Weili Zhang becomes first ever Chinese UFC champion, unseats Jessica Andrade by TKO inside a minute
China has its first UFC champion.
In Jessica Andrade’s fist defence of her UFC women’s strawweight crown, Weili Zhang dethroned her Brazilian foe inside a minute.
An early exchange saw Zhang catch Andrade with a right hand, hurting her. Andrade sought after the clinch, but that played into Zhang’s hands, who launched elbows to damage the Brazilian further.
Sensing the finish, Zhang grabbed Andrade’s head to land some crushing knees which sent the champion reeling.
Zhang chased her opponent down and landed another barrage of strikes which forced the stoppage.
It took Zhang just 42 seconds to finish Andrade, meaning Zhang not only became her country’s first ever UFC champion, but also scored one of the quickest stoppage in her divsion’s history.
A dominant victory over a tough customer in Andrade – could Zhang be the division’s next dominant champion? Zhang now moves to an unbeaten 4-0 in the UFC, 20-1 total.
UFC Shenzhen: Jessica Andrade vs. Weili Zhang Full Results
Women’s Strawweight championship: Weili Zhang def. Jessica Andrade (c) by TKO (knees and punches) at 0:42 of round one
Welterweight: Li Jingliang def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos by TKO (punches) at 4:50 of round three
Flyweight: Kai Kara-France def. Mark De La Rosa by unanimous decision after three rounds
Welterweight: Kenan Song def. Derrick Krantz by unanimous decision after three rounds
Catchweight: Mizuki Inoue def. Wu Yanan by split decision after three rounds
Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez def. Jun Yong Park by submission (anaconda choke) at 4:39 of round two
Bantamweight: Mudaerji Su def. Andre Soukhamthath by unanimous decision after three rounds
Light Heavyweight: Da Un Jung def. Khadis Ibragimov by submission (standing guillotine choke) at 2:00 of round three
Lightweight: Damir Ismagulov def. Thiago Moises by unanimous decision after three rounds
Bantamweight: Alateng Heili def. Danaa Batgerel by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s bantamweight: Karoline Rosa Cavedo def. Lara Fritzen Procopio by split decision after three rounds
