UFC Shenzhen Bonuses: Weili Zhang Nabs $50K Performance Award for Historic Win

Weili Zhang made history in Shenzhen, China, on Saturday, and she also made a little extra money in the process.

Zhang received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for her first-round technical knockout victory over Jessica Andrade in the UFC Fight Night 157 headliner. “Magnum” blasted her Brazilian foe with punches, elbows and knees to earn the stoppage 42 seconds into the opening frame to claim the strawweight championship. Zhang is the first Chinese champion in the history of the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Elsewhere, Jingliang Li claimed the card’s other $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award by virtue of his third-round finish of Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in the welterweight co-main event. “The Leech” rocked dos Santos with an uppercut and then sealed his victory with a barrage of punches at the 4:51 mark of the third frame.

Finally, Heili Alateng and Danaa Batgerel garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $50,000 apiece for their preliminary bantamweight scrap. Alateng relied on crisp one-two combinations for much of the fight before sealing his decision triumph with a pair of takedowns in the third stanza.