, ‘I’ll do it and I’ll come here.’ Reciprocating after Rose Namajunas went down to Brazil to fight when she had the title. Unbelievable.”

In many ways, the events of Saturday couldn’t have played out better for the UFC. The Las Vegas-based promotion has been in the process of growing its brand in China, plans that not only include more events but the opening of a UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai. In that sense, the timing of Zhang’s emergence is perfect, and it appears that she is ready to be an active champion.

“She literally just came into my dressing room in the back and said, ‘I’ll fight as much as you want me to. I’m ready to go.’ You know I love that attitude,” White said. “She’s gonna make a massive impact here. She’s obviously a very good, very talented woman. Her personality, everything.

“I swear to God I already have people from WME calling me with deals for her. It’s really big.”

While the UFC will almost certainly be back to China in the near future, Zhang’s next Octagon appearance is more likely to be stateside.

“It was obviously a very big night,” White said. “What I want to do now is I want to bring Weili to the United States. We have her fight in the States and then we come back to China again with her. We will be back here [China] soon. Weili probably will not be back here very soon, but soon enough.”