Zhang Weili is one of the most prominent Asian figures in the UFC. Born on 13th August 1989, Weili is from the Handan region of Hebei, China. She was very fond of Kung-Fu movies during her youth. It pushed her to start taking in martial arts even before turning 10.
She started her formal training in Shuai jiao which is a Chinese form of wrestling at the age of 12. In 2010, Weili started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at a gym in Beijing. Weili turned herself into a scary striker as she joined Black Tiger Fight Club in 2012. That was the start of her journey of becoming the fighter that she is now.
Weili made her Mixed Martial Arts debut in 2013 at China MMA League. She fought Meng Bo and lost the bout via unanimous decision. Losing the very first fight of her career was not ideal. But it sparked a drive in her which saw Weili go on a winning streak of 21 fights.
She started her career in the strawweight division. However, Zhang could never settle in the weight class in the early days of her career as she jumped around from flyweight to strawweight. The Chinese fighter finally settled in the 115lbs weight class in her 8th professional fight.
Weili had a 13 fight run in the China-based MMA promotion Kunlun MMA where she first got her hands on the gold. Zhang beat Simone Duarte via TKO to win the Kunlun MMA Strawweight Championship in 2017. She won the Top FC 115lbs belt as well before entering the UFC.
Upon her entry to the UFC, She won 3 back to back fights in a space of 8 months. Zhang made easy work of Danielle Taylor, Jessica Aguilar and Tecia Torrest as she earned herself a title shot in 2019. At a UFC Fight Night held in her home country of China, She knocked out then-champion Jessica Andrade in only 42 seconds to win the UFC Strawweight Championship as well.
The Magnum fought Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 to defend her freshly won belt just months prior. The bout ultimately turned out to be the greatest female MMA fight of all time. She beat Joanna by a split decision on the night. However, she fell into tough times as Weili has lost both of her last two fights and she now finds herself matched up against Joanna once again at UFC 275.
Zhang Weili’s family and early life
As mentioned previously, Zhang Weili was born on August 13th of 1989. According to OyClass, Zhang’s father is a mine-digger. Her mother is a housewife back in her home country. However, the information regarding her parents’ names is not available.
However, the report states that Weili has a brother who is also a mine-digger. But apparently, he left his job in order to let Weili pursue her career. He used to work for the gym that Weili used to train in.
Is Zhang Weili dating anyone?
Although Zhang Weili has a presence in the public eye due to her being a former UFC champion, she is not the one to spill the beans on her personal life. Hence it is unclear whether she currently dating anyone or not.
View this post on Instagram
However, Weili does have a presence on Instagram where she posts pictures and videos of her training in the gym on a regular basis.
