UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili celebrates earning BJJ brown belt after seven long years under "strict" coach
Zhang Weili is arguably the best athlete in women's MMA right now and carries an incredible amount of power and strength. But in her most recent fight, Weili showed a level of finesse with a fantastic rear-naked choke submission against Carla Esparza to win the strawweight championship at UFC 281.
Now, just over a month after regaining the UFC title, Weili has been awarded a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by her coach, Professor Pedro Jordao.
Attaining a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is one of the most difficult things to accomplish in combat sports. This is something that 'Magnum' knows all too well, as the transition from purple belt to brown belt took her seven years.
Zhang Weili took to Instagram to express her joy and satisfaction at achieving the milestone and stated the following:
"Today is a special day. I have a brown belt. I have a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for seven years. It's really not an easy thing to do. Professor Jordan is a strict man. We've been together since 2014. The professor helped me a lot. I was the only student in the club. I didn't realize that after all these years our team would be so big. We're gonna keep going."
See the post below:
Zhang Weili is the only woman who could beat Valentina Shevchenko, says Weili's BJJ coach
Josh Hinger, who is part of Zhang Weili's corner team and is responsible for the jiu-jitsu aspect of her fight camp, recently claimed that she is the only woman capable of beating Valentina Shevchenko.
Shevchenko is currently the UFC women's flyweight champion and is on a nine-fight win streak. 'Magnum' has previously competed at 125 pounds, but that was six years ago in the Kunlun Fight promotion.
According to Hinger, Zhang Weili cuts a fair amount of weight to make 115 pounds, and a move northwards could benefit her performances. He recently appeared on Fruiting Body Podcast and said:
"There’s no one that I think is really a big threat to Valentina in her category right now. I think Weili is the only one who can go up and actually give a good fight to Valentina. She will still have to cut to make 125. She’s not just walking around at that weight. She won’t cut [as much], she’ll diet. Maybe she’ll cut a few pounds. She’ll probably keep herself at 130 or something. I think she’s gonna perform better."
Watch the video below from 1:10:50: