FS 98 – Zhang Weili: Made in China (Video + transcript) (Patreon)

Script by Paul, with assistance from Sam 

In 2009, China became the world's biggest goods exporter. Even before then, it was common to find many products with the tag labeled "Made in China." For many, this changed nothing in their day-to-day lives. For some, they saw it as a sign of erosion in their market, especially in the United States. It would start with jokes from late-night TV hosts who couldn't resist but make snide remarks on the cheapness of Chinese products. Then came those who spoke ignorantly about how Asian countries were "stealing their jobs." For others, they have come to the bizarre conclusion that anything not made in America, material or other, was inferior and not worth their time. If you think that's wild, congratulations! You're not suffering from xenophobia. You might have other things you need to work on, but at least that's one less worry.

For Zhang Weili, she's suffered discrimination as a woman while representing her country (and for many, an entire race) in the most competitive women's weight class. Luckily for Zhang, she's a generational talent that has exceeded all expectations. Not only was she on a 21-fight win streak, but she won the UFC strawweight title in her fourth UFC fight. Many of us are familiar with Zhang in her UFC run, with no context of how much she's improved since her MMA debut. Her first 17 fights took place in Asia, mainly in the Kunlun Fight (KLF) promotion. While there, she racked up 16 victories. Outside of a sole decision, the rest of Zhang's wins have come by finishes. Her KLF opponents' skill levels weren't the best. However, that's still close to 20 wins without a loss. Early matches indicated that Zhang wasn't the most technical striker but had the kind of aggression that overwhelms opponents.

Against Mei Huang, Zhang missed quite a few punches (even at close range). However, her constant pressure caused Huang to wilt. After unloading with strikes against the ropes, Huang thought the ground would provide some breathing room.

Unfortunately for Huang, Zhang quickly reversed her single-leg attempt. Zhang took her back and got the rear-naked choke. The next few matches went smoothly for Zhang, but she got matched up against Emi Fujino for her eighth fight. Granted, Fujino is nine years older than Zhang, but she had three times the experience. It made the fight more difficult than anticipated.

Initially, Zhang kept the pace high with plenty of kicks to the body, only for Fujino to grab and push her against the ropes.

Fujino also timed many of Zhang's kicks and blasted her down the center with 1-2's.

After getting hit several times, Zhang switched up her tactics and started aiming for Fujino's lead leg. The kicks eventually dropped Fujino, and Zhang was able to get in some ground and pound.

Fujino held her own in exchanges and was able to land right-hand leads and counter jabs. Unfortunately, a cut on top of Fujino's head stopped the fight in the second round. It was a more challenging fight for Zhang than expected, but she grew from the experience. A few matches later, she fought Karla Benitez to end 2016. Coincidentally, this was also around the time that the promotion switched from the ring to the cage.

Unlike her previous fight with Fujino, where she threw kicks without a strategy, Zhang opted for a more patient approach.

Against Benitez, Zhang was relaxed and comfortable with starting slow and looking for the correct range before committing any attacks.

The kicks were still there, but now Zhang didn't throw them without making sure she either led (or ended) with punches.

Her killer instinct remained intact. When she sensed that she did enough damage with her elbows, she ended the combination with hooks.

In her final match for KLF, she submitted Bianca Sattelmayer. Although she started the fight strong, she soon found herself in trouble.

After pressuring Zhang against the fence, Sattelmayer succeeded with a single leg takedown. Zhang hasn't dealt with many situations off her back, and although she has lots of submission victories to her credit, most of them come from when she's on top. This fight was no different.

Despite mostly fighting in a ring, Zhang used the fence well to prop herself up and reverse positions.

Through patience and a solid top game, Zhang went from side control to mounted crucifix until she took the back and secured an armbar.

Zhang's 16-1 record in KLF got the attention of the UFC, and she signed with the promotion in 2018. In her debut fight, she was matched up against Danielle Taylor. A former King of the Cage strawweight champion, Taylor's 9-3 record wasn't as impressive as Zhang's, but this would be the first time Zhang would fight outside of Asia. The international travel and time zone difference can wreak havoc on fighters when they compete abroad. If Zhang was suffering from the octagon jitters, she didn't show it against Taylor.

By now, it should be clear that Zhang's kicks are a staple of her striking arsenal. It wasn't always this way. Despite training in sanda (Chinese kickboxing) since she was 12, Zhang couldn't smoothly chain together attacks until after a dozen fights.

In the early seconds of the Taylor fight, Zhang led with a jab and lead low kick, only to see Taylor retreat. Thinking she's safe, Taylor relaxed, only to be hit in the midsection by a sidekick. Sidekicks are a staple strike for many fighters, including former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones favors throwing it towards the lead leg, but Zhang prefers to aim for the body. Sidekicks are great for attacking from the outside and/or closing the distance safely.

When Taylor got frustrated and decided to charge in, she got clipped by hooks and straights. Zhang doesn't have the power of heavy hitters like Amanda Nunes or Cris Cyborg, but when the opponent provides momentum, Zhang's strikes get amplified.

In her next fight, Zhang got matched up against Jessica Aguilar. When the fight was announced, some criticized that Zhang was getting an easier opponent. After all, the fight card was taking place in Beijing, China. That's an odd criticism, considering that Aguilar had more fights under her belt and more wins on her record.

After absorbing a few of Zhang's strikes, Aguilar decided to clinch up and turn this into a grappling exchange. If you've been following Zhang's career, you'll know that she's no slouch on the ground, and her strength allows her to hold her own against anyone in the division.

Zhang soon reversed position and scored an outside trip takedown. This put Aguilar on her back, and Zhang started hammering away with strikes. Zhang took advantage of a cut from earlier and started to target it specifically with elbows from side control.

When Aguilar was dazed from the strikes and had her vision impaired by the blood in her eyes, Zhang saw her opening. She transitioned quickly from side control to mount before rolling on her back for a triangle. Aguilar defended well initially, but eventually, she succumbed to a first-round armbar. Just like the Bianca Sattelmayer fight, Zhang actively sought out submissions by striking first to create openings.

Now 2-0 in the UFC, a step up in competition seemed like a logical next step. Zhang got her chance to prove her toughness by facing Tecia Torres, a fellow striker specializing in kicks and punching flurries. Fans were not disappointed.

Every kick that Torres threw was countered with a punch and vice versa. Sometimes, they threw kicks at the same time.

It was nice to see Zhang lead with the inside leg kick to keep Torres off balance. If the technique sounds familiar, it's because current men's featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski uses this often. Even though the low kick thrown by the rear leg is much more powerful, the time it takes to set up and hit does allow your opponents to withdraw their lead leg and counter. The lead inside low kick comes much quicker and can knock the opponent off balance if most of their weight is on the front foot. It's also great for covering distance quickly and can negate most reach and speed advantages. When Torres stood still without any reactions, Zhang followed up with a jab or a left hook.

What eventually made the difference was Zhang's ability to take Torres down and control her on the ground. Zhang is one of the most well-rounded in the women's strawweight division. In fights where the striking is close, like the Torres fight, it proved to be the difference-maker. Those three victories in a row were enough for the UFC to grant her a title shot. When the UFC announced the match-up against then-champion Jessica Andrade, fans were less than thrilled with Zhang's chances. The whole card and title fight seemed like a marketing ploy for the UFC to get a stronghold in the Chinese market. Never mind that Zhang was undefeated in the UFC and on a 19 fight win streak. The haters ended up having to eat their words.

Zhang made the most of her title fight and beat Jessica Andrade by TKO in 42 seconds. What an accomplishment, considering that strikes have never finished Andrade at strawweight. When the fight started, Zhang happily played the matador and had Andrade come toward her.

A couple of inside low kicks and feints were enough to get Andrade to start chasing, setting up some jabs for Zhang. When Andrade managed to find her way into clinching range, Zhang opted to exchange instead of tying up.

Utilizing the elbows instead of straight punches at close range was a wise choice, especially since they landed much quicker and with less telegraph. A momentarily stunned Andrade got caught with a clean right hook which sent her stumbling face forward.

From there, a barrage of elbows, knees from the clinch, and follow up ground and pound finished Andrade, and Zhang became the first Asian UFC champion.

It might be easy to dismiss Zhang's win as nothing more than luck and stating that Andrade simply got caught. This would be a terrible disservice to Andrade and all her past opponents, including Rose Namajunas. Zhang still had to go out there and try to outwork someone who outmuscled most bantamweights. Even Joanna Jedrzejczyk couldn't finish Andrade, and she had 25 minutes to try.

Speaking of Jedrzejczyk, the UFC matched her up as the next challenger for Zhang. Unfortunately, COVID-19 was just around the corner. The pandemic affected both fighters, one more than the other. Zhang trains out of Beijing, China, and getting her visa to fight stateside has been an issue more than once. In late 2019, Zhang's visa got declined twice, keeping her from coming to the US. In a strange twist, former US Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district Tulsi Gabbard intervened and offered assistance through the state department. Meanwhile, Jedrzejczyk was already training full-time in Florida as a member of American Top Team.

