China's first UFC champion is a woman. Zhang Weili put on a stellar performance in front of her home country crowd at UFC Shenzhen in China to capture the UFC women's strawweight title from Jessica Andrade. Weili needed just 42 seconds to take care of business, earning a TKO finish after a dominating opening performance.
Weili opened the fight with a series of leg kicks but Andrade pressed forward before the two began to exchange powerful blows. It was Weili who landed the better of the shots. A powerful right hand sent the champion stumbling and opened her up to a series of unrelenting knees from the clinch.
Andrade attempted to work in a clinch, but Weili continued the attack with elbows to the head before going back to the knee shots. A dazed Andrade reeled backwards before ultimately finding the cage and falling to the canvas, saved only by referee Leon Roberts who stopped the fight.
"My name is Zhang Weili!" Zhang said after the fight in English. "I'm from China. Remember me!"
It was Zhang Weili's 20th consecutive victory, and also the 8th fastest finish in the UFC (2nd fastest in UFC strawweight history). But more importantly, the win made Zhang Weili the first UFC champion from China. She's only the second UFC titleholder ever born in Asian.
The loss snaps Jessica Andrade's four-fight winning streak. She had won the title by knocking out Rose Namajunas in stunning fashion with a slam back at UFC 237 in April. This was her first title defense.