UFC Shenzhen: Dana White & Ronda Rousey Comment on Weili Zhang’s Championship Win

Weili Zhang likely still needs to score some additional wins yet, before she becomes one of the UFC’s top draws. But the Chinese fighter certainly took a big step towards becoming that at UFC Shenzhen.

Zhang is the first Chinese UFC champ

As you’ve likely heard and or saw, Zhang became the first-ever Chinese UFC champ today, by storming through Jessica Andrade. Zhang stunned the strawweight with knees not long in, and then finished the deal with punches. With the victory, the 30-year-old Zhang moved her UFC record to 4-0, and her overall record to 20-1.

White’s and Rousey’s reaction

Well, after the card, one of the biggest names ever in MMA, Ronda Rousey, posted the comments and image below:

Then, during the post-fight press conference, the UFC President White had this to say about Zhang’s win (quotes via MMA Mania):

“I don’t know if you saw this week, but Ronda Rousey posted on Instagram message to Weili and Jessica this weekend,” said White. “The fight that happened tonight the UFC is a global sport, so tonight Weili Zhang’s performance was so good and so big people were watching this fight in Canada, United States, Brazil, and the Middle East.

“Weili Zhang became a huge star tonight globally, not just here in China,” he continued. “Obviously, the first-ever Chinese world champion. She’s still very fresh and young in her career. We’ll see what is in store for her, but she’s off to a good start.”

Yup. When you consider China has well over a billion people, it doesn’t take a genius to realize Zhang’s star potential. And that doesn’t include other fans, from all over the world, as White alluded to. It’s also a massive opportunity for the UFC, in terms of increasing its fanbase and revenue.

In other words, if Zhang continues to score wins, there’s no doubt the UFC will be holding events in China more often. In fact, maybe the company will look to have her first title defense take place in China as well.