But even as close as late February 2020, there were concerns that the travel restrictions from China and the US would prevent Zhang from entering the states. Fortunately, Zhang and her team moved their training over to Thailand (where she got a few rounds with the legendary kickboxer Saenchai) before being transferred to Ahu Dhabi by the UFC. From there, Zhang continued training until her visa to travel to the US was secured. That is quite a journey, and it's something that can't be overlooked. Those are multiple fight camps and training schedules that had to be shuffled around. As mentioned earlier, this doesn't include the adjustment to different time zones. All that, with no guarantee of a fight. Not many can claim to have dealt with that level of stress.

Adding to all this was the racism that Zhang faced due to COVID-19. On her Instagram story page, Jedrzejczyk reposted a meme of herself in a gas mask against Zhang. Jedrzejczyk tried to play it off as a harmless prank, but this is Sinophobia at its worst. There are also old photos of Jedrzejczyk eating Thai food while pulling at her eyes with her fingers. This was not an isolated incident. No one only makes racist statements once. You also saw these sorts of anti-Asian receipts again with Katlyn Chookagian.

Fans were chanting "CORONAVIRUS" during Zhang's open workout. Zhang responded by giving the one-finger salute (a universally understood sign), and those who chanted got escorted out. There was already a lot of tension before this fight, and although other fighters might have cracked under pressure, Zhang put on one of the best performances of the year and possibly the best women's fight in history.

Early on, both fighters exchanged lead low kicks to gauge their distance. From there, each of them had success implementing parts of their game plan.

Zhang loved hammering the lead inside low kick, and even though she was going up against the more decorated kickboxer in Jedrzejczyk, she threw them anyway.

Jedrzejczyk was the taller fighter with a longer reach, but by using the inside lead low kick, Zhang covered the distance quickly multiple times and got herself in the best position to start throwing lead hooks and straights.

In addition to getting closer to Jedrzejczyk, she forced stance switches from the former champion and buckled Jedrzejczyk when she had more weight on her front foot.

Another thing that Zhang seemed to have picked up from Jedrzejczyk's past fight with Valentina Shevchenko is that the best time to attack is during her blitzes. Too many of Jedrzejczyk's opponents had given Jedrzejczyk respect and opted to wait until after she's done striking to return fire.

In this fight, Zhang hit back while Jedrzejczyk was jabbing or throwing an ax kick, and it forced Jedrzejczyk to react instead of continuing her attacks. Essentially, Zhang countered one of the best counter fighters in the weight class.

When the fight entered punching range, it was the accurate combination work of Jedrzejczyk against the more powerful strikes of Zhang.

You could see that as the fight went on, Zhang felt that she was the stronger fighter and was willing to absorb a few strikes to get close enough to land her right straight and hooks.

Jedrzejczyk seemed caught off-guard by the speed of Zhang. Fans recognize Zhang's strength but not her speed. Jedrzejczyk is one of the better fighters when it comes to cage awareness, measuring spatial distance, and keeping her feet within the two black lines.

When Zhang landed her strikes, Jedrzejczyk seemed confident that she was far enough away, only to get clipped anyway.

At the end of the second round, a pattern was starting to emerge. Jedrzejczyk was looking to start her offense with kicks then counter with punches while moving laterally. Zhang would use her inside lead low kicks to cover distance and set up her right straight, with the occasional sidekick and spinning kick if her initial low kick missed. In round 3, Jedrzejczyk spent large portions of her time in southpaw, hoping to land the left high kick and give herself more space in the open stance. Zhang had some trouble adjusting, and Jedrzejczyk took full advantage of this by landing multiple high kicks and hammering her left straight. It's also very possible the constant lead low kick of Zhang was taking its toll.

What kept Zhang competitive in this round was the clinch and takedowns. Even though she wasn't held down for long, it did just enough to keep Jedrzejczyk from teeing off. Zhang was a bit more economical when it came to moving around the octagon, but she didn't throw with any less power. This was also the round in which Zhang got Jedrzejczyk's head swelled up with a perfectly timed right hand. It looked worse than it actually was, but it doesn't help that Zhang had ten more minutes to target that forehead and make it balloon up even more.

To the surprise of no one, that's what Zhang did, starting the championship rounds by looking specifically at Jedrzejczyk's forehead. The southpaw stance of Jedrzejczyk was still giving Zhang problems, but Zhang was still able to time Jedrzejczyk's attacks and counter whenever they got in close range.

