6. (c) Zhang Weili vs Yan Xiaonan
Zhang Weili is the best pound-for-pound female fighter in the world of MMA today, so any fight featuring her will automatically be a must-watch, as with Alexander Volkanovski, Amanda Nunes, Demetrious Johnson, and other top P4P fighters from either gender in the past. Her last challenger, Amanda Lemos, did not prove up to the task of testing the Chinese champion, but maybe her fellow countrywoman, Yan Xiaonan, will. Like Lemos, Xianoan has shown wrestling weaknesses in the past; her loss to Carla Esparza in 2021 was particularly embarrassing, but since then she has moved to Team Alpha Male and beat a grappling specialist in MacKenzie Dern, though Dern is not a good takedown artist.
Weili beat Lemos with her dominant wrestling, which featured brutal ground and pound to keep it exciting, and even outwrestled Esparza, a former All-American. Perhaps Yan has improved enough under Urijah Faber at TAM to defend the takedowns, which is Zhang’s biggest advantage on paper, with some success. Even then, Weili is more proven as an elite-level striker against elite-level opposition, having out-struck Jessica Andrade and Joanna Jedrzejczyk en route to finishing the former champs, as well as being essentially evenly matched with Rose Namajunas in their second fight. Xiaonan’s only wins over a top striker is against Andrade, who is now well past her prime, which she was not when she lost her belt to Weili. Yan has definitely improved the variety, timing, and intensity of her striking, but will it be enough to beat the frankly unmatched fight IQ, physical attributes, and sharpness of the champion?
This historic all-Chinese title fight, taking place in Las Vegas, is undoubtedly a great fight – again, all Weili fights are, she is one of the most exciting fighters in the world on top of being the best – but how competitive will it be? Xiaonan is a four-to-one underdog on the betting lines and faces a massive uphill battle to make the fight close, let alone win. Still, whether Weili runs through the challenger, is tested like she has not been since she faced Namajunas, or even – against all odds – loses the belt, the fight is sure to be entertaining, despite the complaints of fans who were upset to see a WMMA fight as the co-main event of one of the top five biggest events in UFC history.
Fight Rating: 8/10
