The UFC announced a series of historic milestones today involving the company's plans to grow in China. Most notable among them is a championship bout featuring strawweight champion Jessica Andrade and challenger Weili Zhang.
The upcoming UFC Fight Night on August 31 will feature the highly anticipated matchup, which marks the first time ever that a UFC championship fight will be held in China. Zhang is also the first-ever Chinese athlete to compete for a UFC title.
This will be Andrade's first time defending the belt that she won at UFC 237 by knocking out Rose Namajunas with a vicious slam. She will look to put an end to Zhang's 19-fight win streak. Zhang has had 16 of 19 wins via finish, including nine by KO and seven by submission. 10 of her finishes have occurred in the first round.
In addition to the historic title fight, UFC announced another landmark milestone - the opening of the UFC Performance Institute® Shanghai. The world’s largest, state-of-the-art MMA training and development facility, it is nearly three times as large as the original UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. It will serve as a training hub to develop and support the next generation of MMA athletes from mainland China and the greater Asia-Pacific region, according to the UFC, and also serve as the compny's headquarters in Asia.
UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang, presented by AirAsia, will be held at Universiade Sports Centre on Saturday, August 31. It will be the company's third live event in Mainland China, but the first to host a UFC championship fight.