When Jedrzejczyk opted to stand still for just a moment, Zhang took advantage by coming in with left hooks and right straights. Even though it was clear that Zhang was the wearier of the two, she made the most of it by taking fewer steps and focusing on her counters instead of pressuring Jedrzejczyk.

The final round came down to who could remain more competitive in a close fight.

One of Zhang's left hooks hit Jedrzejczyk right on the nose, doing some more cosmetic damage and reminding fans of her power. It was interesting to see Jedrzejczyk come forward and having Zhang play the counter striker, essentially switching their roles from the first few rounds. Knowing that the fight was close, Zhang spent the last few minutes pressuring Jedrzejczyk and forcing her to throw punches, which mostly missed. The damage on Jedrzejczyk's face was enough to convince the judges that Zhang had done enough to win.

With two impressive victories back-to-back (and close to a year off), Zhang put her title on the line against another former champion, Rose Namajunas.

Heading into this fight, Namajunas made the match-up political when she was interviewed by Lithuanian National Radio and Television. During the interview, she stated, "I was just kind of reminding myself of my background and everywhere that I come from and my family and everything like that, and I kind of wanted to educate my training partner on the Lithuanian struggle and just the history of it all, so we watched (2012 documentary film) 'The Other Dream Team' just to kind of get an overall sentiment of what we fight for. After watching that, it was just a huge reminder of like, yeah, it's better dead than red, you know? And I don't think it's any coincidence that Weili is red. That's what she represents."

Namajunas said this during the rise of Asian hate in America, without a hint of awareness of how her words would have far-reaching consequences. Or maybe she was aware, and that's why she did it.

Sam did a detailed analysis of this in Fight Study 93, and it is worth a listen. Despite her terrible political leanings and racist beliefs, she is still an excellent fighter.

In the fight with Zhang, Namajunas absorbed more strikes and connected with fewer. Zhang was able to land inside low kicks and use them to sneak in punches. Unfortunately for Zhang, Namajunas feinted with a low kick only to switch to a high kick. The kick caught Zhang flush and knocked her down for the finish. And in the same scenario, BIPOC champion Jose Aldo lost to racist white challenger Conor McGregor by KO early in round one, where the white challenger was able to turn the US crowd against the BIPOC champion. We saw this same dynamic play itself out again with Namajunas and Zhang.

And just like that, Zhang lost her title and her win streak. The question mark kick has been a weakness of Zhang for some time. Not only was this a move that Saenchai was able to land during their training, but Jedrzejczyk snuck in a couple of low to high kicks as well. Even Tecia Torres came inches from landing fight-ending high kicks.

This doesn't mean that Zhang only has one weakness. Zhang still lunges in headfirst from time to time (as she's done against Taylor and Torres), which got her in trouble against Jedrzejczyk. She still has fewer tools to work with at long range but has so far managed to cover that weakness with a strong clinch and takedown game. Possibly the worst bad habit of Zhang is her tendency to close her eyes during close exchanges, something that she still struggles with today. But Zhang is far from a complete product.

In an interview after the fight, Zhang spoke about her experiences with white supremacy at UFC 261. That it was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She knew from the prefight trash talk that some fans would turn against her, but she was not prepared for how much whiteness mattered to the audience. They made it clear who was white and let Zhang know it was not her. She had never had everyone in a stadium jeer her before. She was listening for even a few in the audience to show they were behind her. Instead, she felt alone and universally hated, but she didn't know what she did wrong. And that's what racism feels like: you feel alone, singled out, and blamed. It makes you feel guilty for being you, for being born Chinese, and fighting in an emboldened racist America.

Zhang started off her MMA career with a loss, and she's only gotten better since. Her entire career has shown that she finds ways to improve, adding more weapons to her arsenal even after victories. Zhang is a martial artist to the core, understanding that each match-up provides an opportunity to get better. Amanda Nunes was considered a contender at best before she got with American Top Team and went on a 12-fight win streak. Right now, she's regarded as the best women's fighter in UFC history and the only active champion to defend two titles simultaneously. Valentina Shevchenko has close losses to Nunes, and it didn't seem like she would ever become a champion. With one weight class switch, she's now considered untouchable at flyweight, with no real challenger in sight. Even Rose Namajunas suffered multiple losses before becoming the only woman to win the strawweight title twice.

Zhang is committed to improving herself. She even cut off her hair to remind herself of who she was when she first started sanda as a child. This is her resolution, to go back to being a beginner—to neither allow criticism nor praise to enter her heart. Just grow.

The beginner's mind is a hallmark of martial arts, and regardless of what happens to Zhang as a professional fighter, she has already proved herself to be one of the few martial artists in MMA.