Zhang Weili Makes History as The First Chinese UFC Champion

Chinese mixed martial artist Zhang Weili became the first Chinese UFC champion after beating Brazilian fighter Jessica Andrade in less than a minute for the strawweight title.

Zhang, 30, also known as “Magnum,” rapidly won the match after defeating her opponent in just 42 seconds by a technical knockout (TKO) at the UFC Fight Night at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre in Shenzhen, China on Saturday.

Zhang’s win marks the second-fastest finish in the division’s history, according to CNN.

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“My name is Zhang Weill. I am from China. REMEMBER ME!” #UFCShenzhen

A post shared by ufc (@ufc) on Aug 31, 2019 at 5:52am PDT

“I am so happy for this moment! My name is Zhang Weili and I am from China! Remember me!” Zhang said.

Born in Hebei, China, Zhang hopes to inspire women around the world.

“I am very happy and have worked very hard to get this platform,” the former Kunlun Fight strawweight champion added. “And I hope that through my personality, I can inspire the next generation of young women to be strong and follow their dreams, not just in China, but all over the world.”

There is no official word on who Zhang will face next, but she is likely to fight American MMA fighter Tatiana Suarez, South China Morning Post reported.

UFC president Dana White wants her to appear in the U.S. on a pay-per-view match.

“I want her to fight in the United States. It’ll be a main event or a co-main event, she’ll be one of the top billings in the US,” White said.

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In my professional MMA life it has always been a dream to enter the cage of masters in the UFC. Under the guidance of my agent Mr. Brian, I was able to enter the real international MMA stage. I got my instagram account for the first time 🤓. Here I met all of you, my current instagram friends ☺️. You have been very helpful to me and it gives me a lot of positive energy! I’ve learned a lot and I want to thank you. You all are real MMA fanatics like me! But my mother tongue is not English and many of my new friends are leaving messages for me and I am afraid I can not answer them with the proper gratitude they deserve. I don’t want you to think I don’t see them or appreciate them. I am working hard to learn my English so I can interact more with all of you. So I have to say sorry to my friends that I haven’t been able to reply to everyone. But I feel like I’m in a big family with all my friends here and I want to thank all of you for being here. It’s good to have you! 🙏🏼 #rememberme#mma#wmma#ufc#mmafight #mmafights #wmmafighter #ufcfights #ufcfighter #ufcgirl

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Zhang is open to the idea if UFC will help her camp with their visa issues. She also added the UFC should also hold a pay-per-view match in China.

“I would like to get on a pay-per-view event, but also I want a pay-per-view event to be held In China, this is my wish,” Zhang said.

“If Dana wants me to fight in the US it will be fine, but please get all of my corners visas done because last time my coach didn’t come and several of my corner can’t come because the visa issue.”

Featured Image via Instagram / zhangweilimma (Left), Screenshot via YouTube / UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship (Right)